Is Everything All Right Between Carson Hocevar and Christopher Bell One Week After Darlington Trouble?

It might be a stretch to say Christopher Bell and Carson Hocevar have kissed and made up after last Sunday’s disastrous contact on pit road at Darlington that cost Bell dearly, suffering damage to the right front of his Joe Gibbs Toyota and finishing a dismal 29^th.

But heading into Sunday’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway, aka Gateway, near St. Louis, it appears the two drivers and their teams have buried the hatchet.

“Yeah, my crew chief (Luke Lambert) and (Bell’s crew chief) Adam Stevens talked and they were all good,” Hocevar said during Saturday’s media availability.

“Obviously, heat of the moment, everybody can share their frustration. But they talked and they were all good. Drivers, most of the time on pit road, are kind of just blind, per se, right?

“It’s more on the crew chiefs from that aspect to guide us in and out. So they had that conversation and I think they’re plenty good moving forward.”

While Bell was relegated to a finish near the back of the pack, Hocevar was able to continue on and finished ninth. If you missed their respective comments after the race, here’s an instant replay.

Bell had said, “The No. 77 just didn’t yield. He didn’t give way. I would say that it’s our responsibility not to run into him if he’s racing for position. But the fact that he was the one who brought the yellow out… The only reason that we had contact was because he was so far behind the field, catching up. That’s very frustrating.”

On the other hand, Hocevar had defended himself, saying, “I think it’s just hard to watch everything. Sometimes you’ve got to pick a car to watch.”

Bell will start Sunday’s race from the eighth position, while Hocevar had a poor qualifying effort Saturday and will start from the 27th position.

Post Edited By: Abhishek Ramesh

Carson Hocevar Christopher Bell Darlington Raceway World Wide Technology Raceway

About the author

Jerry Bonkowski

Jerry Bonkowski is a veteran sportswriter who has worked full-time for many of the top media outlets in the world, including USA Today (15 years), ESPN.com (4+ years), Yahoo Sports (4 1/2 years), NBCSports.com (8 years) and others. He has covered virtually every major professional and collegiate sport there is, including the Chicago Bulls' six NBA championships (including heavy focus on Michael Jordan), the Chicago Bears Super Bowl XX-winning season, the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs World Series championships, two of the Chicago Blackhawks' NHL titles, Tiger Woods' PGA Tour debut, as well as many years of beat coverage of the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA for USA Today. But Jerry's most notable achievement has been covering motorsports, most notably NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA drag racing and Formula One. He has had a passion for racing since he started going to watch drag races at the old U.S. 30 Dragstrip (otherwise known as "Where the Great Ones Run!") in Hobart, Indiana. Jerry has covered countless NASCAR, IndyCar and NHRA races and championship battles over the years. He's also the author of a book, "Trading Paint: 101 Great NASCAR Debates", published in 2010 (and he's hoping to soon get started on another book). Away from sports, Jerry was a fully sworn part-time police officer for 20 years, enjoys reading and music (especially "hair bands" from the 1980s and 1990s), as well as playing music on his electric keyboard, driving (fast, of course!), spending time with Cyndee his wife of nearly 40 years, the couple's three adult children and three grandchildren (with more to come!), and his three dogs -- including two German Shepherds and an Olde English Bulldog who thinks he's a German Shepherd.. Jerry still gets the same excitement of seeing his byline today as he did when he started in journalism as a 15-year-old high school student. He is looking forward to writing hundreds, if not thousands, of stories in the future for TheSportsRush.com, as well as interacting with readers.

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