Last year, Christopher Bell’s Martinsville run ended in heartbreak. This year, Bell returns hungrier than ever, eyeing his second grandfather clock after first claiming one in 2022.
Advertisement
Starting 16th in 2024, Bell dropped to 22nd despite a last-lap, all-or-nothing dive into Turn 3. In a desperate bid to steal the final Championship 4 spot from William Byron, Bell muscled past Bubba Wallace for the one point he needed, only to slide up into the outside wall and ride the fence through Turn 4.
NASCAR later ruled the move a safety violation, docking him four positions to 22nd, while Byron advanced by four points.
Bell wants to forget what happened, and in the last race before this season’s Championship 4, he wants his hands on another clock, which has gone on to become one of NASCAR’s most distinctive prizes since Fred Lorenzen‘s pole-to-win victory in 1964.
Its chime, ringing every fifteen minutes, serves as a constant reminder of a victory earned at the sport’s oldest active track. The list of drivers who have taken one home reads like a NASCAR Hall of Fame roster. Richard Petty, the track’s all-time leader with 15 wins, collected 12 clocks, the most ever, after the tradition began, though three of his triumphs predated the award.
While Bell knows matching Petty’s mark is a mountain too steep to climb anytime soon, he fully grasps what the clock represents. Speaking on WXLV-TV, he said, “So, it’s historic and Martinsville does such a good job of creating this tradition of the grandfather clock and the winner of the race getting it has become a storied trophy that everyone wants and cherishes.
“And there are only a couple racetracks that have that marquee trophy. You think of uh the Bristol Sword, the Martinsville clock. You have the Lobster at New Hampshire.”
“So, there’s only a couple tracks that have their marquee trophy, and that Grandfather clock is definitely top of the list,” Bell continued.
Currently sitting third in the playoff standings with a 37-point cushion, the highest among the six drivers vying for a Championship 4 berth, Bell finds himself in a prime position. Yet, after last year’s risky kamikaze move, he will look to lock in his Phoenix ticket the clean way: by winning.
A win at Martinsville would not only deliver him another grandfather clock but also make a case for a Joe Gibbs Racing trifecta in the title race.
