“Gonna Keep My Mouth Shut”: Christopher Bell Targets Carson Hocevar Without Saying Much

Last year, Christopher Bell won the second race of the season at the EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta. It looked like he could repeat the feat on Sunday night as he ran at the top of the field towards the end of the Autotrader 400. But fate intervened in the form of Carson Hocevar and crashed him against the wall during the first overtime restart.

Bell was in second place during the restart, to the outside of race leader Bubba Wallace. His spotter told him that Hocevar would give him a push that would help him take the lead, and that the two of them could battle it out between themselves from there on. But that wasn’t what happened. Instead, Hocevar got a push from behind, and he tried to get into a hole that was a bit too narrow.

He made contact with Bell during the attempt and turned him into the outside wall. Bell was understandably too disappointed with the outcome, but stayed away from delivering any harsh comments during his post-race interview. He simply said, “Unfortunately, you got me a little too early because I haven’t seen it. So I’m gonna keep my mouth shut until I see a replay.”

A little bit of tension still managed to ooze out despite his restraint. He said, asked about the misalignment with the spotter’s communication and Hocevar’s actions, “Yes, that’s what he communicated with me. But, you know, you never expect anything, especially from him.”

Hocevar defends himself after the race

Hocevar clarified to the press that his intention was never to cause damage to Bell’s car. He found a gap opening up between Bell and Wallace, and using the push that Ross Chastain gave him, he wanted to move up front. But by the time he got there, the gap was closed. He had no choice but to make contact with Bell’s Camry.

“I got such a big run, and he kind of opened it,” he said. “And as I got there, I felt like there was a hole, but I got there so fast that I’m sure it was by all means closed by the time I got there.” He managed to escape the entire sequence without a lot of damage and finished the race in fourth place. Last year, he was runner-up behind Bell.

Bell, meanwhile, saw all his chances of winning vanish with the incident and limped home in 21st place. Things do not look good for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver after the first two races of the season. Hopefully, he will bounce back at COTA next weekend.