Heading into the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and knowing that there are just three races remaining before the championship finale at Phoenix Raceway, no one wants to create an enemy at this stage. After all, breeding enemies now could be the difference between reaching the final four or being eliminated early on due to some ‘unfortunate’ incident.
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Such has been the case for Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell, after his incident with fellow driver Daniel Suarez at last weekend’s Charlotte Roval elimination race. While speaking in an interview, Bell explained that he remained hopeful to not be subjected to retaliation from Suarez heading into the upcoming races.
Christopher Bell hopes he hasn’t made an enemy after the incident at Charlotte Roval
In an interview recently, Bell mentioned, “Certainly I didn’t mean to get into him. Him and I have had run-ins in the past. That’s the last guy I wanted to get into and have a problem with moving forward.”
“I reached out to him and told him that it wasn’t intentional, but, we, I’m sure he’s going to be coming after me, which is not ideal going into the next four races. It’s a mistake, and I’ll have to keep that in the back of my head moving forward.”
Christopher Bell said his spinning Daniel Suarez at Roval was unintentional but he knows he’ll have to be aware that payback could be coming. pic.twitter.com/tTSneqOKq3
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) October 11, 2023
It was good that Bell informed Suarez about the incident not being intentional. Beyond this, it is unknown if Suarez will refrain from retaliating against the JGR driver. If he doesn’t then Bell can focus on the remainder of the races without frequent hesitation, but if the Mexican-born driver resorts to other plans, it could be a detriment considering the limited number of races ahead of Phoenix.
What transpired between Bell and Suarez at the Roval?
Throughout the duration of the race, the pair had contacted each other on several occasions, with one taking place right after the restart during the second stage. Up until then, it was all smooth sailing and hard racing.
But with just 15 laps remaining in the race, Bell once again managed to hit the Trackhouse Racing driver, this time clipping his left-rear quarter panel. The contact resulted in Suarez spinning out. When the race ended, Bell managed to secure a 15th-place finish, meanwhile, the #99 car driver ended up in 33rd place.
While Suarez would have obviously been fuming with the incident that practically ruined his race, we are left to see if he chooses to wreck Bell in the upcoming races or decides to accept the playoff contenders’ apology.
