Christopher Bell is usually a calm and collected person on the race track. He seldom shows extreme emotions, regardless of what happens. But after finishing seventh at Gateway, he couldn’t keep himself in check. He yelled at his crew chief and his crew on the radio for sounding satisfied with the result while having a car that was capable of winning the race. His rants, regrettably, went viral.
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The driver appeared on NASCAR’s The Day After following his win at the Bristol Motor Speedway last Saturday. He admitted on the show that he wished the meltdown hadn’t gained as much traction as it did. But he also explained how such a showcase of emotions is only natural for a race car driver, or any athlete, for that matter. His explanation was highly sensible.
He said, “You’re human. No other professional sport has microphones inside the helmet. I bet you, NFL wide receivers and NBA players, they probably have very similar discards of emotion. I’m going to call it that. I feel bad that it went viral. I didn’t intend for it to go viral.” There is a fine line that drivers try not to cross in such instances of high frustration.
It is between the understanding that they are a team along with others and the urge to view their crew chief and crew members as enemies. Bell, with an insane level of clarity, is aware that his crew chief (Adam Stevens) and the other members of his team want to win just as much as he does. He is also extremely confident about the synergy within the No. 20 team.
After he crossed the finish line, Stevens told him, “Checkered flag. P7. That’s what we needed today. Takes the pressure off next week (at Bristol, the final race of the opening playoff round). Good job, guys.” This must have been particularly instigating for Bell, who had just watched his teammates, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe, finish in the first and second places.
He responded, “We just f***ing ran seventh with the best car on the track! Every f***ing week, it’s the same s**t. We’re the last car to pit road. I’m over it.” He mellowed himself down when he spoke to the press later and just detailed his frustrations over not being able to win despite having a really fast Toyota Camry XSE.
