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 29th.
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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.
