NASCAR star to race despite breaking wrist in brutal crash

Bell was side-by-side with Chase Elliott when the #9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro got loose and shot up the track into Bell’s car.

The #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry was sandwiched between Elliott and the SAFER Barrier, causing catastrophic damage to Bell’s car.

Bell was able to extract himself from the car and was released from the infield care centre without speaking to the media.

Scans in the days after have confirmed a fracture to his wrist

“Christopher Bell suffered a fractured left wrist after an accident on lap 148 of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway,” Joe Gibbs Racing said in a statement.

“After being evaluated and released from the infield care centre, Bell returned home to North Carolina where X-rays confirmed the fracture.

“Bell has been cleared and will be behind the wheel of the No. 20 Toyota Camry XSE this weekend at Pocono Raceway.”

Bell issued a short statement, thanking his supporters and the community.

“Thank you to each and every one who reached out to check on me, I truly feel the love,” said Bell.

“I’m grateful for my team of doctors, JGR, NASCAR and all of the previous drivers who have helped pave the way for the safety standards in our sport. See you in Pocono.”

NASCAR racing communications vice president Mike Forde said Bell’s hit set a new record in the Next Gen era for delta-v, which is used to measure change of velocity.

“What delta-v is is really the measure of speed lost in an incident,” Forde explained.

“If you’re going 200 mph and then all of a sudden you come to a stop because you hit a wall and scrub off x-amount of speed, that delta, that difference, is what the delta-v is.

“I can’t give out the number of what the delta-v was for Bell, that data is proprietary in a way, but it’s really Christopher’s number to give out if he wants to do that or Joe Gibbs Racing.

“We can confirm it was the largest number we’ve seen in the Next Gen era.”

The NASCAR Cup Series at Pocono Raceway takes place on Monday, June 15 at 5:00am.