Christopher Bell talked about the late-race incident he had with Daniel Suárez at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course on Sunday.
While Christopher Bell will look to prime his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to his second consecutive Championship 4 berth, the 28-year-old additionally acknowledged how aware he will need to be when it comes to Daniel Suárez.
During Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course, Bell and Suárez’s No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet made contact several times throughout the race, including on a Stage 2 restart. The final incident came during the final stage with less than 15 to go, where Bell clipped Suárez’s left-rear quarter panel and caused the No. 99 to spin out. Bell went on to claim a 15th-place result, while Suárez finished 33rd.
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Bell has since reached out to Suárez and made note of future ramifications.
There’s #NASCARPlayoffs activity everywhere! @keselowski spins! @RossChastain chooses to pit!
Now, @CBellRacing makes contact with @Daniel_SuarezG! pic.twitter.com/DBxuPmobPl
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 8, 2023
“Certainly, I didn’t mean to get into him [Suárez], and you know, he and I have had run-ins in the past, so that’s the last guy I wanted to get into and have a problem with moving forward,” Bell said during a virtual teleconference with the media on Wednesday. “I reached out to him and told him that it wasn’t intentional, but I’m sure he’s going to be coming after me, which is not ideal going into the next four races, but it’s a mistake, and I’ll have to keep that in the back of my head moving forward.”
Bell, a NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs driver, currently sits below the elimination line (-8) as the Round of 8 begins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend. In addition to racing playoff competitors on the track, Bell mentioned how he would need to be cognizant of Suárez, should they both be in each other’s vicinity.
“I think it really just depends on where we’re at on track. If we’re not around each other, then it’s something that is pretty easy to put away, but I just have to be smart whenever it comes time to whenever I’m around him,” Bell said. “Certainly give him as much room as possible, and it is what it is. It was not a smart move on my behalf to … It was a mistake. It wasn’t like that was a move I was trying to do, but I should’ve been more mindful of the position I was in and where we were at in that race. Not ideal, I’ll just have to pay attention moving forward and do the best I can.”
MORE: 2023 playoff standings | Las Vegas schedule
The Cup Series will race in the South Point 400 at Las Vegas on Oct. 15 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).