Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell crashed violently while racing for second during the final stage of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway.
On Lap 148, moments after a restart, Elliott bobbled while battling Bell side-by-side, shooting high into the No. 20 Toyota. Both drivers contacted the wall at nearly 200 mph, with the back end of Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota erupting in flames. Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet slid back down the track and also struck an inside tire barrier.
RELATED: Race results | At-track photos
Both drivers quickly exited their vehicles, indicating to safety workers that they were OK. Before loading into ambulances for a ride to the infield care center, Elliott walked up to Bell, and the two shared an embrace.
“It was totally my fault. I feel really bad for Bell, just taking him out,” Elliott said after being evaluated and released from the care center. “I was trying to run the bottom, make use of our fresh tires and at least get to second, I was hoping, and stay side-by-side with him. I just got in there and got free. I thought I was going to spin and was kind of committing to spinning out. As soon as I was committed to spinning, it just hooked up and, unfortunately, sent Christopher into the wall really hard and me shortly thereafter.
“It was a huge hit. Huge hit for him, pretty big hit for me, too. I knew that when it happened that it was — when you’re watching the wall come that quick, it’s gonna be large. He’d already hit the wall hard too before I hit him, so those things happen fast, but I saw it happen. I knew it was big, so I just wanted to make sure he was alright and just tell him ‘I’m so sorry’ because it was not at all my intention for that to happen.”
MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights
Bell spent nearly an hour inside the care center and was later evaluated and released. He declined interview requests.
After Denny Hamlin won Sunday’s race, Joe Gibbs Racing owner Joe Gibbs said in a press conference that he thinks “it was his wrist and his ankle,” referring to Bell, and that “we’re just going to have to wait.”
Elliott won Stage 2 and led 67 laps, the most in the race to that point. He’s won twice this season — the only two victories for Hendrick in 2026 — and entered Michigan fourth in the Cup Series points standings. Bell entered seventh and earned runner-up finishes in each of the last two races at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway.
