CORONADO, Calif. — Christopher Bell said Friday that his plans for going the full distance in Sunday’s inaugural San Diego street race will be a “game-time decision” as he continues his recovery from a wrist injury suffered in a crash two weeks ago.
Bell’s remarks came fresh from opening NASCAR Cup Series practice at the challenging Naval Base Coronado circuit, and he sported a newly re-done cast on his left wrist. After driving in the opening portions of the 50-minute session, Bell gave way to standby driver Brent Crews in an effort to provide him his first seat time in a Cup Series car. Whether Bell turns over the wheel to Crews during Sunday’s Anduril 250 (4 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) remains a significant question mark.
“I don’t know, that’s going to be a decision that we weigh out as it unfolds,” Bell said. “So we haven’t made the decision yet, and yeah, I think it’s gonna be a game-time decision.”
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Bell suffered a fractured left wrist in a high-speed crash on June 7 at Michigan International Speedway, making heavy contact with the outside retaining wall after a collision with Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet. He was medically cleared to compete last weekend at Pocono Raceway and completed all 400 miles, saying his wrist felt fine except in moments when his No. 20 car absorbed any bumps from his competitors.
Like at Pocono, Bell said his pain threshold was less of an issue than how his injuries impeded from being as quick and aggressive with the steering wheel. The demanding 16-turn Qualcomm Circuit on Coronado, however, is a far different test for Bell than the sweeping, triangular Pocono layout, and the high rate of contact among all the NASCAR national series on Friday got his attention.
“Myself and Adam (Stevens, crew chief) are really going to have to sit down and talk about what our goals are,” said Bell, who combined with Crews for the 36th-fastest lap on the Cup Series practice chart after Friday’s opening session. “I will say that it is a very high-risk race track, and I can’t afford any setbacks. I’m already two weeks into this healing process now, so the goal certainly is to get back to 100% as quick as possible and then yeah, we’ll see what happens.”
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series regular Brandon Jones was on standby for Bell last weekend, but this week’s potential backup duty goes to Crews, a talented 18-year-old standout in his first year of O’Reilly competition who carries a strong road-racing background. Crews estimated that “hours and hours” of preparation have gone into this weekend’s San Diego inaugural, all the way up to his own stint in Bell’s No. 20 Toyota near the end of Friday’s Cup Series practice.
Typically, his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team on the O’Reilly Series side has a leg up on returning to established tracks, while Crews works to get more familiar with venues he’s visiting for the first time. “It’s normally just getting me up to speed, not so much them,” Crews said, “but for this weekend it’s both of us.”
The potential for his first Cup Series laps in race-day competition, though, is an intriguing piece of the rapid development of Crews’ career. The circumstance of Bell’s status, though, is something that Crews has on his mind as he sits ready to help Sunday.
“Yeah, it sucks for sure, but lucky enough to be able to be friends with Christopher for a while now,” Crews told NASCAR.com before Friday’s first practice. “We’ve raced a whole lot of dirt racing together and stuff like that, so being able to just kind of be around and shadow him a little bit more has been cool. I fit in the seat, so hopefully Christopher will be able to be all right and dig through it with his wrist, obviously having those issues. He’s extremely tough, so I think he is going to be just fine, but I’ll be ready if need be.”
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Bell said the across-the-board unfamiliarity with the newly formed temporary circuit could be a boon for Crews, and he lauded the teenager’s ability to adapt.
“I really think that this is the perfect scenario for Brent, coming to a race track where it’s an equal playing field for everybody,” Bell said. “He’s obviously an amazing road-course racer. He did great in the simulator, and then yeah, practice, we’re really struggling with our car right now, but he certainly was doing a great job and was on a pretty respectable lap before he made a mistake late on the lap, so yeah, all things considered, I know that he will do really well, and if he races, we’re not going to be limited by driver.”
Bell’s cast was re-wrapped this week after it lost some of its shape post-Pocono. He said that the cast’s status was also week-to-week, and that he was working to be as close to 100% healthy as possible when the series returns to oval-track racing at Chicagoland Speedway on July 5.
Two road courses — San Diego this Sunday and Sonoma Raceway next week — remain before that date arrives, but Bell hopes another crack at the Naval Base Coronado course will also land on his 2027 schedule.
“It’s very frustrating,” Bell said. “I mean, I really truly hope that we get to come back here, because I had a blast out there racing, and I hope I get to race here at 100% at some point. It’s a bummer, but I’m very, very grateful that it’s just a couple fractured bones.”