Christopher Bell says it is going to be a ‘game time decision’ whether or not he competes in the entirety of the NASCAR Cup Series race on the streets of Naval Air Station North Island on Sunday.
Bell fractured his wrist two weeks ago in a crash at Michigan International Speedway but also completed every lap last week at Pocono Raceway. However, a street course requires a lot more physical input that might challenge the driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20.
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“It’s not a pain threshold … and it’s not going to be any different until I get my cast off,” Bell said. “But it’s the same thing as Pocono where I just can’t be as quick and aggressive on the steering wheel as I normally am.”
Bell isn’t even totally sure what will determine whether or not he gets out of the car on Sunday.
“Myself and Adam (Stevens, crew chief) are really going to have to sit down and talk about what our goals are,” Bell said. “I will say that it’s a very high-risk racetrack and I can’t afford any setbacks. I’m already two weeks into this healing process now.”
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The risk is what happens if the steering wheel snaps due to any contact.
“Any sort of miscalculation on the apex, walls or wheel-to-wheel contact and the wheel jerks in my hand,” Bell said. “Those are the kind of things that I think we’re all worried about.”
For this weekend, Joe Gibbs Racing top prospect Brent Crews is on standby should Bell need relief. Crews spent some time in the Toyota Racing Development simulator this past week and even turned his first laps in a Cup Series car in practice on Saturday.
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Crews is the 2023 Trans-Am road racing champion.
“I think this is the perfect scenario for Brent,” Bell said. “I really think that this is the perfect scenario for Brent coming to a racetrack where it’s an equal playing field for everybody. He’s obviously an amazing road course racer.
“He did great in the simulator and then practice too. We were really struggling with our car but he certainly was doing a great job and was on a pretty respectable lap before he made a mistake late on the last lap.
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“So yeah, all things considered, I know that he will do really well and I don’t think we’re going to be limited by the driver if he races.”
Bell says his cast is a week-to-week matter. His doctors have advised him not to take it off, but that they would approve it, should he make the overture. Last week at Pocono revealed to Bell that there are still some weeks left to go in the short-term recovery process.
“Before Pocono, I thought I was going to be completely fine, and I thought that I was going to be able to drive the car completely fine, and Pocono was an eye opener of ‘I’m not at a hundred percent and I’m not driving at a hundred percent.’
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“I’m not my normal self. So, with that being said, yeah, I was over-optimistic and I understand now that I’m not at a hundred percent.”
With all of that said, Bell is making tremendous progress in that he only felt ‘little tinges’ of pain at Pocono. He didn’t feel those ‘tinges’ on Friday. He’s just limited by the cast that he’s not willing to risk removing this weekend.
“It’s just the physical limitation of not being able to turn the wheel quick enough,” Bell said. “And if everything goes perfect and I don’t get loose and I don’t miss an apex and I hit my downshifts, perfect, I am fine.
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“But it’s just those extracurriculars that came up today off of the last chicane. I was in the middle of trying to shift and then, the moment it gets loose, it becomes very difficult to catch it. I just need to get the cast off.”
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