Christopher Bell’s expletive-laden rant over the team radio went viral after the NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway, and the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has now admitted he regrets the outburst
Christopher Bell recently won the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway(Image: Getty)
Just two races into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, things appeared dire for Christopher Bell behind the wheel of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Following a disappointing 29th-place finish at Darlington in the Round of 16 opener, while teammate Chase Briscoe captured the victory, Bell managed only a seventh-place result at World Wide Technology Raceway the following week, as JGR’s Denny Hamlin secured the win.
Bell’s aggravating day in Illinois caused his anger to explode after the race concluded, resulting in a profanity-filled tirade over the team radio that quickly became a social media sensation. Meanwhile, harrowing footage has emerged showing Josh Berry’s fire incident.
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“We just f—— ran seventh with the best car on the track. Every f—— week it’s the same s—. We’re the last car to pit road. I’m over it!” the 30 year old declared.
“If your teammates are out there winning races and leading laps, that shows that the cars are capable, we have the equipment, and I haven’t been leading laps and I haven’t been winning races,” Bell explained, via Bob Pockrass. “So, there’s obviously something going on that’s keeping us from doing that.”
Nevertheless, Bell’s fortunes have dramatically improved, with the No. 20 seizing the lead in the closing stages of the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday and driving to his first victory lane celebration since March, when he captured three of the season’s first four races. He later dedicated the win to Charlie Kirk after his tragic assassination.
Moving ahead to Monday, Bell faced questions on ‘The Day After’ podcast regarding his previous outburst, confessing that he regretted its viral spread. “It’s walking such a fine line…no other professional sport has microphones inside the helmet,” he said.
“And, I bet you NFL wide receivers and NBA players, they probably have very similar discards of emotion, I’m going to call it that, like we do. I feel bad that it went viral. I didn’t intend for it to go viral.”
Bell recently launched into an expletive-laden radio rant after the Enjoy Illinois 300(Image: Getty)
Nevertheless, Bell believed some good came from his now notorious outburst, as it sparked necessary conversations within his team.
“The positive that comes out of it is we all get together, we all have a powwow meeting, and understand that we all want to do better,” he said.
“And Adam Stevens, my crew chief, he wants to win just as bad as I do. My engineers want to win just as bad as I do. Like we’re all on the same team. And at times it can get to be where it feels like it’s you competing against your crew chief.
“And that is, that’s the enemy. That’s not what you want. You want to make sure it’s you and your crew chief racing for a common goal.”
Now advancing to the Round of 12, Bell will shift his attention to New Hampshire Motor Speedway and the USA Today 301, a race he’s claimed victory in twice over the past three seasons.
The Cup Series will then move on to Kansas Speedway and Charlotte’s Roval before the Playoff field gets cut down to the final eight contenders.