Christopher Bell had never broken a bone in a racing accident until this year.<\/p>\n
So when he sat in the infield medical center at Michigan International Speedway with a broken wrist in June, he didn\u2019t know what to expect.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Making The Chase and being in contention \u2014 albeit needing a near miracle to win the title \u2014 entering the final race was far from certain.<\/p>\n
Bell has had to balance those two realities in the last month: Part glad to be here, part his innate hatred of finishing second and not winning.<\/p>\n
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Christopher Bell is balancing two realities. (Getty Images) <\/p>\n
“As a whole, our season has been really good,” Bell said at a news conference last week at Martinsville. “Four months ago, I don\u2019t think any of us thought we were going to be in the position we were in.”<\/p>\n
So Bell can look at 2026 as an opportunity missed as far as winning a title.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d have to win Sunday at Homestead and earn at least 14 stage points (or 13 stage points and the point for the fastest lap) combined with Kyle Larson finishing 29th or worse with no stage points.<\/p>\n
Or he can look at it as a learning experience.<\/p>\n
“It was the first time I\u2019d ever broke a bone in my life and certainly the first time I\u2019ve been injured driving a race car aside from mild concussions here and there,” Bell said. “I don\u2019t really know that I learned anything about myself, but it was fun to learn to persevere and push through it. I\u2019m proud of how I handled it.”<\/p>\n
For Bell, he has finished second in eight races this year while winning only once. But that victory came in a dominating performance at Darlington, which gave notice of Bell as a significant championship contender.<\/p>\n
But the rest of The Chase has not gone as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bell has had three finishes of 15th or worse, including a pivotal 35th-place finish at Talladega that was partially the result of him spinning when trying to enter pit road.<\/p>\n
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Bell’s year was a story of finishing second. (Getty Images) <\/p>\n
It appeared to be a mistake that sat solely on Bell, although his crew chief, Adam Stevens, indicated the car setup played a role as it was the first green-flag pit stop with the smaller spoiler for Daytona and Talladega.<\/p>\n
“He\u2019s driving the race car that we prepared, so it’s not all on him by any means,” Stevens said at a news conference at Martinsville. “And we haven’t had green flag stops with this new package, and it’s a pretty small box that we’re in setup-wise to make these things do what they need to do on the racetrack and it’s on all of us, it’s not just on him.”<\/p>\n
Stevens said he learned something about his driver going through the tribulations of 2026.<\/p>\n
“The resilience has really impressed me,” Stevens said. “It’s been a very odd year for us to be as competitive as we’ve been and really not have a lot of show for it. And he still brings his best every single weekend and has done a much better job focusing forward.<\/p>\n
“He doesn’t get too distracted by whatever happened last week or the week before that, and that’s a big part of the sport.”<\/p>\n
It certainly can be frustrating.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We’ve been bringing competitive cars, and he’s been doing a fantastic job and sometimes that’s just not enough,” Stevens said. “And I think it’s shown a lot of growth for Bell, especially through his injury and some of the trials and tribulations we’ve had this year.<\/p>\n
“And I think that’s something that’s going to pay dividends in his future.”<\/p>\n
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