Story & Photo By Patricia McCormack/TheFourthTurn.com

LONG POND, Pa. – On Saturday, Christopher Bell entered the Pocono Raceway Media Center wearing a black cast, and it was revealed that the 63G impact he endured at Michigan, fractured his wrist.

During a mid-race incident with Chase Elliott at Michigan International Raceway last weekend, Bell was sent hard into the outside wall when Elliott got loose underneath him. Bell stated that during the impact, his ear piece popped out.

“Once I hit the wall, my earpiece popped out, so I scared the crap out of my wife (Morgan) and probably everyone else listening because I didn’t respond to Tab (Boyd, spotter) whenever he was checking on me, but my earpiece popped out, so I didn’t have any communication”,” Bell said.

It was at this time that his race car had caught fire and Bell was doing everything he could to get himself out of the car quickly. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver knew upon trying to get out of the car that he had broken his wrist.

“I knew my wrist was broke right away, because I couldn’t disconnect my shirt,” Bell said. “I reached down, tried to disconnect my shirt, and I couldn’t squeeze the button, so I had to use my right hand to do that.” Bell said, recalling the difficulties he faced trying to get out of his car. 

Bell credits NASCAR and all of the safety measures enforced as to why he walked away with only a broken wrist.

“The car did absolutely perfect, and all of my safety gear did absolutely perfect,” Bell said. “I was really, really grateful, Sunday, whenever I hit the wall, that all of the R&D, all of that effort had gone into making sure that I had the perfect containment system and it worked. Everything worked perfectly.”

Many drivers were asked as to whether or not they inquired about Bell’s car after the incident.

Fellow Toyota Racing driver, Erik Jones said, “Christopher’s in one piece pretty much and is here racing. So, I think that says a lot, but as far as the real nitty-gritty and what can be better about his stuff and what can be better going forward, I’ll just wait for NASCAR on that.”

Other drivers echoed a similar response with having more concern with Bell’s well being.

Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron said, “I think I was just concerned in the moment that Christopher was okay. It was great to see him get out. Obviously, his wrist injury is unfortunate.”

Sporting a black cast on his left wrist at Pocono Raceway, Bell was asked if he planned to race all 400 miles at the triangle shaped track, and he said that he was up to the challenge despite the injury. However, Brandon Jones will be available if Bell needs to get out of the car on Sunday.

“The plan is absolutely for me to compete all 400 miles, but we do have a back up plan in place if I am not able to do it” Bell said. “Brandon Jones, he came and sat through all of our SIM sessions this week to make sure that he was up to speed.”

Although Bell does plan to race all 400 miles at Pocono Raceway, Bell is unsure about the following weeks including the San Diego Street Course and Sonoma Raceway due to the added stress on the wrist from turning left and right.

“I’m going to play it week by week and see how I feel today and practice at Pocono and then after the race,” Bell said. “I have done a couple SIM sessions at San Diego. I feel like I was able to get through an hour or two in the simulator and do okay. So, I’m thankful that it’s another seven days away. I think certainly it’s going to be a week-to-week thing.”

Bell continued and said, “Right now, I’m pretty much driving the car one-handed. I can kind of hold the wheel a little bit. I think enough to shift. Shifting on the straightaways here at Pocono is, I think it’s going to be doable.”

Bell also acknowledged that they had made some modifications to accommodate his broken wrist. His steering wheel has been modified to accommodate his cast so it is easier for him to hold when he needs to shift and that everything he would do with his left hand, such as grabbing his drink bottle, using the radios and turning on his helmet blower, was all moved to the right side of the cockpit.

Bell will start The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA at Pocono Raceway in the 22nd position. Live coverage will broadcast on Prime at 1 p.m. ET.