NASCAR Cup: Bell Will Have Jones on Standby at Pocono After 63G Michigan Crash

LONG POND, Pa. -- After a massive hit last Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, Christopher Bell is back racing in the NASCAR Cup Series this Sunday at Pocono Raceway.

“To get out of that with a wrist injury is immaculate," Bell said. 

Driving with a fractured left wrist, Bell is planning to go the full 400-mile distance. However, NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Brandon Jones is on standby if Bell has issues during the race.

"He came and sat through all of our sessions to make sure he was up to speed. He did a great job driving the simulator," Bell said. "I think that it's either going to be I'm gonna commit to the race and I'm gonna do it. Or I'm going to be out and just start and ride around until the first yellow. But, as of right now, I'm planning on running 400 miles."

Bell will try to go the distance after a crash with Chase Elliott cut his race short with just 52 laps to go last Sunday, leaving him with the wrist injury.

"I was still hands on the wheel, hands turned left and then my left hand, which was on the bottom, my wrist was bent over, like that on the underside of the wheel and then just the force into the steering wheel, slightly smashed it. So yeah, just that was that," Bell said.

NASCAR told Bell his hit registered at 63 Gs upon impact. For reference, the hardest hit ever recorded was 86 Gs, when Elliott Sadler crashed at Pocono Raceway in August 2010.

"Once I hit the wall, my earpiece [to communicate with the team] popped so I scared the crap out of my wife and probably everyone else listening because I didn't respond to Tab [Boyd, spotter] whenever he was checking on me," Bell said, adding he knew his wrist was broken. "I couldn't disconnect my shirt. I tried to reach down to disconnect my shirt and I couldn't squeeze the button so I had to use my right hand to do that. Then my foot hurt really, really bad too but we got X-rays on my foot and it ended up just being bruised." 

Bell said he didn't have a headache and didn't black out during the crash. He also underwent tests in the infield care center and they all came back clear.

"From what I've been told, it's pretty much just a normal broken bone. So, under normal circumstances, they would say six weeks. I would expect me to be in a cast for a period of time. I'm really glad that I didn't have any displaced bones, so I didn't have to have surgery, which was awesome, but yeah, I'm going to take it week-by-week," Bell said.

Throughout the process, including simulator testing during the week, Bell never considered sitting out.

"Honestly, I didn't even consider the points. Sunday, whenever I got to the airplane, I didn't really have any thought of not racing because I'm like, 'as long as I can hold the steering wheel, I'll be fine,' and then throughout my simulator sessions... I did fine... There was no thoughts of me missing a race since my head was fine," Bell said. "I'm gonna have to acclimate to driving primarily right-handed. I think I primarily drove left-handed under normal circumstances so it's going to take some acclimation."

Doctors molded Bell's cast to a steering wheel so he could get a grip on it. His Joe Gibbs Racing team also accommodated him with adjustments to the button for his radio, the location of his drink bottle and parts of his steering wheel.

"Max Papis did a great job of helping me out with a steering wheel to accommodate me the best that I can. We took a lot of material off of the left side of the wheel, just to make it skinnier, because I have so much material in my palms, to help my hand get around the steering wheel," Bell said.

Pocono is one of the easier ovals for Bell to race with an injury. Three turns and 160 laps are both fewer turns and fewer laps than a typical oval race. Plus, the G-loads aren't as high due to lower banking in each turn.

"Pocono would be a really good track to have this issues with but the shifting makes it a little bit different, more difficult," Bell said. 

"Next week's going to be interesting."

After Pocono is a 3.4-mile course on various pavement types and conditions at Naval Base Coronado, adjacent to downtown San Diego. With a 75-lap race around 16 turns, Bell will have to turn at least 1,200 times, with varying difficulty and technicality. Then, Sonoma Raceway will present 1,320 turns from a 110-lap race around a 12-turn course.

"Right now, I'm pretty much driving the car one-handed. I can kind of hold the wheel a little bit," Bell said. “It's certainly going to be hard. I'm just going to play it week by week and see how I feel today and practice at Pocono and then after the race. I have done a couple SIM sessions at San Diego. I mean, I feel like I was able to get through an hour or two in the simulator and do okay."

Bell said shifting on the straightaways at Pocono is "doable." Then, San Diego presents some corners to shift in while Sonoma presents a "difficult" turn one he's hoping to heal more before he faces.

"I feel fine driving a street car so I'll learn more when I get out there," Bell said.

Bell is 10th in the Cup Series points standings, 81 points above the cutline to make the Chase. If the Chase started today, he would start 70 points behind current points leader Tyler Reddick.