Christopher Bell’s championship hopes came to a fiery end on lap 108 at Phoenix Sunday when his Toyota lost a brake rotor coming into Turn 3 sending him hard into the outside wall while he was running sixth. He brought the car into the pits with fire coming out of the right front but was done for the day.
“Well, I mean that was my first time I’ve ever exploded a rotor in my career,” Bell said. “So, yeah, I was surprised but early on in the race I had a little bit of brake fade and the second run it just kept getting worse and worse. I don’t know. Just obviously a disappointing way to end.”
Bell said he did have a warning that something was going awry.
“Yes, I did have brake fade,” he said. “In the first run of the race, I did have some pedal fade and I think that was run two – it got worse and worse.”
Bell was the first car out of the race and finished last, 36.
“Yeah, I mean it stings to not have a shot at the end of it obviously,” Bell said. “We were all four really close and we all four showed strengths at different times. I think it’s going to be a great championship race and whoever wins is going to be well deserving.”
After his day was over, all Bell could do was summarize his season and look forward to 2024.
“I’m very proud of the effort put forth by our team to get to the Championship 4,” he said. “But I do feel like we left a lot on the table at various races throughout the year. I’m excited about the future. We haven’t reached our potential yet.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.