Christopher Bell put the blame squarely on Ross Chastain for a late race accident that saw Bell make contact with William Byron and send him spinning into the outside wall.
Christopher Bell spins out William Byron during the Federated Autoparts 400 at Richmond Raceway via NASCAR YouTube
With 21 laps to go, following a restart, Ty Gibbs dove to the bottom of the track. Michael McDowell blocked the move by moving down as well. Ross Chastain followed suit, blocking McDowell.
Bell, who was directly in front of Chastain, did not block the move, and it put him three-wide going into turn 1. You can see in the video below that Bell thought about blocking Chastain, but he was already too late and then moved back up the track.
As they went into the turn, Bell clipped Byron left rear quarter panel sending Byron into the outside wall.
Following the race, Bell firmly blamed Chastain for the accident describing him as a “wrecking ball” and a “bonzai.”
When asked what happened with Byron, Bell looked back at Chastain and his car parked on pit road behind him, and then said, “The bonzai came in and put us three-wide.”
After detailing he had a long-run car and he needed the race to stay green, he was asked to provide further commentary with what happened with William Byron.
Bell again looked back at Chastain and said, “The wrecking ball came in and made us three-wide at the last second and there wasn’t enough room to be three-wide.”
He then made it specifically clear he was talking about Chastain, “The 1 car, the wrecking ball.”
Christopher Bell via Noah Lewis YouTube
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While Bell placed the blame for the wreck on Chastain, he indicated he has no plan on speaking to Chastain about it, “No, I mean he didn’t do anything wrong, but that’s just his MO.”
He added, “I feel bad for the 24 because he obviously, probably didn’t get the memo that we were gonna be three-wide because I barely got the memo that we were three-wide and that’s the way it always is.”
Christopher Bell spins out William Byron during the Federated Autoparts 400 at Richmond Raceway via NASCAR YouTube
As for Chastain, when he was asked what happened to the 24, he said, “I never saw the 24. I know I was bottom of three, but I never saw the 24.”
When informed about Bell’s comments, Chastain retorted, “He can say what he wants. Like other guys he walks right by me, doesn’t say anything to me. I don’t think I touched anybody and just down there on my line.”
Ross Chastain via Noah Lewis YouTube
FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass then asked Chastain, “What happened on that restart there where you had contact with William?”
After getting clarification he was talking about Bell spinning out Byron, Chastain corrected Pockrass saying, “Bob, I don’t think I touched William. I don’t think there was contact with William.”
“I think we got to say the facts and not opinions,” he chided. “I never saw the 24. I was underneath the 20. But I didn’t touch the 20 either.”
Chastain then laughed at Bell’s comments, “I mean if he’s gonna call me a wrecking ball I just… I don’t understand. I didn’t touch anybody and I got inside of the 20 entering turn 1. That’s all I saw,” he concluded.
Ross Chastain via Noah Lewis YouTube
Byron shared his thoughts and he put the blame on Bell, not on Chastain.
He said, “Just looked like the 20 got in there and overcooked the corner. He was put three-wide underneath him and he just blew the corner and I was the victim.”
When asked by a member of the media who tried to put the blame on Ross Chastain, Byron responded, “I don’t know all the details. I haven’t looked at it to understand it. I just know they were all funneling from the bottom. It looked like the 20 just had the brakes locked up. It is what it is.”
What do you make of Bell trying to put the blame on Chastain for him making contact with Byron and spinning him out? What do you make of multiple members of the media trying to put the blame on Chastain?