Last weekend's race at showed that top Cup Series contenders could battle for the win without blatantly wrecking each other. For winner Christopher Bell, it was a refreshing finish that could help change the narrative of NASCAR.
"I'm just so proud of the way everybody raced each other at the end of that race, (Tyler) Reddick included," Bell told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio this week. "Myself, Kyle (Busch) leading the race, William Byron behind me.
"I would love to change the narrative of the Cup Series of just running into people and moving them out of the way. So hopefully -- I don't know what the future of our sport is -- but I would love if this is a turning point for us."
The past few seasons of NASCAR, especially the Gen 7 era, have featured drivers making more aggressive moves to knock each other out of the way for wins. Circuit of the Americas, in particular, saw massive pileups in Turn 1. This forced NASCAR to move the restart zone to avoid calamity.
Richmond was another example last season as Austin Dillon wrecked both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin for the win. NASCAR responded by penalizing him and taking away his playoff eligibility.
These examples, and others across the national series, have partially created the narrative that drivers will do whatever it takes to win. Wrecking others is a line they are willing to cross.
The final laps of last weekend's Cup race at COTA were unlike past trips to the Texas road course. The four drivers battling for the lead -- Busch, Bell, Byron, and Reddick -- all had opportunities to move or wreck each other in the final laps.
They purposed avoided doing so. Bell nearly collided with Busch in Turn 1 late in the race but ran wide to avoid contact. He later passed the two-time champ cleanly and began to pull away.
However, Byron chased him down and pulled within reach of his bumper. Byron -- and Reddick behind him -- had opportunities to get physical. Neither chose this path. They just tried to adjust their lines as the laps clicked down.
"That's three guys that were in the top five in points last year, so you're not gonna do something to just wreck somebody," William Byron told AltDriver in the garage after the race. "That's the way it should be."
No one knows if the race at COTA was an outlier or a glimpse of respect returning to the sport. Bell certainly hopes it's the latter.