DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Christopher Bell entered the Round of 16 with big expectations for the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team. He left Darlington Raceway very frustrated after an incident with Carson Hocevar ruined his night.
Bell hit Hocevar on pit road while exiting his pit stall. This spun the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet and caused significant damage to the splitter of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. From this point on, Bell could not contend for the win, let alone a top-10 finish.
Make that two drivers. @CBellRacing makes contact with the No. 77 while exiting his pit stall. https://t.co/NiflExv5UQ pic.twitter.com/c9LYS874Mj
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 31, 2025
"The 77 just didn't yield," a frustrated Bell said on pit road after the race. "He didn't give way, and I would say that it's on...
"It's our responsibility to not run into him if he's racing for position, but the fact that he was the one who brought the yellow out, the only reason that we had contact was because he was so far behind the field catching up. You know, that's very frustrating.
"Honestly, I don't really give blame to Carson. I think it's more on his team to not let him know the circumstances that he's pitted on an island with all the playoff cars. He just spun, brought out the yellow. He's not going to gain a spot on pit road. And he didn't give way and ruined my night. So, it's a bummer."
The caution Bell referred to took place on Lap 152. Hocevar lost control and spun on his own. He avoided hitting other cars and the wall, but he needed to head down pit road for fresh tires.
This is when the night completely changed for Bell. Once he hit Hocevar and put a hole in the splitter, he could no longer contend with the rest of the big names.
Instead of focusing on tire management, fuel strategy, and the best line to run to make speed, Bell had to make multiple trips down pit road for repairs. He fell two laps behind teammate Chase Briscoe, who won his second consecutive Southern 500.
The No. 20 crew is hard at work to repair @CBellRacing's machine. pic.twitter.com/rcTaUIpvxB
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 1, 2025
He missed out on a prime opportunity to score points while other teams crumbled under the pressure of the playoffs. Now, he's 11 points above the cutline with two races remaining in the Round of 16.
"These cars are just so finicky, like, in some areas, they're super robust, and you can obviously hit the wall, and if you don't bend a toe link, you're gonna be fine," Bell told AltDriver. "Or you can have pit road contact and damage the splitter, it's game over.
"So, just disappointing, because clearly a lot of people had bad days, and that was a great opportunity to separate yourself in points. Looking at the positives, we're still in the hunt, and we're not out of it, so that's really good.
"Just a night that could have been."