The complexion of the Go Bowling at The Glen shifted just past halfway when Christopher Bell spun due to contact from Kyle Larson behind him.
The incident took place on Lap 55 of the 90 lap NASCAR Cup Series race. Martin Truex Jr. was leading but unable to pull away from both Bell and Larson — with the three contenders running nose-to-tail for much of the first half.
Larson made a move inside of Bell at the entrance to Turn 1 but was forced to lock up his tires and slid into his longtime friend and dirt rival, sending the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 around. Bell fell to 10th and was unable to return to the front of the field.
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Larson went on to win the race with Bell finishing seventh and wondering how a chance to win got away from him.
“I haven’t seen it so I don’t know if I crowded him at all, but he shouldn’t have been in there in the first place,” Bell said. “He didn’t really have a run coming off of (Turn) 7. We were all packed up. I was faster than (Truex) but never could make a run on him to get by him, and same thing with him.
“It’s very disappointing. Extremely frustrating, but a lot more racing to go.”
Bell felt he was at least equal to Larson and could have been in a similar position if not for the incident. Recognizing that, Larson issued a public apology to Bell, and conceded that he didn’t have the position he likely needed to complete that pass.
“Yeah, he would pull me off of 7 every time, and that time I maintained, and I was outbraking him in the other laps, so I thought I could outbrake him and get all the way to his inside,” Larson said, “I was only able to get my nose to his numbers. Maybe not even that far, but it was close.
“At that point I’m already committed and on the verge of wheel hopping and locking the fronts up and I was just hoping he would leave enough room.”
Bell didn’t leave the room, not believing Larson should have been there in the first place, resulting in the contact.
Larson took responsibility.
“Like I said, I just needed to be a few feet further up, and I think I would have had position on him, but I wasn’t able to get there,” Larson said. “And yeah, he had to turn for the corner, and I was as low as I could get. Yeah, we made contact.
“It was definitely my fault. Not intentional, obviously. But I made a mistake.”
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