Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell were involved in a high-speed wreck at Michigan International Speedway during the NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday. The wreck destroyed both Cup cars as fans reacted to the crash’s intensity.
With 60 laps to go, Zane Smith wrecked and brought out a caution, resulting in a flurry of cars making what possibly would’ve been the final pit stop. As the race restarted with 53 laps to go, Elliott and Bell ran P2 and P3 with William Byron in the lead.
Elliott was on the inside line with Bell on his outside when the No.9 Chevrolet got loose midway through Turn 3 on Lap 148. Elliott tried to catch the spin, but as the car gripped up, he went straight into Bell on his outside.
With the cars flat out, Christopher Bell’s Toyota hit the barrier, followed by Chase Elliott’s Chevrolet hitting the rear quarter of the No. 20 JGR. Both cars were destroyed, but the drivers escaped without any serious injuries and were able to get out of the car by themselves.
Fans on the social media platform X reacted to the huge wreck,
“That was gnarly”
Another commented, “Bell darn near went through that safer barrier!! Absolutely Frightening!!!!!”
“That was a TERRIBLE hit. Glad bell is okay,” commented another
Some fans hailed the safety measures implemented by NASCAR, allowing both drivers to walk away from such a high-speed crash.
“Thank god for the safer barrier,” commented a user
Another wrote, “Very, very scary. Kudos to everyone who has made these cars so safe.”
“Brutal hit😮 glad to see them both walk away🙏🏻” mentioned another.
The caution was eventually converted into a red flag as the barrier in Turn 3 took serious damage from Christopher Bell’s Toyota hitting it, and it had to be repaired before the race could be restarted.
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Chase Elliott takes blame for the high-speed wreck with Christopher Bell at Michigan
After the crash, Chase Elliott was seen going up to Christopher Bell and patted Bell while apologizing for the crash. Elliott, speaking on the Prime Video livestream after the wreck, took full blame for the crash as he said,
“Totally my fault. I feel really bad for Bell and taking him out. I was just trying to run in the bottom and making use of our fresh tires and getting into at least P2. I was hoping to stay side by side with him, but I got free and thought I was going to spin, and kind of commit to spinning out. But as I committed to spinning, it just hooked up, hooked right and sent Christopher in the wall super hard.”
Many drivers took to the team radio after the crash and were left stunned by the speed at which Elliott and Bell crashed. 23XI star Bubba Wallace claimed on the radio that it was the “scariest” wreck that he’s witnessed.
