NASCAR driver Christopher Bell, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, has revealed his interest in taking part in the Indy 500 alongside his NASCAR racing commitments.
Whilst speaking to the press during the NASCAR Awards, Bell explained that he would be interested in taking part in the Indy 500, but only if Toyota ever plans to make the move to the event. He commented to the press:
“Yeah, for sure. If Toyota was interested in that, I would be raising my hand to do it. They haven’t been (just) a huge part of my career, they have been my career.”
Speaking about the support he has received from Toyota throughout his racing career, Bell added:
“They have literally taken me from childhood semi-professional or amateur racing all the way to the Cup Series so I would love that. I would love if they would do it, and I’d be the first one to raise my hand to do it.”
This comes weeks after Bell narrowly missed out on a spot in the 2024 Cup Series Championship 4. After initially securing his space in the final round, he was hit with a penalty for wall riding, which saw William Byron take his place. On top of this, NASCAR later handed out significant penalties to multiple drivers and crew chiefs for race manipulation which worked against Bell.
Speaking on the situation at the time, Bell explained, as reported by NBC Sports:
“I feel cheated. I feel cheated out of a chance to compete for a championship. It all stems from what happened (with) 15-20 (laps) to go, whenever the race got fixed and manipulated by Chevrolet. That forced our hands to do what we did, and ultimately it forced me into a mistake on the last lap to get into the wall.
“I feel I should never have been in that position. Had the race been ran fairly, (Byron) would have lost enough spots to get me into the final race.”
Commenting on the wall-riding at the end of the race, Bell added:
“My intentions were never to ride the wall. I didn’t gain an advantage riding the wall. It was not a move. I don’t believe that I broke the rule.
“As the run continued, I actually got visuals on (Byron) and saw him backing the field up and it was then probably 10 to go when I realized what was going on and (Byron) was bleeding positions,” Bell said.
“I thought, at that point, my race was over. I didn’t know that (Wallace) was a point for me until the last lap. I knew that I had to pass him. I got by him going into Turn 3 and, unfortunately, I slid into the wall.”
