“Bullsh*t” – Kyle Larson Calls Out Christopher Bell Over Claims of Heroic Vegas Drive

Christopher Bell finished 23rd at Las Vegas Motor Speedway despite starting 3rd on the grid. From the outside looking in, this was a huge let-off for the No. 20 team, but the situation could’ve been worse without Bell’s heroic effort. He drove the No. 20 Toyota Camry for the majority of the second half of the race without power steering. However, Kyle Larson wasn’t buying into Bell’s complaints over the mechanical failure and ridiculed his claim of completing the race without power steering. 

“There’s no chance that Christopher Bell is hanging onto a race car with no power steering. When people say no power steering, you have some power steering,” Larson said on the Stacking Pennies Podcast.

After the Stage 2 completion, Bell shared an update to his team. “I actually have some assistance under yellow.” In response, his crew chief, Adam Stevens, called him onto the pit road to fix the issue and give his driver some relief. This came after Bell had reported that he had lost the power steering totally, and even with the repairs, things didn’t improve for the JGR driver. 

But despite this, Larson couldn’t believe that a driver could complete a race, especially on an intermediate track with the assist from the steering. Ryan Flores shared that Bell had reported a complete loss of power steering, to which the HMS driver replied, “Bulls***, I’m gonna give him some flowers but zero percent power assist on an intermediate, no way.” 

The Next Gen NASCAR car weighs 3000 pounds, and without power steering the driver has to use his upper body strength to guide the race car around the sharp corners of the racetrack. What added to Bell’s woes was his wrist injury he suffered back in Michigan. He was seen switching and resting his hands on the straightaways to not strain himself or the wrist that was already hurt.

“My wrist is fine. My hands are a little shaky and tingly, but I’m going to be OK,” the JGR driver said after the race. And given the circumstances, this was a heroic drive by him, yet Larson wasn’t convinced of it while making his argument on the podcast.

Bell was disappointed with the overall outcome of the race, especially at a race where he was looking to cut down ‌Larson’s lead in the points table. “Never fun running without power steering. I got into a pretty good rhythm where I could just kind of roll around, and my car was handling good enough that I could just roll around and do OK. Just disappointing to have a great opportunity in front of us and not come away with it.”

This result at Vegas was huge in how the championship race is shaping up. Bell trails by 55 points after Larson’s runner-up finish. Not ideal for Bell and his team, as they will have to go all out in the remaining 5 races. But the No. 20 team cannot afford mechanical gremlins as they did at Vegas. 

55 back with just races to go is a sizable gap, especially given how dominant the No. 5 team has been. But Bell’s crew chief, Adam Stevens, feels his team is still in the race. “I mean as far as where we started the race and ended the day, it’s not much different. I think we actually made some ground on the 11, we just lost a couple points to the 5. But you know when you have a good car like that and score all the stage points, it makes you think about what could’ve been.”

But Larson’s critique against Bell came at an interesting point in the conversation he was having with the panel. They were discussing the 2019 Chili Bowl race where the JGR driver beat him in a thrilling finish. Now that could’ve fueled the spark in Larson’s belly to make a comment on Bell’s Vegas trouble. He even tried to clear things up on the podcast, “I’m sorry, Bell for busting on you.”

This mid-week podcast has the potential to kick-start a rivalry for the remaining 5 races. Kyle Larson might feel good and confident about his position in the title race. Also, the only real progress Bell and the No. 20 can make during these races is to go directly against the No. 5 team. Waiting until the Martinsville race or the finale in Homestead-Miami would be too late. 

So far, Bell hasn’t responded to Larson’s comments, but we will get a chance to respond on the racetrack this weekend at Charlotte. 

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