Christopher Bell Plans to Race at Pocono With Cast on Fractured Wrist and Relief Driver on Standby

Christopher Bell plans to complete the full 400-mile NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, June 14, 2026, one week after fracturing his left wrist in a crash at Michigan International Speedway. Bell sustained a 63g impact into the outside wall on Lap 148 of last week's FireKeepers Casino 400.

NASCAR stated earlier in the week that the hit was the heaviest of the Next-Gen era and the hardest since 2015.

Bell said Saturday at Pocono that he was told the impact measured 63gs. "I don't know what the delta-v is. I'm just so incredibly fortunate and thankful and blessed that my head was okay.

Bell will race with a cast on his left wrist. His steering wheel, designed by former driver Max Papis, has less material on the left-hand side to accommodate the cast. He said he is driving the car one-handed and can hold the wheel enough to shift.

"It's a normal broken bone," Bell said. "Under normal circumstances, they would say six weeks [recovery time]. I would expect me to be in a cast for a period of time. I'm gonna take it week by week. Right now, I'm pretty much driving the car one-handed.

Bell said the car and all of his safety gear performed perfectly in the crash. "The car did absolutely perfect," he said. "All of my safety gear did absolutely perfect. " Brandon Jones, driver of the No.

20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, will be on standby as a relief driver for Bell on Sunday.