Christopher Bell Denied Spring Atlanta Repeat by Carson Hocevar

HAMPTON, Ga. — One year ago, Christopher Bell picked up the win at EchoPark Speedway that started a streak of three consecutive victories.

On Sunday night (Feb. 22), it looked like history could repeat itself entering overtime of the Autotrader 400. But after contact with Carson Hocevar sent Bell hard into the outside wall in turn 1, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver finds himself in a points hole instead of riding a wave of momentum like last year.

Bell was in second on the first overtime restart, lining up outside of leader Bubba Wallace. His spotter relayed to the Oklahoma native that Hocevar, who was restarting right behind Bell, was going to try to push him to the lead and way out in front of the pack so the two could settle it amongst themselves.

“Yes, that’s what he communicated with me,” Bell said. “But, you know, you never expect anything, especially from him.”

As the field took the green flag, Hocevar’s car ended up between the Nos. 23 and 20 before the hole closed. The contact sent Bell spinning hard into the outside wall, ruining his bid for the win.

“Unfortunately, you got me a little too early because I haven’t seen it,” Bell said. “So I’m gonna keep my mouth shut until I see a replay.”

Hocevar, on the other hand, gave a better perspective of what happened.

“I got such a big run, and he kind of opened it,” Hocevar said. “And as I got there, I felt like there was a hole, but I got there so fast that, I’m sure it was by all means closed by the time I got there.

“So, I mean, I don’t mean to tear them [Bell] up, obviously. But at the same time, I felt like that move was probably going to win us the race last year, and it just happened in the same car. So I felt like if I got an opportunity, I was going to shoot for it, and I felt like with the push that Ross [Chastain] gave me, there was a shot there.

Hocevar escaped the incident without much damage and still manager to finish fourth one year after finishing second to Bell in the spring race at Atlanta. Bell, however, limped home to a 21st-place result.

“Yeah, I mean, I haven’t seen the replay,” Bell reiterated. “Maybe there was a hole there, and that’s what he thought he was gonna try and do. I don’t know.”

The finish is Bell’s second straight outside of the top 20. He crashed out of the Daytona 500 to net a 35th place. Just two races into the season, he sits 31st in the standings. He trails Casey Mears in points, who didn’t even race at Atlanta. But Bell didn’t leave the Peach State wondering what could have been.

“No, I mean, it wasn’t taken away,” Bell said. “Nothing’s ever expected or deserved here. We were in position, and that’s all you can ask for. I was really honestly proud of myself for making it to the end. The fall race last year, I had a super fast car and took myself out of it before we even had a shot at racing at it.

“So early in the day, the guys made great adjustments to getting my car driving better, and then as soon as it drove the way that I needed to, we were able to go to the front. So I’m happy with that, but yeah, no points.”