Did You Notice? … The list of driver injuries in both the NASCAR and NTT IndyCar series keeps growing? We can now add the NASCAR Cup Series’ Christopher Bell to the walking wounded. Bell revealed Tuesday (June 9) that X-Rays confirmed he suffered a fractured left wrist last weekend following this hard crash with Chase Elliott at Michigan International Speedway.
Despite the injury, Bell has declared he’ll still race his No. 20 Toyota in Sunday’s Pocono Raceway event. That makes him the eighth driver in either NASCAR or IndyCar to be nursing some sort of physical ailment while competing.
Keep in mind that’s just the eighth that we know about; unlike stick-and-ball sports, there’s no injury report presented to the public from either teams or the sanctioning body itself. If a driver wants to keep their physical condition private, they have every right to do so.
Add in the pressure of so many racing for their futures as Silly Season heats up and it’s no wonder drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr. hid their concussions and contusions from public view.
Here’s a closer look at who’s fighting what.
NASCAR
Christopher Bell: Fractured left wrist suffered in Michigan crash
How long could this affect him?: Mild fractures to your wrist, without surgery, typically take 4-6 weeks in a splint, but more complicated ones could take up to three months to fully heal.
Prognosis: Bell has Pocono up next; it’s a race Brad Keselowski famously won with a broken left ankle some 15 years ago. So, there’s past precedent here, the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas are fast, and Bell has two career top-five finishes at this track.
But Pocono is no gimme. We’ve seen some spectacular hung throttles and nasty accidents in the triangular-shaped facility’s first corner, where cars approach the turn at speeds approaching 200 miles per hour. Bell needs to be careful not to exacerbate his problems.
After that? There’s the street course in San Diego and the road course at Sonoma Raceway, awful timing for a one-handed driver needing to navigate both left and right turns. One would think Bell would at least have a substitute waiting on standby: could Corey Heim be temporarily released by 23XI Racing to fill in?
Either way, Bell’s championship hopes feel like they crumpled along with his car. Already sitting 10th in the standings, he’ll be hard pressed to climb up further while healing, especially over the next three to five weeks. It’s a supposed death knell in a new playoff system designed to make it near-impossible for anyone seeded fourth on back to win the championship.
We’ll see.
Alex Bowman: Vertigo (missed four races)
How long could it affect him?: Bowman said he’s “as close to 100 percent as I’m going to get” after updating the media two weeks ago at Nashville Superspeedway.
Prognosis: Bowman has already missed four races due to the injury, nasty leftovers from back and spinal issues suffered during a sprint car crash back in 2023. He had what he called a minor tweak of an operation to adjust for his balance issues, missing a month, and will be in physical therapy seemingly indefinitely to manage the problem.
It’s left Bowman some 154 points behind the Chase cutline, seemingly out of playoff contention and potentially a ride at Hendrick Motorsports in 2027. Another nasty crash at Nashville sure didn’t help things and he’s riding a streak of four straight races outside the top 10. Plus, with a problem like vertigo, you never quite know when a flareup will come. It’s a tough situation.
Denny Hamlin: Shoulder injury aggravated in the offseason
How long will this affect him?: Hamlin has chosen to delay any needed surgery until after the season.
Prognosis: It’s easy to forget Hamlin has been dealing with an old right shoulder injury from 2023 that got worsened when cleaning up debris from his family’s tragic fire this past offseason.
We haven’t heard much about that pain in recent weeks, though. That’s because Hamlin’s raced to two straight convincing wins at Nashville and Michigan after needing to start in the back for each of them. He’s undoubtedly the hottest driver in the sport.
But the long-term shoulder pain he’s experiencing also isn’t going to get any better until offseason surgery. With the grueling nature of NASCAR’s 36-race, points-paying schedule, fatigue is worth watching here as summer turns into fall.
IndyCar
Josef Newgarden: Left foot injury suffered in Indy 500 crash
How long could it affect him?: Uncertain. Newgarden’s been very guarded with information surrounding the injury; the only thing known for sure is the walking boot and crutch-turned-scooter he’s been using to get around the past two weeks.
Prognosis: Brad Keselowski, the sequel? Newgarden, running for the same Team Penske organization Keselowski was during his broken ankle run in 2011, just emerged victorious in Sunday night’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway in St. Louis.
The win came one week after gutting out a 10th at Detroit’s street course, giving him back-to-back top 10s for the first time since early March. Next up? Road America, the track where Newgarden last won on a road course way back in 2022. With his Penske future potentially on the line, pure adrenaline is carrying Newgarden back to superstardom.
Alexander Rossi: Right ankle and left middle finger injuries suffered during Indy 500 practice crash
How long could it affect him? Finger pins are typically removed four to six weeks after surgery. The ankle is more complicated; typically, even minor ankle surgeries mean you can’t bear weight on the ankle for at least two weeks. It’ll be several months before Rossi will be walking and running like normal.
Prognosis: Rossi has been slow getting in and out of his racecar but the actual competition part? He’s been able to fight through the pain. Unfortunately, Rossi hasn’t been rewarded with results; he has yet to score a top-15 finish since the injury.
A week off should allow for some extra healing before Road America, at least. But a promising month of May for Rossi has ended with him limping through the rest of 2026.
Mick Schumacher: Injured left wrist suffered in St. Petersburg crash
How long could it affect him? The entire season. Schumacher will likely need surgery to repair a piece of his wrist that broke off, the type that would keep him from competing for several weeks.
Prognosis: The Formula 1 driver-turned-IndyCar rookie didn’t even make a full lap at speed before getting hurt. Schumacher has had some impressive performances since, like qualifying fourth at Phoenix Raceway one week later and winning Indy 500 Rookie of the Year last month. He at least did enough to keep the injury under wraps until the end of April.
But for a driver with a steep learning curve, running at less than 100% does seem to have come with a cost. He’s tied for last in the IndyCar standings, a whopping 253 points behind championship leader Alex Palou, and hasn’t earned a top-10 finish yet this season. Plus, unlike the other drivers on this list, putting off surgery means his health likely gets worse, not better, as the year drags on.
Caio Collet: Fractured rib suffered in Indy 500 crash
How long could it affect him?: Most rib fractures take at least a month to recover from, although the timeline can bump up to 12 weeks for more severe injuries.
Prognosis: IndyCar rookie Collet, who revealed at WWT Raceway he’s getting injections to help with his rib pain, seemed to be just fine during the race. Leading seven laps, he was a strong podium contender until the engine let go with less than 35 laps remaining.
Since IndyCar has a light summer schedule, with only two races between now and July 4, Collet is in the best position among anyone on this list to heal completely before the sport’s grueling August finish: six races in a matter of five weeks.
Romain Grosjean: Right hand injury suffered with Detroit contact
How long could it affect him?: The screw on his pinky finger is likely to stay there for six weeks, minimum. It’ll take a few months to regain full range of motion in the hand.
Prognosis: Grosjean competes for the underdog Dale Coyne Racing team, which does more with less than any IndyCar team on the circuit. Now, the job becomes that much harder with a hand injury that should affect him at what would typically be two of his best chances to score a good finish: Road America and Mid-Ohio.
Did You Notice?… Quick hits before taking off…
- Cup Series rookie Connor Zilisch is so far behind at this point, he remains just 17 points ahead of Cody Ware for dead last in the standings among full-time drivers. It’s not just a series of bad breaks for Zilisch. Let’s call this freshman season what it is: a disaster that’s left Trackhouse Racing at risk of losing the generational superstar to somebody else.
- In the battle between Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin for the Cup title, you have to give Hamlin a slight edge at this point. The way the No. 11 team has performed the last month (three wins) combined with Hamlin’s previous Chase experience and consistency give him the nod. After all, who else in NASCAR history can claim two straight wins after having to start from the rear of the field?
Follow Tom Bowles on X at @NASCARBowles
The author of Did You Notice? (Wednesdays) Tom spends his time overseeing Frontstretch’s 50+ staff members as its majority owner and Editor-in-Chief. Based outside Philadelphia, Bowles is a two-time Emmy winner in NASCAR television and has worked in racing production with FOX, TNT, and ESPN while appearing on-air for SIRIUS XM Radio and FOX Sports 1's former show, the Crowd Goes Wild. He most recently consulted with SRX Racing, helping manage cutting-edge technology and graphics that appeared on their CBS broadcasts during 2021 and 2022.
You can find Tom’s writing here, at CBSSports.com and Athlonsports.com, where he’s been an editorial consultant for the annual racing magazine for 15 years.
I get allowing them to complete with broken fingers and ankles (assuming not gas/brake foot), but I’m surprised they allow Caio to run with a fractured rib. I can’t imagine what those belts (or seat) would do to that rib if he found the wall again.
Also surprised they allow Bowman to run with his issues.
Seems in both cases it would be best long-term for those guys (and their teams/sponsors) to sit out and heal. Or in Bowman’s case – unfortunately – to retire. But, I also read Dale Jr’s second book and he explains the industry culture and (injured) driver’s fears very well.
I think you missed Keselowski on the list. Isn’t he still on crutches after his injury this offseason? Or is he back healthy? Sorry, I don’t keep up with Nascar news as much as I used to and don’t watch prerace shows.