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NASCAR insiders react to Brad Keselowski contact with Christopher Bell in final laps at Bristol

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones6 hours agobrianjones_93
Brad Keselowski (5)
Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

Two NASCAR insiders shared their thoughts on Brad Keselowski bumping Christopher Bell during the final lap at the Bristol race on Saturday night. On The Teardown podcast, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic weighed in on the incident, which led to Bell winning the race.

“I thought he nailed him,” Gluck said about Keselowski hitting Bell. “He hit him pretty hard. We talk about Christopher Bell being a clean driver and wanting to win these races the right way. He wouldn’t have roughed up somebody for a win, even if it was Bristol. Keselowski had made the decision, ‘I’m going for it. I’m going to move you. I’m going to knock you out of the way here.’ “And he did, but Bell, amazingly enough, was able to keep the car underneath him.”

Bianchi praised Bell for the way he held off Keselowski for the win. “There was no luck, this was skill,” he said. “He did a masterful job of putting himself in position and great driving. …This is as earned as it gets, and they were running up front all night.”

More on Christopher Bell and Brad Keselowski

Christopher Bell has now won four races this season, but the Bristol win was his first since March when he placed first at Phoenix. The Bristol victory came nearly a week after he finished seventh at Gateway and sounding off on his team for the race strategy.

Brad Keselowski did everything he could to earn his first victory of the year. After the Bristol race, Keselowski talked about what happened during the final lap. “Just the story of our season, just a 50-50 shot on the restart, and I got the lane that couldn’t launch, Keselowski said, per NBC Sports. “Just frustrating. We had a great car, great strategy, put ourselves in position to, if not win, at least have a really, really solid day, and on that last restart, and just rolled the dice and didn’t get anything good. Just fun. I just enjoy the challenge.”

Bell will continue his quest for a championship as he will compete in the Round of 8 of the playoffs starting on Sunday. Keselowski will continue to seek his first win of the season and 37th of his career.