“Hard to make it look discreet”: Ken Schrader delivers straightforward verdict on Christopher Bell and William Byron’s clean COTA finish 

In the latest episode of “Herm & Schrader”, Ex-NASCAR racer Kenny Schrader let his feelings known on the showdown between William Byron and Christopher Bell last week at COTA. It was the first road course race of the season and Bell logged his second consecutive victory of the season on that day.

The last five laps of last Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix came down to a battle between the Cup Series regulars. Bell had just snatched the lead from Kyle Busch at the time and was darting towards the finishing line as fast as his Camry could take him.

Byron came closing in behind Bell. However, not once did the Hendrick Motorsports driver try to pull off what the NASCAR aficionados would call the bump-and-run maneuver. Bell was faster and finished 0.433 seconds ahead of Byron.

Winning the race would have locked Byron into the playoffs. So, one might wonder why he did not try to move Bell out of the way, given that rubbing is racing in NASCAR. Schrader had a theory to offer.

“Well first of all it wasn't restrictor plate racing,”said the NASCAR vet. “I mean, even though they're close, they're running as close as they can, they're not jammed up side by side. It's a little hard to make it look kind of discreet.”

Byron, however, said during a post-race interview that he didn’t want to move Bell out of the way. The duo share a great relationship on track and Byron didn’t want to ruin that. Hoping to bring back the speed in the weeks to come, the two-time Daytona 500 winner said (via NASCAR),

“We've always raced really well together, so I didn't want to, like, move him blatantly and all that kind of stuff. Just sliding around a ton at the end. … So just sucks to be so damn close, right? You can be on the bumper of the guy coming to the line, and that sucks. A lot of races ahead, and hopefully we can just keep bringing the speed.”

Next up is the Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway. Scheduled for Sunday, March 9, the 312-lap race will be televised on Fox Sports 2 from 3:30 pm ET onwards. Fans can also listen to its radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Christopher Bell sends a cryptic message to NASCAR following COTA outing

Christopher Bell was impressed with the way his fellow drivers ran last week’s race at COTA. It was hard yet fair racing, the Joe Gibbs Racing ace felt. In an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, he said,

“I'm so proud of the way everybody raced each other at the end of that race. I would love to change the narrative of the Cup Series, of running into people and moving them out of the way.”

When 40 cars run three or even four-wide at times, flaunting dare-devilish speeds to earn that one cherished ride to the victory lane, chances of contact go through the roof indeed. But Bell wants to change that very nuance of the sport.

“I would love if this is a turning point for us, where we're able to race respectfully and stay off of each other and make it less of a contact sport,” he added.

Making NASCAR “less of a contact sport” will ensure additional safety for sure. But some might argue that it will also take most of the fun out of it.