"I'd love to change the narrative": Christopher Bell hopes clean battle with Kyle Busch sparks a shift in NASCAR racing

On Sunday, Christopher Bell earned his 11th Cup Series win with a hard-fought victory at Echo Park Automotive Grand Prix. He overtook William Byron and Kyle Busch to win the race in Austin. While talking to NASCAR Radio SiriusXM, he expressed hope that their respectful racing could set a new standard in the sport.

Bell is a promising Joe Gibbs Racing driver who has now won back-to-back NASCAR Cup Series races in Atlanta and the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). With aggressive racing tactics increasingly defining the Next Gen era, Bell's comments show a growing divide between traditional racecraft and the modern bump-and-run mentality.

"I would love to change the narrative of the cup series of this, you know, this just running into people and moving them out of the way," Christopher Bell told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90.

The NASCAR Cup Series drivers frequently move others out of the way to gain track position. This risky driving creates wrecks and crashes, as was the case in earlier races of the 2025 season. COTA also had its share of contact as early as lap 1 with Ross Chastain and Chase Eliott as they got caught in Turn 1.

Connor Zilisch had a tough Cup Series debut which ended early after a collision with his Trackhouse Racing teammate, Daniel Suárez. Suarez's No. 99 spun after hitting a curb in Lap 50, and Zilisch's No. 88 hit Suarez's car, crashing into the barriers. This led to an early retirement for both Trackhouse drivers.

Austin Dillion and Denny Hamlin were also involved in a dramatic late crash with just a few laps to go. Hamlin's No.11 Toyota Camry locked up its tires and went into Dillon’s car, sending him into the rubble and creating a late race caution. This caution reduced the gap on the top as Busch's six-second lead was brought back to one after Byron and Bell followed him closely as the race restarted.

"I was just trusting my spotters and allowing them to feed me the picture from behind me. And in those moments, like I wasn't even really, I don't even think I looked in my mirror to see behind me.... I'm just so proud of the way that everybody raced each other at the end of that race, like Reddick included, myself, Kyle leading the race, William Byron behind me," Bell added.

Kyle Busch, with his No. 8 Chevrolet, held off Bell for eight laps before being overtaken in Lap 89 with minimal contact. Busch, with two-lap older tiers on the No. 20 of Bell, faded away and finished in the fifth position while Byron and Tyler Reddick took the second and third positions at COTA 2025. Bell was content with how the race ended, praising his fellow competitors.

Christopher Bell wants drivers to race 'respectfully' and 'stay off each other'

Christopher Bell's desire to see cleaner racing comes amidst the chaos-driven season, which has seen several race-deciding wrecks. The Ambetter Health 400 and the Daytona 500 saw a series of wrecks reshaping the race’s outcome.

Denny Hamlin, Cody Ware, Cole Custer, and Ty Gibbs crash at the Daytona 500. Source: IMAGN

The crash in overtime at Atlanta saw Austin Cindric lose the lead after contact with Kyle Larson, which ultimately set up Bell’s victory. While in Daytona, the race ended in a chaotic final-lap wreck involving Denny Hamlin, Cole Custer, and Chase Briscoe, which allowed Byron to sneak through the high line for his second straight Daytona 500 victory.

"So hopefully, you know, I don't know what, what the future of our sport is, but, but I would love if this is a turning point for us, where, you know, we're able to race respectfully and stay off each other and make it less of a contact sport," added Christopher Bell in the NASCAR radio interview.

While Bell remains hopeful, it is to be seen whether his clean battle at COTA will signal a broader change in the Cup Series.