NASCAR chief issues Christopher Bell injury update ahead of North Wilkesboro

Joe Gibbs Racing crew chief Adam Stevens has revealed that NASCAR star Christopher Bell is nearly 100% recovered from the wrist fracture he suffered at Michigan last month.

Bell was involved in a scary wreck at last month's Cup Series event when Chase Elliott lost control of his car and moved up the track into him, resulting in Bell's No. 20 Toyota slamming into the SAFER barrier in turns three and four.

It later emerged that Bell's hit registered 63 Gs - the hardest-recorded wreck in the Next Gen era. Initially, Bell and Elliott were cleared from the infield care center, but it was later revealed that Bell had fractured his left wrist.

Last week at EchoPark Speedway, Bell offered the media an update on the injury, revealing that he was only using a wrap for support outside of the car, but that he still had to put it in a cast for Sunday's race.

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Christopher Bell wrist fracture latest

Bell also explained how he hoped to be without that cast at North Wilkesboro this weekend, and his crew chief has now offered the latest on the situation.

“I think if he's not 100%, he's certainly sneaking up on it,” explained Stevens on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“He did put a cast back on for the Atlanta race, and he had it cut off before I think he even got on the aeroplane on the way home. The doctors say that all the X-rays and all the scans and assessments are going well and he's meeting all his milestones ahead of schedule.

“You can’t use your willpower to make your bones heal, but he's young and doing all the right things to take care of himself and has a tremendous will to win and wants to do everything he can possibly do to put himself in the best situation to make that happen.

“We kind of suffered through it a little bit after his accident, and we're able to make the most of it by and large, and it's never fun when something gets you off of your program, you know? Certainly true from a Bell standpoint, but even from the team standpoint.

“There's a lot of extra distraction and a lot of extra work that teams were competing against didn't have to concern themselves with over these past few weeks. So we'll be happy to put this chapter behind us.

“But it'll just be another footnote in the story that is 2026 for this #20 team.”