NASCAR Cup Series star blames scary Christopher Bell wreck on Next Gen car

NASCAR star William Byron has put the blame for Christopher Bell's fractured wrist squarely on the Next Gen Cup Series car.

Bell was turned by Chase Elliott at Michigan last week and hit the wall hard, breaking his wrist and bruising his foot on impact. He later revealed that the impact measured at 63G.

The wreck occurred with about 50 laps remaining, Bell and Elliott racing side by side in second and third position when Elliott's No. 9 got slightly out of shape in Turn 3 before snapping sharply right, making contact with Bell on the inside and sending the No. 20 violently into the SAFER barrier.

Asked about the safety components which allowed Bell to walk away with 'just' a fractured wrist from the wreck, Byron turned it around and said he believes the incident was actually 'caused because of the nature of this car'.

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Byron: Wreck won't change how I approach racing

Asked whether he'd actively tried to find out how Bell's car reacted to the wreck, with some pictures being posted online this week, Byron admitted: “Yeah, I don’t really get too involved in that. I feel like everyone on social media was very surprised that the frame cracked, but the front clip broke for us at Talladega, just with a right-front impact, so they’re meant to do that.

"It was obviously a huge impact. I think I was just concerned in the moment that Christopher was okay. It was great to see him get out. Obviously, his wrist injury is unfortunate.

"You just want to be able to race against someone like Bell. I feel like a lot of people have a lot of respect for him, and I think that's where the outreach came from. Anyone that would get in a crash like that, people would be concerned for them.

"But, yeah, I'll just kind of watch it from afar. I wouldn't say I'm not concerned, but it's not anything that is going to change the way that I approach the weekend.”

'You wouldn't see that crash with the Gen 6 car'

Asked if he considered the broken wrist a comparatively good result considering the violence of the wreck, Byron explained that however well the Next Gen car held up on impact, the impact itself may well not have happened in the Gen 6 car.

“I don't know how to answer that," he began. "I feel like I had this conversation before – like you wouldn't see a guy in the Gen 6 car over-correct it. You wouldn't see that kind of a crash, as violent as that was, with the Gen 6 car. You're seeing that crash because of the nature of the tire, the aero and everything with these cars.

"It was a violent impact. Fortunately, the car is capable of taking that and Christopher was able to get out, so that's a good thing. But that impact to me is way, way larger than what we would have had in the past with a bigger sidewall and a different tire.

"You’ve got to think about it on both sides of the coin because, yeah, the car took it, but I think that wreck was caused because of the nature of this car.”