Crash at Michigan International Speedway Shakes NASCAR Community

One of the standout moments from Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway wasn’t about the race winner, Denny Hamlin. Instead, it revolved around a serious crash involving Christopher Bell, Hamlin’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing.

During the race, Chase Elliott, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, lost control and skidded into Bell. The impact sent Bell’s number 20 car crashing into the SAFER barrier. It was quite a scene, to say the least.

This collision was significant for various reasons. Thankfully, Bell managed to exit the wreckage with just a broken wrist, and he’s been cleared to race again this weekend at Pocono. Nonetheless, this incident cost him three positions, dropping him to 10th place in the standings.

NASCAR officials indicated that Bell’s crash represented the hardest impact the next-generation car, which debuted in 2022, has faced. According to them, it’s also the most significant jolt in about a decade.

Mike Ford, a communications executive with NASCAR, discussed the gravity of the crash on the podcast “NASCAR Hauler Talk.” He mentioned that they assessed the impact using a measurement known as Delta-v, which gauges the change in speed during an accident.

Ford elaborated on this, explaining that Delta-v reflects how much speed is lost upon collision. For example, if a car is traveling at 200 miles per hour and comes to an abrupt stop after hitting a wall, the measurement is indicative of that drastic slowdown.

While Ford chose not to disclose specific figures regarding the impact, labeling it “proprietary data,” he noted that this information had been shared with teams and drivers. NASCAR also monitored the G-forces experienced during the crash, leaving it up to the teams to decide if they wanted to make those figures public.