Bell hit at Michigan confirmed as hardest in Next Gen era

Christopher Bell had the largest hit NASCAR has seen in the Next Gen era last weekend at Michigan International Speedway.

The findings confirmed what many expected after seeing Bell hit the Turn 4 wall Sunday. Bell’s car was shot to the outside wall after contact from Chase Elliott, who had gotten loose underneath him and hit his left-side door. Matt Harper, the managing director of safety systems at the NASCAR R&D Center, was one of the officials who investigated the crash's aftermath and confirmed the extent of the hit. Harper works closely alongside John Patalak, NASCAR’s vice president of safety engineering.

RELATED: Bell diagnosed with wrist fracture after Michigan crash, cleared to race at Pocono

Next Gen, the seventh iteration of the Cup Series race car, was introduced in 2022.

“(Harper) also said it was the hardest hit that he’s seen and has looked at from a data perspective since he’s been here, and he’s been here since 2015,” said NASCAR vice president of racing communications Mike Forde on the newest edition of Hauler Talk. “So, more than a decade of data and experience out of Matt, and it was the hardest that he’s seen.”

Forde went on to explain that the variable NASCAR puts the most stock in when assessing the biggest or hardest crash is Delta-v. It measures the speed lost in an incident.

The number in Bell’s crash will not be released. It is “priority in a way” to NASCAR.

Bell or Joe Gibbs Racing, however, could give the number if they choose to. Thus far, the only comments from Bell on the incident were a social media post made on Tuesday after it was announced that he had fractured his left wrist in the crash. He will race this weekend at Pocono Raceway.

Joe Gibbs Racing brought Bell’s No. 20 Toyota back to its shop in Huntersville, N.C., where it was evaluated by NASCAR on Monday. That followed the evaluation conducted by officials in the garage in the immediate aftermath of the crash. In addition to a visual inspection, officials take photos of the vehicle, which are uploaded immediately to a server for officials back in North Carolina. The incident data recorder information is also downloaded.

Harper was watching from home in North Carolina and, within five minutes of the photos and data being uploaded, began to examine them. In this particular wreck, Harper focused on the Bell’s restraint systems.

“That really was what was vital in this particular incident,” Forde said.

The impact from Bell’s car damaged the SAFER barrier. It resulted in a 20-minute red flag for repairs.