Injured Bell and his JGR team still weighing whether or not he will go the distance in San Diego

Christopher Bell going the distance in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Naval Base Coronado will be a game-time decision for his Joe Gibbs Racing team.

“We’re weighing a lot of things out right now,” Bell told reporters in San Diego after getting behind the wheel in practice.

The biggest issues for Bell, who has a fractured left wrist, are driving one-handed around the 3.4-mile course while shifting, as well as making quick decisions with the steering wheel. Unfortunately, there is no perfect lap around the 16-turn street course, and then any additional contact for battles with another driver adds to the challenges.

Bell was injured two weeks ago at Michigan International Speedway. A high-speed, unexpectedly sudden incident with Chase Elliott sent his car into the outside wall in Turn 3. It was the hardest hit in the Next Gen era.

“I did have little tinges of pain at Pocono, and I could tell that I’m another week healed because I didn’t have any pain at all (in practice here). It’s just the physical limitation of not being able to turn the wheel quickly enough,” Bell said. “If everything goes perfectly and I don’t get loose, and I don’t miss an apex, and I hit my downshifts perfectly, I’m fine. But it’s those extracurriculars that come up.”

Bell was cleared to compete a week after his crash and completed all 400 miles at Pocono Raceway. But he is on his second cast since the incident, which is the plan: a new one each week, as it will lose strength from his driving, and Brent Crews is on standby in San Diego.

Crews got behind the wheel of the car on Friday for a few laps in practice to prepare in case he has to race on Sunday. He is also running the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race.

“Any sort of miscalculation on an apex walls or wheel-to-wheel contact and the (steering) wheel jerks in my hand, those are the kind of things I think we’re all worried about,” Bell said. “We’re taking it session by session.”

Saturday's Cup Series on-track activities will only consist of qualifying.

“I can’t afford any setbacks,” Bell said. “I’m already two weeks into this healing process now, so the goal certainly is to get back to 100% as quickly as possible, and we’ll see what happens.”

Sunday’s race is 75 laps and 255 miles.

“It’s very frustrating,” Bell said. “I really, truly hope we get to come back here because I had a blast out there racing, and I hope I get to race here at 100% at some point. It’s a bummer, but I’m very, very grateful that it’s just a fractured bone.”