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Christopher Bell Admits to Being Part of the Problem of NASCAR Drivers Taking Offense to Netflix’s Snub

Published 03/14/2024, 5:47 AM EDT

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I’m very quiet, reserved. I keep to myself, I don’t want to be known for social media or known for doing dumb stuff. I want to be known for winning races,” said Christopher Bell in Netflix’s NASCAR: Full Speed, as he remained honest with himself. While the five-part docuseries was a runaway hit in the racing world with more fans coming to terms with NASCAR’s world of stock car racing, inside the industry a storm was brewing. Some of the biggest personalities in NASCAR like Kyle Busch, the 2023 regular season champion Martin Truex Jr and Brad Keselowski, were cast aside for the docu-series, for reasons that are yet to be uncovered. This was one argument hardcore fans put forth while reviewing the series, which gave the majority of its screen time to Denny Hamlin.

Reflecting on the snub, drivers like Keselowski shared his thoughts, revealing how he wasn’t even asked to be a part of the series. And now, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Bell is the latest driver in the list, who admitted to feeling belittled by the narrative.

Christopher Bell wanted to “crash” NASCAR: Full Speed

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Perhaps when Christopher Bell decided to join the ‘Full Speed’ bandwagon, he didn’t anticipate how it was going to turn out at the end. However, now that the series is out on Netflix for the whole world to see, the #20 driver revealed that he was not a big fan of the feature, simply because of the narrative it gave him in the public domain.

Speaking to Dale Earnhardt Jr after his thrilling win at Phoenix, the driver spoke his mind about the documentary. Since the introduction of the Next-Gen platform, Bell has been the only driver who has advanced to the Championship 4 in seasons – 2022 and 2023 and still, he was snubbed by Netflix as the crew reportedly avoided the #20 for a bit. Relaying the frustration to Dale Jr, he said, “I’ll be honest like I kind of took offense to that like I’m a dude who was in the championship race last year, I’m in the playoffs again like how are they going to create this documentary series following the NASCAR championship and not even like acknowledge me right?” 

Then the driver took it personally, making it a goal for himself such that his presence in the series could no longer be denied. And he did exactly that when he got into the championship round as the only Toyota driver. “It got to the point to where I’m like you know what ,my goal is to crash this documentary series. Like if they’re not going to talk to me, then so be it. Like I hope I’m your champion. And they don’t know who I am. Like that became my goal,” said the driver.

Subsequently, the crew reached out to him to get some content out of the driver but in the end, he did not even watch the series and says that he will not.

Bell explains why he will not watch the Netflix documentary

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While the road and dirt racing sensation got an early win last week, cutting through the field like a hot knife through butter to claim his first victory at Phoenix, things were not always this bright for Bell, In fact, a couple of months back, the driver had to live through the disappointment of wrecking out in a championship race owing to an unfortunate mechanical fiasco. A catastrophic brake failure got the driver out of contention, ending his championship dreams. While that ended up in a disaster, Bell could show a bit of his personality and put himself out there, courtesy of Netflix’s docuseries. However, the driver explained to Bob Pockrass why he doesn’t plan on watching the show he himself featured in, anytime soon.

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In a one-on-one exclusive he said, “I don’t like watching my own interviews, so I don’t watch any of my own interviews, I don’t watch myself on camera. I can watch myself racing and stuff…most of the time I watch that (interviews) I am just like, ‘What was I thinking?’” 

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Did you watch the episode featuring Christopher Bell in the ‘NASCAR: Full Speed’ documentary? Let us know what you thought of his unseen side in the comments below!

READ MORE: “DH:0, Apple:1”: Denny Hamlin and JGR’s Hilarious ‘Fruit Ninja’ Challenge Leaves NASCAR Fans in Splits

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Written by:

Kishore R

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Kishore is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. He actively covers live events and does detailed race analyses, helping fans understand the very nitty gritties of the sport. Using the right mix of storytelling and game expertise, Kishore can take his readers on a journey to see how a particular race was for some of their most loved drivers, like Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott.
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Edited by:

Ariva Debnath