Wrecks go hand-in-hand with NASCAR, and sometimes, they can be the most exciting part of a race, too. However, it doesn’t always happen that a team’s owner visits the driver in the infield care center, but that is exactly what happened after the scary crash Christopher Bell was involved in with Chase Elliott earlier at Michigan, and the silence from Joe Gibbs only escalated the situation for many.

Bell was unsurprisingly one of the strongest drivers on the track as he continued to place his Toyota within the top. But it would be a massive understatement to say that the race was just dramatic. As if 11 cautions were not chaotic enough, Bell’s brutal crash even triggered a red flag.

On lap 148, he continued to battle Elliott for the runner-up spot; the JGR driver was left in an odd situation towards the outside of the corner. Both drivers held their lines, but Elliott lost the car’s rear, over-corrected it, and made contact with the #20 at an extremely high speed.

The latter, meanwhile, went head-on into the wall at well over 180 mph. The wreck looked extremely dangerous, especially considering that his car had essentially T-boned the wall, and it all happened in an instant, meaning he had almost no time to slow down.

Both the #20 Toyota and the #9 Chevy looked in extremely bad shape. But everyone took a sigh of relief the moment Christopher Bell stepped out of his car. However, the scariest part was yet to come. The impact of the crash was so hard that NASCAR had to red flag the race to repair the SAFER barrier, which had quite literally lost its shape because of the impact.

Understandably, after such a massive crash, both drivers were taken to the care center for an immediate checkup. But even after some time, no updates were coming from the team. Meanwhile, Joe Gibbs had also made his way to the care center, and the lack of a proper update kept many worried.

“I think it’s just- we’re going to continue tonight when he gets home. Going to make sure that he gets everything he needs to get there, whatever it might be. And then we’ll just have to kind of wait. It was his wrist and his ankle, I think. We’re just going to have to wait,” Gibbs told the media at Michigan in an update.

Chase Elliott stopped by for a quick interview, but Bell did not appear in front of the media even after NASCAR’s update that both drivers had been released from the care center. “I just got in there and got free. I thought I was going to spin and was kind of committing to spinning out. As soon as I was committed to spinning, it just hooked up and, unfortunately, sent Christopher into the wall really hard and me shortly thereafter.”

This crash comes at the worst possible time for Bell and the No. 20 team; after showing consistent speed, this could’ve been Bell’s race. But if we are to go by Joe Gibbs’ statement, there is a possibility that Bell could miss a few races if he has some serious injuries.

Although he did break the silence from the fans, the small update didn’t exactly make up for a strong case for many, as the entire NASCAR fandom came together praying for Bell.

Fans pray for Christopher Bell after scary wreck

“Bell got rung on that one…That was monstrous,” a comment read. Small wrecks are common in NASCAR. The many roll cages that the cars currently have protect the drivers even if the cars flip upside down or do a literal somersault. But a T–bone crash into the wall on a 2-mile speedway is still quite different. The impact can be very difficult to subside, and might even give drivers a massive concussion, which is what many thought had happened to Christopher Bell.

But it was actually the lack of information fans had at the time, which escalated the worry for many: “It’s not good… hope it’s not something too bad.” Usually, it only takes the drivers a couple of minutes to step out of the care center, but it was quite a while until Bell did so. Moreover, when he ultimately did, he requested not to talk to the media straightaway, which also appeared a bit odd at the time. “I’m starting to worry, Jeff,” wrote another fan.

But Joe Gibbs going to the care center himself just to oversee Bell as he was being checked up also took some of the fans’ attention. The 85-year-old has spent decades in the sport, and even the smallest gestures from him echo with the fans: “Joe is like a concerned grandparent. I hope Christopher isn’t hurt too badly and can still race.”

“I wonder if the Hans broke or didn’t work properly. Didn’t show an onboard driver view of bell.” It was hard to tell straightaway what had happened to Christopher Bell, and with rumors of a possible concussion, some began wondering if the HANS device had malfunctioned. The ‘head and neck support device’ is widely used in motorsports, including Formula 1, and has become a massive safety device globally. It keeps the driver’s neck and head still in the event of a massive crash, such as this one. But with many guessing that Bell had a concussion at the time, it was only natural for them to worry about the functioning of the device when it was required the most.

At the end of the day, Bell’s situation seemed to be far better than what many assumed it to be. However, it once again proved how close the NASCAR community is. Joe Gibbs stepping out to oversee his driver’s checkup also gained much love from the fans, as NASCAR’s safety was once again put to the test at Michigan.