Denny Hamlin won the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan on Sunday for his third victory of 2026, but the result was almost a footnote to one of the most destructive Cup races in years. Ten cautions tied a track record, and the afternoon turned on a violent late crash that bent the outer wall, sent Christopher Bell to the infield care center and left Chase Elliott apologizing to anyone who would listen.
The defining wreck came with 50 laps remaining, as Elliott and Bell battled for second on a restart. Running the bottom lane, Elliott lost the rear of his Chevrolet, and as he tried to gather it the car snapped right and speared Bell into the SAFER barrier at close to a 45-degree angle. The impact was severe enough to push the wall inward and force a lengthy red flag while crews repaired the barrier. Joe Gibbs Racing later confirmed Bell was being treated for ankle and wrist injuries.
Elliott did not hide from it. "I just really, really hate that happened, first and foremost," he said. "I want to apologize to Bell and the whole 20 team. That was my fault." He walked through the moment plainly: "I ran on the bottom, got loose, thought I was going to spin, and I had kind of committed to spinning out. And as soon as I started to commit to spinning out, it hooked a right, and unfortunately, he was out there."
The driver of the No. 9 said his first instinct was to find Bell. "It was a huge hit. Huge hit for him. Pretty big hit for me, too," Elliott said. "I just wanted to make sure he was alright and just tell him 'I'm so sorry,' because that was not at all my intention for that to happen."
Kyle Larson, who recovered for fourth, had been racing Elliott hard moments before. "I thought Chase was better than I was today," Larson said, pointing to a Hendrick Motorsports turnaround after a difficult season. "Chase had his trouble. So who knows if Chase was out there if it would have been a closer race at the end."
Elliott's crash was only the loudest of several. Earlier, Carson Hocevar's aggressive restart move collected a string of cars, including the splitter of Bubba Wallace's Toyota. The Michigan native, who held on for fifth in front of his home crowd, accepted responsibility. "If I just kept the wheel straight... we're fine, but I just thought they were checking up more based off what I saw, and I turned left," Hocevar said, adding that his "intention wasn't to obviously tear them up or wreck anybody."
Wallace salvaged third but was in no mood to celebrate. "We've gone through a month of hell," he said. "It's no excuses. I just need to be better." He pointed to the damage from the restart melee: "We'll have an asterisk on our finish because of the splitter damage. One of the most important parts of the car was damaged." Asked about a heated post-race chat with Hocevar, Wallace said he told the young driver he was fast but creating enemies, relaying advice Kevin Harvick once gave him about racing cleaner.
Erik Jones finished second behind Hamlin, with Larson and Hocevar completing the top five. The Cup Series heads to Pocono next, where Bell's availability will be among the first questions.
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*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/elliott-takes-blame-for-brutal-michigan-crash-that-hurt-bell). Visit for full coverage.*
