Christopher Bell explains racing around Carson Hocevar in closing moments at Atlanta

It was an eventful day for Carson Hocevar at the Ambetter Health 400 in Atlanta on Sunday, a day replete with controversy and excellent racing alike. Christopher Bell, the race winner, had to navigate Hocevar’s driving in the final stretch.

It wasn’t easy.

“I mean, yeah, he’s been around enough now that you know he’s going to be the aggressor,” Bell said, according to FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass. “If there’s a hole he’s going to take it. If there’s not a hole he’s going to make one. And he ultimately gave me the shove to get past or break through to leave the side draft tandem with myself and Kyle (Larson) down the back straightaway.”

Bell seemed fairly indifferent to Hocevar’s driving on Sunday, though the same could not be said for other competitors.

Carson Hocevar drew the ire of Kyle Busch early in the race after the two had a brief dust-up that caused Busch to lose several positions on the track. Busch flicked Hocevar off, vowing to wreck him even if it meant taking out the whole field.

Others confronted Hocevar after the race, like Ryan Blaney for being spun out off Hocevar’s bumper. Or Ross Chastain, a supposed mentor for Hocevar, also didn’t like something on Sunday and confronted Hocevar after the race.

For Bell, things went relatively smoothly with Carson Hocevar, who got himself back into contention even after providing Bell with a winning push.

“I didn’t realize Kyle had opened up the bottom like he did getting into (Turn) 3, and allowed Carson to sneak middle of 3 wide,” Bell said. “But I was looking in my mirror and I saw them crashing and I figured it was a matter of winning the side draft battle to the yellow flag.”

With Carson Hocevar running next to you, that can sometimes be a daunting task. The younger driver seems to love contact, especially if it can work to his benefit.

But Bell got out just fine. He just had to hold through the finish.

“I felt like I had it whenever the yellow came out, but you never know till they make it official,” Bell said. “The last thing I wanted to do was go out there and let my emotions get to me and feel like I won the race and then them come back to me and say I didn’t. It was bonkers, that’s for sure.”