Christopher Bell penalized after controversial ‘Hail Melon’ move at Martinsville, misses Championship

NASCAR has penalized Christopher Bell for riding the wall on the final lap of Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Bell, who took the final transfer spot into the Championship 4 at Phoenix next Sunday after passing Bubba Wallace courtesy of his ‘Hail Melon’ remake, is now out of the playoffs. William Byron, whom Bell passed in points to secure the fourth and final spot, is through to the Championship 4, joining Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney. The latter took the checkered flag at Martinsville to clinch his spot at Phoenix.

Should Christopher Bell race for the NASCAR Championship?

Watch this move on the final lap. pic.twitter.com/3A3BrNe0fd

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 3, 2024

NASCAR deemed Bell’s wall ride to be a safety violation.

“PENALTY: NASCAR deems the No. 20 car incurred a safety violation at @MartinsvilleSwy,” NASCAR wrote on X. “He is placed in 22nd position, the last car one lap down.”

NASCAR officials took a considerable amount of time in determining if Bell, or perhaps he and Byron, should have been penalized. Bell rode the wall, illegal after Ross Chastain’s “Hail Melon” move at Martinsville two years ago, but Byron appeared to have some help in keeping his final transfer spot.

William Byron on controversial Christopher Bell finish: ‘There’s a clear rule against riding the wall’

In the closing laps of the race, Byron had to play defense on Chastain and Austin Dillon, as if one of them passed him, he would be below Bell in points. Both Chastain and Dillon are Chevrolet drivers, and it’s clear based on their radio audio they were well aware of what was at stake for Byron, also a Chevrolet driver.

“24 is one to the good, one point to the good,” a team member told Chastain.

“Does the 1 team know the deal,” someone asked over Dillon’s radio. “Yeah, he should,” was the response from a team member.

Bell was in disbelief upon learning his fate.

“I don’t know what to say,” Bell told NBC Sports. “… I understand that the rule was made to prevent people from riding the wall. But my move was completely different than Ross’s was. Got loose getting into the corner and slid right into the fence. I don’t know what else to say.”

The other part of the equation is that Bell made his pass on Wallace, a fellow Toyota driver. Wallace ran 2.4 seconds slower than Bell on the last lap, appearing to slow up to allow Bell to catch up and go by him. Wallace claimed he “got loose or something broke.”

Byron, and NASCAR, ultimately felt Bell earned a penalty for riding the wall, the Wallace stuff aside.

“Yeah, there’s a rule against it,” Byron said. “We all sat in meetings and talked about whether there should be a rule against it. Front tires were off the ground coming off four there against the fence. It happened in the past and it was fair game. But now the rule is against it, so I don’t see how you can call it any different.”