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

The penultimate NASCAR playoff race, at Martinsville, brought immediate intrigue and immediate controversy following a finish that saw Christopher Bell catch up to William Byron on points right at the death of it.

Bell first passed Bubba Wallace, who appeared to be slowing down quickly, gaining the spot he needed to even the points race.

Meanwhile, Christopher Bell hit the outside wall hard and rode the wall while still in the gas, channeling shades of Ross Chastain several years back. Of course, now there’s a rule in place to disallow that kind of finish. So NASCAR officials were taking time at the end of the race to review the radio communications and the footage of the end to determine whether it was a legal finish for Bell.

Byron didn’t think so.

“Well I mean he rode the wall and there’s a rule, there’s a clear rule against riding the wall,” Byron said on the NBC broadcast after the race. “So in my eyes that’s, you know, that’s what counts. The 23 stuff is what it is, but there’s a lot going on there. Just see what they say here in a sec.”

Along with Christopher Bell riding off the wall, NASCAR officials were also likely looking into whether there was collusion between manufacturers at the finish. Some of the radio communications suggested crew chiefs were well aware of the points situation, leaving the door open to questionable driving.

Wallace, for his part, claimed he had a tire going down, which is why he slowed considerably, allowing Bell to pass him.

The NBC broadcast team followed up with Byron, asking him to clarify if he thought Bell should be removed from the final playoff spot based on the finish.

“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.”

NASCAR did come back with the ruling, hitting Bell with a safety violation for riding the wall. That dropped him out of the points tie, allowing Byron to advance to the Championship 4.

Byron, who was near the race lead for most of the final stage, faded late, opening the door for Christopher Bell. He explained why.

“We had damage ever since the 12 shipped the 16 lap car out of the way and screwed up our toe, so we were just terrible in the long run for the final stage after that,” Byron said. “Sucks, but proud of my team and we’ll see what happens here.”