Christopher Bell continues to make progress with his fractured left wrist and has even replaced his cast in exchange for a split this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway.

He is fresh off a top five last week at Sonoma Raceway, no doubt one of his biggest challenges since his injurious crash at Michigan International Speedway, and views a pathway to a complete recovery.

“I mean, the pain level has been low ever since the beginning but I would say my ability to drive the car is the same as what it has been,” Bell said. “I just keep using the word clunky. I just can’t be quick and precise with the wheel.

“I had a cast in my car, and now the splint, but my mobility is the same. So hopefully I can regain movement of my left wrist here shortly and get back to normal.”

Read Also: Chicagoland is a new, very jumpy race track for NASCAR NextGen cars Ryan Preece felt like NASCAR TV pried into a personal exchange over his radio Denny Hamlin is starting to believe a championship is possible

Bell will go back to the cast next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which is a high-speed, high risk superspeedway style drafting track, meaning there is a greater chance than not that he’s involved in a crash.

“I think we're going to take a step backwards and go back to a cast for Atlanta just with the nature of the beast there and make sure that I have the maximum protection that I can have,” Bell said.

Bell said the hope is that he can be completely out of a protective covering in two or three weeks at either North Wilkesboro or the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

That Bell was able to finish fifth last week, on a winding road course while driving with a cast, was a major positive step.

“I’m super proud of it and my team for persevering,” Bell said. “Obviously, this has been a trying time with us and it was depressing after Michigan and then Pocono and San Diego, seeing those points slip away and us get closer to the (Chase for the Championship) cut line.

“So, it was rewarding to get a lot of points and have a great solid finish and we're looking forward to what's next and there's no reason that we can't have another great points day here in Chicago.”

Bell is 10th in the championship, already falling further from a coveted spot in the top 5 of the final regular season standings even before his injury due to bad luck. Currently 10th, he would start the playoff 70 points out of the lead, meaning each spot he can gain over the next seven races would be extremely helpful to the ultimate goal.

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.

Ryan Preece felt like he was having a private conversation with his crew during Cup Series practice on Friday at Chicagoland Speedway but the television crew aired out his frustrations about a NASCAR mandated safety change.

“I’m going to argue with NASCAR about this adjustment that they want and I don’t. This headrest is a pain in the [expletive]. It’s knocking my [expletive] head everywhere. Sorry, I’m not trying to swear. I’m just absolutely aggravated that I’m being told to change something that I don’t want to change.”

The issue is that NASCAR has targeted headrests for gaps and heights to prevent pivots during crashes but this latest change just didn’t work for Preece.

He minimally addressed those comments during his media availability on Saturday but also expressed frustrations that they were picked up and disseminated by the media.

“There is conflicting data to how I feel comfortable in a race car,” Preece said. “I feel like, as a race car driver, I’ve gone through some pretty horrific accidents, but the day after (the crash) at Daytona where you saw my eyes the next week, I was working out the next day.

“Everybody’s different and I had to make adjustments in the off-season that I didn’t want to. I had to make adjustments again over the past three weeks. So what you heard was some frustration that I thought was between my team and I, and apparently it wasn’t.

“So, I don't know if we need to bring back digital radios so we can communicate with each other during practice, but I don’t know. That’s as far as I’ll really get into it with you guys.”

Read Also: Ty Gibbs moves on from Sonoma strategy decision Chicagoland represents the return of old Atlanta after Cup practice Denny Hamlin is starting to believe a championship is possible

But Preece did bring it up again, when asked about the bumps at Chicagoland, and he offered more about how that contributed to his frustrations over the head rest.

“The bumps are really crazy and I think that's where a lot of the frustration came from yesterday is I have a different style of sitting in my seat so every time I would hit those bumps it's ricocheting and it's frustrating,” Preece said.

This is the second time Preece has said something over the radio that become the subject of public discourse. At Texas Motor Speedway, Preece suggested that Ty Gibbs had something coming his way several laps before contact between them.

This resulted in a fine and points deduction.

“Wait a second,” Preece interjected. “That was very out of context, in my opinion. I didn’t key up when I was on the race track. I was in my garage stall (when) I’m trying to make my car better.”

So, is Preece really suggesting making radios private to some degree?

"I don't know," Preece said. "I'm not in charge of that. I thought I was just speaking to my team, my crew chief, about the adjustments we made."

Any changes to his personal policy?

"Well yeah, I would say don't hit the button," Preece said. "But I wasn't talking about another driver. I was talking about a comfort issue."

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.

The weekend has gone sideways for the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet of Michael McDowell, and not on the track.

McDowell's car failed inspection three different times, which means they have several penalties coming their way.

First of all, the car chief has been ejected for the remainder of the race weekend. Secondly, they were not permitted to take part in qualifying, and will start last (38th) in Sunday's NASCAR Cup race.

However, it doesn't stop there. Once the green flag flies, McDowell will have to serve a pass-through penalty, and could fall close to a lap down in the process.

All other Cup cars passed pre-race inspection without issue.

McDowell enters this race 21st in the championship standings, 32 points below the Chase cut-line.

Denny Hamlin secured pole position for NASCAR's long-awaited return to Chicagoland after seven years away, besting Kyle Larson by just 0.001s. The race starts at 6pm EST on Sunday, as part of three consecutive weeks with Sunday night Cup races.

Read Also: Spire and Chris Gabehart countersue Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing adds to lawsuit against Chris Gabehart, Spire Daniel Suárez reveals the key to his 2026 success with Spire

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.

Upon climbing out of the 23XI Racing No. 45, and despite being amongst the fastest in practice on Friday at Chicagoland Speedway, Tyler Reddick seemed puzzled.

"In general, pretty happy,” Reddick said in a way that sounded anything but. “Feeling pretty good about where we're at. I guess the only thing I'm holding back on -- just confused about -- I thought we were going to be ripping the top today, but it just took forever to clean up. Hopefully those O'Reilly boys will go clean it up for us and we have a wide racetrack to work with.”

It was an interesting session, the first at the Joliet intermediate since the 2019 season, as the patches in Turns 3 and 4 created a bumpy ride quality over the course the hour long session.

There’s also something of a jump bump in Turn 1.

So how was the ride quality, Chris Buescher?

“Rough like we knew it would be coming in,” said the RFK Racing veteran. “A little smoother than the simulator so I’ll take that. There’s definitely some guys bottoming out. You saw their smoke or dust a little bit. It has some roughness to it.

“It’s the same bumps that were here before but we’re discovering them with a completely different race car, right? We’re now more rear limited now versus the old cars where it was all front and truck arm mounts. It’s changed because of the race car but it’s hard to tell you that the bumps are any worse.”

When the Cup Series was last here, it came using the Gen6 car and the NA18D (550 horsepower) rules package. Those cars featured truck arms and were nose down and rear up whereas the NextGen is independent rear suspension that is balanced nose up and rear down.

Effectively, this is a new racetrack.

Read Also: Riley Herbst leads Cup practice in NASCAR's return to Chicagoland Denny Hamlin is starting to believe a championship is possible

Despite the lengthy session, and the track taking rubber, drivers did not turn laps up against the wall whatsoever on Friday. Carson Hocevar wishes they had but wasn’t going to be the first and risk crashing.

“I was hoping someone would do it and no one did,” Hocevar said. “I just didn’t want to be the first one.”

Buescher called the track ‘clingy’ during practice but does expect it to widen out.

“We joked, there are places where the asphalt is super gray because it doesn’t have any rubber in it, but the outside lane was orange and we said it was because of all the rust,” Buescher said. “But it did move up pretty quick, which surprised me, for such a short practice and it being that green to start.

“So, my suspicion is that, yes, we will be all the way up against the fence pretty quick. I think the O’Reilly Series race is going to get up to the wall pretty fast and should set the tone for us on Sunday.”

Ryan Blaney echoed that sentiment.

"I think the track's going to get to the wall, I mean, and that's just my prediction," Blaney said. "I definitely think we would have been even higher if the (O'Reilly) guys got a chance to run practice, but I think it's going to be every lane available, which is great."

Daniel Suarez said Joliet reminds him of Kansas, arguably the best track on the schedule with this car, but with a little bit more character.

“I think the racing is going to be pretty good,” Suarez said. “Honestly, this track reminds me of Kansas but with bigger bumps. It’s a big jump, not a consistent bump. A lot of people this week were talking about ‘this is going to be Charlotte 3 and 4, which is super bumpy and this is not like that.

“Charlotte has a lot of small bumps, but here, there are a couple of big bumps. I think it’s going to race really well. I think we’re going to put a lot of rubber on the race track and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

With Atlanta Motor Speedway now a drafting style track, Kansas and Chicago might be the closest conceptual versions of that kind of intermediate track. 

"I think we're all nostalgic for old Atlanta," Hocevar said. "And this is the closest thing, in our minds, we have. We're all nostalgically blind, arrogant and delusionally hoping for the old Atlanta."

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.

For the first time since 2019, NASCAR is racing at Chicagoland Speedway. Because of that fact, series officials went with a more traditional race weekend format through a 50-minute practice on Friday.

Topping the speed charts was Riley Herbst in the No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota, followed by teammate Bubba Wallace. Herbst lapped the intermediate oval in 30.326 seconds (178.065mph), just 0.023s ahead of Wallace in the No. 23 Toyota.

Kyle Larson was one of three Cup drivers who took part in a test at Chicagoland earlier this year (along with Hamlin and Blaney), and he led the way for Chevrolet in third. Behind the Hendrick Chevy was the Joe Gibbs Racing duo of Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs.

All four 23XI drivers ended the session in the top eight, with Corey Heim sixth and Tyler Reddick eighth. Reddick also led the way in the ten-lap, 15-lap, 20-lap, and 25-lap averages. Additionally, Reddick ran more laps than any other driver at 61.

There were no incidents, but Erik Jones felt like something broke after going over the rough bumps, and took his No. 43 to the garage. Several drivers also missed the tight turn-in to get onto the pit lane as they practiced their pit-in, which will be something to watch on Sunday.

"Today was a bit weird"

Few drivers ventured into the higher grooves, and no one dared to run right along the outside wall. Reddick hopes that the NASCAR O'Reilly cars (which race on Saturday) will widen out the racing groove. He was also confused by the lack of tire falloff, even with the aged surface.

"I think our Camry is really good," said Reddick. "We don't get a lot of 50 minute practices anymore, but today was a bit weird. The falloff was pretty flat. This is the tire we run at other intermediates where we see a lot of tire falloff. The surface has age to it, but it was just strange. It didn't act like the surface is as old as it is. You're just trying to understand what we can fine tune on our Toyota Camry.

"In general, pretty happy. Feeling pretty good about where we're at. I guess the only thing I'm holding back on -- just confused about -- I thought we were going to be ripping the top today, but it just took forever to clean up. Hopefully those O'Reilly boys will go clean it up for us and we have a wide race track to work with."

NASCAR Cup practice results at Chicagoland

Cla Driver #   Manufacturer Laps Time Interval Mph

1		35		Toyota	43	30.326		178.065
2		23		Toyota	54	+0.023 30.349	0.023	177.930
3		5		Chevrolet	42	+0.032 30.358	0.009	177.877
4		11		Toyota	40	+0.032 30.358	0.000	177.877
5		54		Toyota	47	+0.053 30.379	0.021	177.754
6	23XI Racing	67		Toyota	56	+0.059 30.385	0.006	177.719
7		2		Ford	42	+0.072 30.398	0.013	177.643
8		45		Toyota	61	+0.092 30.418	0.020	177.526
9		77		Chevrolet	55	+0.144 30.470	0.052	177.223
10		17		Ford	52	+0.150 30.476	0.006	177.189
11		9		Chevrolet	59	+0.207 30.533	0.057	176.858
12		6		Ford	40	+0.218 30.544	0.011	176.794
13		38		Ford	50	+0.235 30.561	0.017	176.696
14		19		Toyota	55	+0.244 30.570	0.009	176.644
15		71		Chevrolet	43	+0.247 30.573	0.003	176.626
16		24		Chevrolet	56	+0.260 30.586	0.013	176.551
17		20		Toyota	57	+0.278 30.604	0.018	176.448
18		16		Chevrolet	43	+0.285 30.611	0.007	176.407
19		60		Ford	49	+0.290 30.616	0.005	176.378
20		41		Chevrolet	37	+0.309 30.635	0.019	176.269
21		42		Toyota	50	+0.357 30.683	0.048	175.993
22		12		Ford	58	+0.376 30.702	0.019	175.884
23		48		Chevrolet	49	+0.385 30.711	0.009	175.833
24		7		Chevrolet	49	+0.387 30.713	0.002	175.821
25	TrackHouse Racing	88		Chevrolet	50	+0.388 30.714	0.001	175.816
26		97		Chevrolet	41	+0.401 30.727	0.013	175.741
27		34		Ford	29	+0.412 30.738	0.011	175.678
28		4		Ford	48	+0.423 30.749	0.011	175.615
29		1		Chevrolet	29	+0.437 30.763	0.014	175.536
30	Wood Brothers Racing	21		Ford	42	+0.482 30.808	0.045	175.279
31		3		Chevrolet	50	+0.517 30.843	0.035	175.080
32		10		Chevrolet	41	+0.526 30.852	0.009	175.029
33		51		Chevrolet	33	+0.527 30.853	0.001	175.023
34		22		Ford	53	+0.568 30.894	0.041	174.791
35		43		Toyota	15	+0.618 30.944	0.050	174.509
36		47		Chevrolet	33	+0.648 30.974	0.030	174.340
37		33		Chevrolet	39	+0.742 31.068	0.094	173.812
38		44		Chevrolet	14	+1.025 31.351	0.283	172.243

Read Also: Denny Hamlin is starting to believe a championship is possible How to watch NASCAR at Chicagoland: Weekend schedule, start time, TV

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.