AVONDALE, Ariz. – In a matter of seconds, Justin Allgaier and Christopher Bell went from being favorites to win Saturday afternoon’s iK9 Service Dog 200 at ISM (Ariz.) Raceway when Stephen Leicht lost an engine and turned the race upside down.
Looking like a moment from the 1990 motion picture Days of Thunder, Leicht’s grenaded motor off Turn 1 leaving a trail of thick white smoke which left Allgaier and Bell helpless, unable to see and making contact with the outside wall.
Fortunately for Allgaier, the JR Motorsports driver was able to continue, but the damage was too severe for Bell to continue and he retired from the event after winning Stage 2.
“I saw him (Leicht) blow up going into one and I figured it was going to be slick, I saw the 7 (Justin Allgaier) car start sliding and I started sliding and as soon as I entered the smoke wall, I couldn’t see anything,” offered Bell. “I lost my bearings of where I was and the next thing you know, I was in the wall.
“Frustrating and very disappointing because our Rheem Supra was extremely strong. I don’t know, it was weird. My car didn’t really feel that much worse that run, but once I got back behind those guys, I just really couldn’t pass them.”
Before the accident, Bell won his first pole of the season edging Tyler Reddick and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch. Bell finished Stage 1 second to Austin Cindric who used pit strategy to win the stage.
Stage 2 saw Bell battle Busch for the top spot before Bell eventually prevailed. At the start of Stage 3, Bell’s Supra wasn’t at strong, especially in traffic but his bid to claw his way back to the front was interrupted 70 laps from the finish.
“It was early, that last run was definitely our worst run of the race,” added Bell. “That’s frustrating. I don’t know, my car didn’t feel that much different, but I got behind them and just couldn’t make up any ground.”
Four races complete, Bell dropped from first to second in the Xfinity Series point standings and looks to close out the west coast swing after finishes of 13th at 30th respectively at Vegas and Phoenix.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
