After Mike Forde, NASCAR VP of racing communications, confirmed Christopher Bell’s Michigan wreck as one of the hardest impacts of the Next Gen era, NASCAR fans quickly started circulating lists ranking the biggest G-force crashes in history. But while everyone focused on the names at the top, one former Cup driver quietly pointed out something uncomfortable. It so happens that some of the sport’s most violent hits never become headline moments. In fact, he experienced one himself, and barely anyone even noticed it happened.

Christopher Bell’s crash turns into a battle of G forces

“The car behind me in the 2024 Watkins Glen Cup race hit the clutch pedal instead of the brake pedal into Turn 11 and spun me out. I backed into the wall, 61.5 g’s measured by my mouthpiece. No caution, came straight down pit road, replaced the steering wheel because it was completely taco’d in half, rolled back out and finished the race. Little (not very) fun fact that no one ever saw or knew about.”

That was Kaz Grala responding after fans started sharing a ranking of NASCAR’s hardest recorded crashes following Christopher Bell’s Michigan impact. The list contained the following names: Jerry Nadeau 2003 (135gs), Kyle Busch 2015 (90gs), Elliott Sadler 2010 (86gs), Ryan Blaney 2023 (70gs), Christopher Bell 2026 (63gs), Ryan Blaney 2024 (55gs), and Erik Jones 2024 (55gs).

As you can see, there is no mention of Grala. But Grala’s point wasn’t that Christopher Bell’s crash wasn’t severe. It was that NASCAR fans (and honestly, the entire NASCAR ecosystem) sometimes only remember the wrecks that cameras decide to care about. His example came from Watkins Glen in 2024.

Late in the Go Bowling at the Glen race, on Lap 74, Grala entered Turn 11 when the car behind made a costly mistake. Instead of hitting the brake pedal, the driver accidentally hit the clutch and slid directly into Grala, sending his car spinning backward into the outside wall.

On the radio, Grala immediately said: “Heavy rear-end damage. He destroyed us. That’s it.”

Replay later showed it was Daniel Hemric who clipped him. But hardly anyone noticed as the timing worked against Grala. The television broadcast stayed locked onto the fight for the lead between Joey Logano and Chris Buescher. By the time cameras cut back, Grala’s car stood stationary before he eventually fired it back up and drove to pit road just a few meters down the road.