​Christopher Bell believes his recovery from a fractured left wrist has reached an important stage as the NASCAR Cup Series regular season nears its end. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver suffered the injury during a heavy crash at Michigan International Speedway on June 7 but has continued racing while wearing a cast.Despite the setback, Bell has remained in the fight for a playoff spot in the NASCAR Cup Series and recently produced two strong finishes. He now expects to race without the cast for the first time since the injury when the NASCAR Cup Series visits Iowa Speedway.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWith only a few races left before the postseason begins, the timing gives Bell renewed confidence as he looks to strengthen his place in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings.Bell admitted the weeks after the injury were challenging, but said he is proud of how he managed the situation.“I’ll be honest. I’m super proud of myself for being able to kind of manage through the injury,” Bell said.The injury happened after a violent crash with Chase Elliott at Michigan. Bell was medically cleared to compete the following weekend at Pocono Raceway, but he struggled to perform as he adjusted to the cast.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Pocono was disappointing. That was the first race after I had the cast on, and I just didn’t feel like I performed very well. We were kind of slow through practice and qualifying, and then in the race we had some strategy stuff that got me up front for a minute, but we just never really or I never really had the pace at Pocono.”Rather than continue racing through discomfort, Bell skipped the San Diego street-course race to allow more time to heal before returning to the NASCAR Cup Series schedule.The decision to rest proved valuable. Bell returned at Sonoma Raceway and finished fifth before following it with a runner-up finish at Chicagoland Speedway.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Sonoma, we had a great race, and then that led us to Chicago with another great race,” Bell said.Those back-to-back finishes helped strengthen his standing in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at a crucial point in the season. Every point matters with only a handful of races left before the postseason field is set.Joe Gibbs Racing also managed Bell’s recovery carefully, allowing him to race when medically cleared while supporting the decision to sit out when more healing time was needed.Bell now looks forward to racing at Iowa Speedway without the cast, something he believes will make a major difference behind the wheel.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I am very excited to race without a cast. That’s going to be very freeing inside the car.”The Iowa event is one of the final chances for drivers to earn valuable points before the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs begin. Bell has already shown he can compete while dealing with pain, but racing without the restriction should allow him to perform with gr