Bell Looks To Continue Rapid Rise to Stardom in Two Races at IMS

Christopher Bell walked into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time on the last week of August. The massive grandstands were empty. The 2.5-mile oval and Gasoline Alley were quiet.

But Bell had the same reaction as nearly everyone who makes their initial pilgrimage to the world’s most famous racetrack.

“Walking into this place is just magnificent,” Bell said. “It’s unlike any other racetrack in the world. You hear the stories about it, but you never get that feel until you come here and experience it. Even on a day like today, there’s nothing going on, no people here, it still has that energy around it. It’s a very, very special place.”

But there’s one difference between Bell and many of the people who visit IMS for the first time on quiet days and decide to come back to attend a race. He won’t be in the grandstands. Instead, Bell will be strapped into the seat of two different cars as a favorite to win two races.

Bell, 23, from Norman, Oklahoma, will pull “double duty” during Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Florida Georgia Line race week at IMS.

He’ll start by driving the No. 21 Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian entry in the Driven2SaveLives BC39 presented by NOS Energy Drink USAC P1 Insurance National Midget Championship race Sept. 5-6 at The Dirt Track at IMS. Then Bell will shift to his full-time job as the driver of the No. 20 Toyota fielded by Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, racing Saturday, Sept. 8 in the Lilly Diabetes 250 on the 2.5-mile oval at IMS.

Bell will be a marked man in both races. He won the 2013 USAC Midget National Championship for Kunz’s powerful team and also is a recent master of big events, winning the Chili Bowl Nationals in 2017 and 2018, the Belleville Midget Nationals in 2013 and the Turkey Night Grand Prix in 2014 and 2017.

That success in USAC competition and a race victory in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series in 2014 attracted the attention of NASCAR team owners, and Bell moved to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for a partial season in 2015. Much like past USAC stars such as Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, Bell’s transition to NASCAR has been smooth and filled with trips to Victory Lane.

Bell earned his first Camping World Truck Series victory in just his third career start, winning on the dirt at Eldora Speedway for Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM). He then raced the full Truck schedule in 2016 for Busch’s team, with one victory and a third-place finish in points.

In 2017, Bell won the Truck Series championship, with five victories, for KBM. He also earned his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory last year for Joe Gibbs Racing in just his third start in the series, proving he was a quick learner in each of the last two rungs before the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Bell climbed to a full-time Xfinity Series schedule this season with Gibbs’ team and has been a sensation. He is second in the driver standings, just five points behind veteran Justin Allgaier, and leads the playoff standings by five points over Allgaier with just three races remaining before the Xfinity Series Playoffs start. Bell already has four victories this year, including three straight – at Kentucky, New Hampshire and Iowa – in July.

“I’ve got such a fast race car that it’s made the transition easier,” Bell said. “Driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, you just have really fast race cars. All of our partners, they do a great job with providing all of the resources we need to have really fast race cars. I’ve got the best crew chief (Jason Ratcliff) in the business. As far as my job driving the race cars, it’s been really good.”

Bell’s victories this season in Xfinity competition have come on short ovals at Richmond and Iowa, a tight mile at New Hampshire and a 1.5-mile oval at Kentucky. None of those tracks resemble IMS, so Bell knows he must adapt quickly to keep his good times rolling in the Lilly Diabetes 250.

“It’s tough, man,” Bell said. “That’s what makes this place unique; there’s nothing else out there like it. It’s a short track mixed with a superspeedway with the low banking and the super-fast straightaways. That’s what makes this place so hard. You don’t get any practice for it any place else.

“Experience here is invaluable, and hopefully I can overcome adversity and perform well.”

Bell didn’t hesitate to throw his helmet into the ring when he learned the BC39 was taking place at IMS during Brickyard week. He also has plenty of experience in a USAC Midget on quarter-mile dirt ovals like The Dirt Track at IMS, so the inexperience that concerns him on the “big track” at IMS won’t be an issue under the lights on the dirt Wednesday and Thursday.

Competing in two races on different surfaces over four days of action – in cars that require vastly different driving styles, too -- also isn’t a problem for Bell. He’s a throwback to “any car, any time” drivers of yesteryear.

“Any time you get in a Midget or an open-wheel car, it doesn’t really relate at all to a stock car, so nothing really screws you up,” Bell said. “It’s just a different mentality. Whenever you hit the accelerator, something tells you: ‘Ah, I’m in a stock car. I can’t slide it through the corner anymore.’ It’s a totally different feel.”