By Tony Veneziano

Oklahoma has a rich tradition of successful open wheel drivers, and Christopher Bell has helped that trend continue to tick upward.

After cutting his teeth on the dirt in the open wheel ranks, the young driver transitioned to the NASCAR world in 2015 and claimed the championship in the Camping World Truck Series this past season. However, the Norman, OK, native will always be a Sprint Car and Midget driver at heart, as evidenced by his return to the cockpit whenever his ever-growing and increasingly busy schedule allows.

“To be mentioned in the same sentence with guys like (2013 World of Outlaws champion) Daryn Pittman and Shane Stewart is something that I dreamed of as a kid,” Bell said. “I started off going to Micro Sprint tracks and Pittman, Stewart, and (two-time USAC National Sprint Car Series champion) Brady Bacon were the guys I wanted to be like. They were making a living driving race cars and that's what I wanted to do.”

Hall of Famer Shane Carson, who was one of the original drivers with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series when the series was founded back in 1978, has been watching Bell progress since he began racing Micros at tracks in both Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Carson quickly saw the natural ability in the now 23-year-old.

“The talent pool in Oklahoma has been deep for quite a while, and now we have someone up there amongst the higher ranks of NASCAR who people will see a lot on TV and that promotes all ranks of racing, including dirt racing, which is Christopher’s first love,” Carson said. “When I first saw Christopher race, I saw a kid who could take a car that wasn’t exactly right and drive it a little differently to make it work, which is one of the keys to being a good race car driver and he has kept that ability even today.”

Bell became just the second driver from Oklahoma to win the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals this past January, joining Andy Hillenburg as the only home-state drivers to claim the famed Golden Driller trophy in Tulsa. To pick up that win, Bell had to hold off a fellow Oklahoman in the form of a hard-charging Pittman.

“Winning the Chili Bowl is the greatest win I'll ever have in my life,” Bell said. “That's the biggest racing event that I grew up going to. Being able to win is what racing means to me. That was checking off the highest item on my bucket list. Being able to be part of the Chili Bowl history and being a winner is something that is really special to me."

The Chili Bowl win for Bell kicked off what was a remarkable 2017 season that saw him win over 20 races with eight different series. This past season, Bell won in the stock car realm with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the ARCA Racing Series. On the open wheel side, he was victorious with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series, USAC National Midget Series, Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions, POWRi National Midget Series, and the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) Southwest Region.

“All of the cars feed off of each other,” Bell said. “The more you can drive different styles of race cars it just makes you better in different styles of race cars. On the other hand, when you go run with groups like the World of Outlaws, where they run 100 times a year and they are hard to beat and whenever you run a World of Outlaws race it makes you better.

“Then, when you go run a USAC Midget race or ASCS race it makes you better in that style of race car, because you learn things in every style of race car that you can apply to other styles of race cars. I feel like me going NASCAR racing has taught me a lot of things that I can apply when I go dirt racing. Hopping back and forth between all the different styles of cars has made me a better race car driver.”

Being from Oklahoma afforded Bell the opportunity to take part in a session at the driving range this past October with the Oklahoma University's 2017 NCAA Division I men’s golf national championship team as part of a media tour for an event at Texas Motor Speedway. The event was facilitated by Kenny Mossman, the senior associate A.D. for external operations at OU, who is also a longtime open wheel racing fan and Kenton Nelson, the vice president of events and assistant general manager at TMS.

“It gave exposure for Christopher and the Truck Series in Oklahoma while also shining the light on our national championship men’s golf program,” Mossman said. “I’d call it a ‘win-win.’ Our golf team was willing to participate right from the start, but the day went even better than I might have imagined. There was a ton of mutual respect between the two and we definitely won some race fans among the team.”

Bell’s profile continues to rise among the general sporting public in his home state, where most of the attention is focused on the Sooners' football and basketball programs. Mossman, who also teaches a sports public relations class at OU, is glad to see the young racer receiving the accolades and recognition from his ever-growing resume of accomplishments.

“The awareness of Christopher in the Oklahoma sports world has finally begun to catch up with his profile in the racing community,” Mossman said. “It’s a slow process. Stick and ball sports dominate the landscape here for the most part, and even with the Chili Bowl win right here in his home state, I don’t think he experienced the bounce he deserved. The awareness of him is growing and that will continue to be the case as he progresses. Someday, a lot of people here will have a that epiphany moment about Christopher and those of us who have followed him for so long will be thinking to ourselves, ‘We told you so.’”

Before he begins a full season on the NASCAR Xfinity Series tour in 2018 for Joe Gibbs Racing, Bell will look to defend his Chili Bowl win on Jan. 9-13. Only three drivers in the 30-plus-year history of the famed event have won in back-to-back seasons. If he can repeat, Bell will join Sammy Swindell, Kevin Swindell, and Rico Abreu in achieving that feat.

“It takes a lot to be able to race for a win at the Chili Bowl,” Bell said. “The big thing is making sure you take it one race at a time. You look at the total number of entries and the last few years it's been over 300 and you think, ‘How do I beat 300 guys?’ It all starts with beating eight guys in your heat race. Once you check that box, then you have to beat eight more guys in your qualifier. Then once you check that box you move on to the preliminary feature. You just take it one race at a time and eventually you can hopefully capitalize on that and are sitting pretty good.”

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