Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell grew up on dirt, driving sprint cars and midgets long before NASCAR came calling. Their careers began in the clay pits, where car control was synonymous with throttle control at its finest.
The atmosphere inside the SageNet Center in Tulsa is unlike anything else in motorsports. It’s loud, the fumes hang heavy in the air, and for a dirt racer, there is no greater prize than the Golden Driller.
Last season, Joe Gibbs allowed his drivers to take part in dirt events outside of their NASCAR duties. Chase Briscoe, once a regular at the Chili Bowl, instead chose to spend time with his wife as she delivered twins.
TULSA, Okla. — There is no offseason for the truly restless. Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell proved that again this week, trading helmets, horsepower and expectations for clay, concrete walls and the unmistakable roar of the Tulsa Expo Center.
Christopher Bell delivered a statement performance on Thursday night by winning the Chili Bowl Prelim A-Main, entering the Championship Feature alongside Kyle Larson, who also won his preliminary race.
Christopher Bell put on a clinic on Thursday night and gave the Chili Bowl Nationals crowd plenty of reason to keep their butts out of their seats. Starting from the eighth position and struggling early in the 30-lap A-Main, it looked like Bell was out of contention for a record-tying ninth career Chili Bowl prelim win.
It was a stellar night for NASCAR drivers at the Tulsa Expo Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as festivities for the 40th Annual Chili Bowl Nationals got underway on Monday, first with the annual Race of Champions, and then with the typical Monday Night Prelims.
Here are drivers who won and lost with the introduction of the new format.
Before NASCAR changed its operational framework in 2020 as part of the COVID-19 protocols, drivers enjoyed generous practice windows on the track, logging one to two hours behind the wheel to get familiar with the circuit, their machines, and package configurations.
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell has participated in the Chili Bowl Nationals several times over the years. He even became the champion three consecutive times (2017-2019) and is one of the only four drivers in history to win the famed event three or more times.
The worlds of sprint car racing and stock car racing have been increasingly overlapping in recent years. NASCAR Cup Series driver Christopher Bell is someone with expertise in both fronts, having driven sprint cars extensively before transitioning and becoming one of the most important drivers in the Joe Gibbs Racing garage.
The Chili Bowl Midget Nationals is a prestigious midget car race that takes place at the Tulsa Expo Center every year and is often called the biggest midget car race in existence.
Christopher Bell now blazes around some of the toughest and most challenging tracks in the country, expertly wheeling his No. 20 Toyota Camry XSE. The Japanese carmaker has been a supportive pillar throughout his career and has played a significant role in his current position.
Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson may have shared the NASCAR Cup Series garage for six seasons, but their rivalry was evident long before Sunday afternoons and playoff pressure.
Christopher Bell is one of the most credible title challengers in the NASCAR Cup Series today. But he was once a 21-year-old youngster looking for a solid chance to hitch a trustworthy ride in sprint car racing.
Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson share a rare rivalry defined by mutual respect and sharply contrasting styles. Larson has been known to race more on the edge of losing control, leaning on the throttle and daring, which has often caused him to crash more often.
Christopher Bell’s finest Cup Series campaign to date came in 2022, when he finished third in the final standings. Though his last two seasons ended in heartbreak, particularly in the penultimate races where he led the points but failed to crack the Championship 4, he still salvaged both years with fifth-place finishes.
Let's look back at some of the most notable achievements from a thrilling 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell reached Victory Lane four times in 2025. The fourth time he won was at the Bristol Motor Speedway in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race.
One of the biggest surprises of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season was the ascension of Chase Briscoe at Joe Gibbs Racing.
In the 2025 NASCAR season, Christopher Bell and Shane van Gisbergen won four and five races, respectively. They did it in a similar fashion, too. The two drivers have joined a list of drivers with big-win seasons, but not a lot of laps led.
The somber disappointment was evident as Christopher Bell digested failing to make the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 for the second consecutive season following a seventh-place finish in Sunday's Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Christopher Bell is taking full responsibility for being eliminated in the NASCAR playoffs at Martinsville. After finishing seventh at the Martinsville race on Sunday, Bell spoke to reporters about not being good enough to be part of the Championship 4.
It's safe to say that the 2024 fall race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will go down as one of Bell's most heartbreaking losses, no matter how the rest of his NASCAR Cup Series career plays out.
On a night filled with attrition and tire management, Christopher Bell took the lead on a restart with four laps to go and held off a surge from Brad Keselowski on the final lap to win the Bass Pro Shops Night Race and punch his ticket to the Round of 12.
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