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Dec 25, 2024 | 3:52 AM CST
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Christopher Bell
via Imago
Christopher Bell
After two years, Christopher Bell is getting back to his roots. Joe Gibbs has decided to relax restrictions that prevented his Cup Series drivers from taking part in off-NASCAR activities, mainly dirt racing. The move came mainly after Chase Briscoe joined JGR’s 2025 roster, marking the 2nd driver with a dirt background on the team. However, Bell candidly revealed that his hands get clammy at a particular dirt track.
The Tulsa Shootout is a much-awaited circle track event, marking the last one of the year. Being held between December 31st and January 4th, the ‘Mecca of Micros’ is a big attraction. As rigs, cars, and people prepare to enter the SageNet Center, Christopher Bell is also joining them—but not without a hint of nervousness.
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Well, the primary reason Joe Gibbs had for his restrictions was safety. While Hendrick Motorsports saw Kyle Larson sharpening his wheeling skills in dirt and winning 6 races in 2024, his teammate presented a polar opposite situation. Alex Bowman broke his back in an April 2023 sprint car crash. As a result, he missed four Cup Series races and failed to qualify for the playoffs that season. Christopher Bell has little chance of that, given his stellar dirt background. He owns three consecutive Chili Bowl National victories, one of which he beat Larson to.
Yet the No. 20 Cup Series driver confessed one dirt track does rob slices of his confidence. In a recent interview with FloRacing, Christopher Bell said he cannot put a finger on it, but that fear is there. Further sharing the very specifics, he added, “I don’t know, there’s something about whenever you’re sitting here, you’re looking down…At the Shootout, they give you the sign to start your engines, at the Chili Bowl you see the rope getting pulled away.”
Then the 9-time Cup Series race winner delivered his verdict in 7 words: “It’s the most nervous I ever get.” Then he made further comparisons to solidify his argument: “Out of the Daytona 500, the King’s Royal. I’ve never made Knoxville…But I don’t know, man there’s something about that ranch that gets me nervous.”
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Can Christopher Bell overcome his nerves and reclaim his dirt racing dominance at the Tulsa Shootout?
Debate
Despite this confession of timidity, Christopher Bell had won the 2017 Tulsa Shootout Golden Driller. After clinching the Craftsman Truck Series championship the same year, he continued his winning streak on dirt. Bell used the high line in the early laps of the final Shootout race. He watched as Tyler Walton and Mile Paulus exchanged sliders, battling for the lead, and pounced on the restart. With 20 laps remaining, he slid past Paulus and led for the remainder of the race. This stellar achievement already rests on Bell’s resume—and yet the speedster insists on feeling nervous on the same racetrack.
However much he feels nervous, his rivals also want to see him compete again on dirt.
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Due to Joe Gibbs’ restrictions, Christopher Bell was sidelined from dirt since mid-2022. The only exception arose when Bell ran two micro sprint races in May. Yet now that the dirt racing phenom is back to his roots, there is no stopping him. Gibbs called the drivers to ask for a meeting at the season’s end to lay out the team’s new approval process. Chase Briscoe, Bell’s new teammate and dirt car owner, outlined that except for high-risk situations like running at Eldora Speedway in a non-wing sprint car, most approvals would progress. Accordingly, Gibbs granted Bell and his teammates opportunities to run outside NASCAR.
This proposition excited even racers outside JGR. From 2017-21, Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson were the only drivers to win the prestigious Chili Bowl Nationals midget car race in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bell won three years in a row—scoring his third consecutive win in that event with a last-lap pass of Larson. So now his rival is eager to see him back. “I think that’s great for the sport, NASCAR and grassroots racing. It’s exciting. I’m glad that he gets to do it, again and hopefully, we’ll get to have many more battles in the midgets and sprint cars down the road.”
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Evidently, his teammates and rivals are rooting for Christopher Bell. Once he gets over his nervousness, the racer is sure to revive his dirt glory.
Let the world know your perspective.
Debate
Debate
Can Christopher Bell overcome his nerves and reclaim his dirt racing dominance at the Tulsa Shootout?
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