Christopher Bell at 8:40 pm ET on Monday, April 25, 2016 Photo – VMS Twitter
After promoting his debut in the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 at Salem Speedway last Thursday night, Christopher Bell returns as our guest on Fan4Racing NASCAR & Race Talk on Monday, April 25, 2016 at 8:40 pm ET. Call 929-477-1790 or tweet @Fan4RacingSite or @Sal_Sigala with any questions or comments during our LIVE broadcast.
As if racing at Salem Speedway in his first ARCA Racing Series event wasn’t exciting enough, 21-year-old, Christopher Bell with Venturini Motorsports battled his way to victory in the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 on Sunday afternoon. The win was not an easy task for the Bell, who also drives for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Bell battled through a slick track with oil dry in the top groove, a shove from fellow competitor Justin Haley and a loss of power to win his debut race at Salem Speedway.
“I’m all worn out…that was all she had over the last ten laps,” said a visibly tired Bell in victory lane. “The top was so dirty up there in three and four…I wasn’t expecting that. I can’t thank Venturini Motorsports and JBL enough for all their support.”
Referring to a line of oil dry in the top groove of the track, Bell was talking about an earlier incident involving Sheldon Creed, when he left fluid on the track. That set the stage for a dramatic finish for the Norman, Oklahoma native.
“It was all I had over the last few laps…there was no saving it. It was harder than I wanted to run but that’s what we had to do. This one is really special to me. This place is legendary…a lot like Winchester, but rougher.”
After two practice sessions, Bell finished fourth in the first session and second in the last practice session, leading up to his second-place qualifying effort, giving him a front row starting spot for the race. Bell, then went on to lead 91 laps including the last 44 of the 200 lap event.
“Things were pretty smooth the first half over that long green flag run. Then we had a bobble on that first pit stop. I took off and the motor laid down a little. We were okay on long green flag runs so it was fortunate to get that last green flag run to finish the race. These General Tires really hung in there all day and saved us after the motor went away. It was so dirty up there, and we ended up side-by-side…it didn’t stick and we plugged the wall. We just kept digging. This place is so abrasive…there’s so much slipping and sliding going on…I think it benefits us dirt racers.”
Challenging Bell with just over 40 laps of the race left to run, Justin Haley shoved the No. 66 JBL car of Bell up the track into the oil dry, taking the lead. Keeping his focus on the race, Bell was able to challenge Haley back for the lead. Haley once again shoved Bell, this time into the wall between turns three and four. With both cars sliding sideways on the track, this time Bell out maneuvered Haley taking back the lead and eventually the checkered flag by four car lengths.
Haley finished second, followed by Dalton Sargeant in third, Kyle Weatherman in fourth and with Blake Jones rounding out the top-five. Completing the top-ten were Tom Hessert, John Wes Townley – the points leader, Brandon Lynn, Matt Kurzejewski, and Brian Keselowski.
Up next for the ARCA Racing Series is the General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 29th with television coverage on FOX Sports 1 and live timing and scoring at arcaracing.com.