Open-Wheel Dirt Standout Continues Pavement Progression
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June. 10, 2015)– Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) announced today that 20-year-old Christopher Bell will make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut June 19 driving the No. 51 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra in the American Ethanol 200 at Iowa Speedway in Newton.
The open-wheel dirt standout, who was crowned the 2013 United States Auto Club (USAC) National Midget Champion, began his pavement-racing career last September driving for KBM’s Late Model team. In just his fourth-career Late Model start, Bell outdueled second-generation NASCAR driver John Hunter Nemechek to win the Orange County 150 Pro All Star Series (PASS) South Super Late Model race last October at Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, N.C.
In 2015, Bell has collected four victories and a pair of runner-up finishes en route to an average finish of 1.7 across seven starts behind the wheel of KBM’s No. 51 Late Model. The talented youngster picked up his first marquee Late Model victory in March when he led 203 of 250 laps of the prestigious Rattler 250 at South Alabama Speedway in Kinston, dominating a field which included reigning NASCAR XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott.
The Oklahoma native made two NASCAR K&N Pro Series starts earlier this season in preparation for his Truck Series debut. After finishing 15th in the K&N Pro Series West event at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway in April, Bell came all the way from the 18th spot at the halfway break of the Casey’s 150 K&N Pro Series combination race held at Iowa Speedway in May to register a fifth-place result.
“I’m really excited to have Toyota Certified Used Vehicles (TCUV) as a sponsor and I’m looking forward to making the most of the opportunity to race in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for KBM, TCUV, and Toyota,” Bell said. “Although the vehicles will drive somewhat different, being able to race in the K&N Series last month will help speed up my learning curve for the Truck Series race, and having Jerry (Baxter) come out to crew chief that race gave us a head start on our communication as well.”
In addition to his pavement schedule, which consists of over 20 races in 2015, Bell continues to tour dirt tracks around the country racing Midgets and Winged Sprint Cars. Bell has collected four National Midget Series wins in eight starts this season and also collected his second-career World of Outlaws Sprint Car triumph in the Spring Classic Winged Sprint Car race at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo., in April.
In 2014 Bell collected an amazing 27 feature wins while competing in 108 events between Midgets (18 wins), Winged Sprint Cars (seven wins), Non-Winged Sprint Cars (one win) on dirt and Super Late Models (one win) on pavement. Highlighting his season was a victory in the prestigious 98-lap Turkey Night Grand Prix USAC Midget race at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway, where he etched his name along open-wheel legends A.J. Foyt (1960-61), Parnelli Jones (1964 and 1966) and Tony Stewart (2000), who all picked up a Turkey Night win in their careers. The talented wheelman also scored his first World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series win at Jacksonville (Ill.) Speedway in May.
Christopher Bell
Birthdate: December 16, 1994
Hometown: Norman, Oklahoma
Social Media
Website: ChristopherBellRacing.com
Twitter: twitter.com/cbellracing21
Instagram: instagram.com/CBELLRACING21
About Kyle Busch Motorsports
Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) has quickly established itself as one of the most successful teams in all of NASCAR. Owned by NASCAR superstar Kyle Busch and fueled by his passion for winning, the team has already collected three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Owner’s Championships and has recorded 39 Truck Series victories across its five-year existence, including a single-season series’ record 14 wins in 2014. In 2015, Busch will share driving duties for the back-to-back reigning Owner’s Champion No. 51 Tundra team with Daniel Suarez, Matt Tifft and Christopher Bell, while four-time Truck Series winner Erik Jones and Justin Boston will each compete full-time and vie for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award.
KBM prepares a fleet of race-winning Toyotas out of its state-of-the art 77,000-square-foot facility in Mooresville, N.C. Fans can stay up-to-date with all the latest KBM news online at www.KyleBuschMotorsports.com, by liking the team on Facebook (KBMteam) and by following the team on Twitter (@KBMteam) and Google+ (+KBMteam).
-KBM –
