Lonnie Wheatley
NORMAN, Okla. (September 3, 2014) – Christopher Bell had never laid eyes upon the scenic Calistoga Speedway in California’s Napa Valley.
But, the 19-year-old from Norman, OK, definitely found the fast ½-mile clay oval to his liking, adding a non-wing 410-ci Sprint Car win on Saturday and then a $10,000 Midget triumph on Sunday night to run his season total to an astounding 20 victories.
Bell did double-duty on both nights of the Louie Vermeil Classic, taking the seat of the Roth Motorsports non-wing Sprint Car for the USAC/CRA portion of the event and wheeling the familiar Keith Kunz Motorsports No. 71 Toyota Midget in USAC Western States Midget action.
Along with Saturday night’s Sprint Car win, Bell also finished second on the Midget. Then he coupled a third-place Sprint Car finish on Sunday with his Midget triumph to make it four Calistoga podiums in as many starts over the weekend.
Running a wide assortment of cars this year among the Midget and Sprint Car ranks, Bell only had a pair of non-wing Sprint Car starts under his belt this year prior to the weekend.
“I was a little nervous, I’ve only run non-wing a couple of times this year and here I am at Calistoga, a big, fast half-mile,” Bell explained.
Early nerves aside, Bell settled into the Roth mount quite nicely in short order. “That car was so nice, it was really fast and stable, it never felt tippy,” Bell says.
Bell spent the early portion of Saturday’s Sprint Car feature chasing down Ryan Bernal. “Bernal was probably gonna win, I think we were a little better but getting by him was going to be another thing.”
But when Bernal encountered problems under a caution, Bell took quick advantage and raced on to victory lane in his first outing aboard the Roth Motorsports machine.
And Bell was ever so close to sweeping the night, just missing out on the $10,000 Midget win earlier in the evening. “I took the lead on the lap 7 and led all the way to lap 28 and Rico drove by,” Bell said after settling for second.
Looking for a sweep of the Sprint Car weekend with the familiar Roth No. 83 affixed to the car rather than the No. 51T it carried on Saturday night, Bell led as late as lap 21 of the 30-lapper before settling for third in Sunday’s finale.
Bell made his Sunday night lucrative though, outlasting KKM teammates Tanner Thorson and Rico Abreu to take the $10,000 winner’s share in Midget action. Bell slid past Thorson for the point on the 25th lap and then survived contact with Abreu in the final pair of laps.
“We were crossing over, I slipped a little bit and got a piece of him (Abreu), I definitely didn’t want that to happen,” Bell says.
“Two more wins though and twenty on the year, we definitely had a great weekend,” Bell concludes.
2014 Quick Stats: 79 races, 20 wins, 43 top-fives, 54 top-tens.
Next Up:
Bell’s next scheduled Sprint Car action will be World of Outlaws competition at Kokomo Speedway on September 16, Terre Haute Action Track on September 17 and Eldora Speedway on September 19 before finishing off the Four Crown Nationals at Eldora on September in USAC Midget competition.
Keep Track: Keep track of Christopher Bell’s on-track action including schedule and results at http://www.
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Penning the recurring series of “The Wheatley Chronicles” articles on racinboys.com, Lonnie Wheatley provides media, public relations and more for select tracks, drivers and events. For more information, Wheatley may be contacted at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.