By T.J. Buffenbarger
ROSSBURG, Ohio (October 14, 2018) — Christopher Bell does not get to race a sprint car for Tony Stewart Racing that often, but when the opportunity rises he makes the most of it. Sunday Bell put on a dominating performance with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series at Eldora Speedway on Sunday. Bell quickly charged from fifth starting spot, driving by Parker Price-Miller for the lead on lap 13 and drove away to win by over three seconds.
Bell was quick to credit the Tony Stewart Racing team for the car they provided for him again at Eldora.
“This thing was just so fast on the top. Getting into turn three that thing would just stick, and I could zoom right around there,” said Bell. “Just very thankful to be here. How about that day for the boss man? Gets the Cup win and then runs 1-2 at Eldora. Very thankful to be able to drive this thing. It’s a rocket ship every time we come to this place.”
Tim Shaffer and Price-Miller started on the front row. Shaffer led the field through the first two corners before Price-Miller drove by on the inside to lead the opening lap. Price-Miller continued to lead while Shaffer raced with Carson Macedo for the second position. Macedo eventually got by Shaffer and started to chase down Price-Miller for the lead.
After dropping back at the start Bell started making his presence driving into the top five by lap six. Bell quickly disposed of Shaffer and Ian Madsen to move into the third spot by lap 11.
It quickly became evident it was a three-car race for the lead as the leaders closed on slower traffic with Price-Miller, Macedo, and Bell separating themselves from the rest of the field. Bell managed to setup Macedo and Price-Miller with slide jobs on consecutive laps to take the lead on lap 13.
Macedo drove by Price-Miller on lap 16 for the second spot and tried to keep pace with Bell. Price-Miller tried to counter one lap later, but then lost momentum and fell victim to Donny Schatz, who drove by Price-Miller for third on lap 18.
Bell had built up a 3.914 second lead when the caution appeared for Aaron Reutzel slowing on lap 20. That yellow was just a speed bump for Bell who quickly built up a sizeable lead following the double file restart. Behind him Price-Miller drove back to second while Macedo and Schatz raced hard for the third spot through turn three with Schatz getting the position on lap 23.
Schatz eventually drove by Price-Miller for second, but up front it was his teammate doing the dominating on that night winning by a comfortable margin over his TSR teammate. Price-Miller held on for third while Macedo and Madsen rounded out the top five.
Even though Bell has multiple wins now at Eldora Speedway, just being at the legendary track in Rossburg, Ohio is special for him.
“Its just a dream come true. To be able to win Outlaw races and win here at Eldora is just something I dreamed of as a kid,” said Bell. “I’ll never forget those days of playing World of Outlaws 2002 on the Playstation 2 and I’d always run Eldora and it was always one of my favorite tracks. To be able to race here is special, but to win here is just unbelievable.”
World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series
Eldora Speedway
Rossburg, OH
Sunday October 14, 2018
Qualifying Flight A: 1. 71 – Gio Scelzi, 12.778; 2. 18 – Ian Madsen, 12.831; 3. 71P – Parker Price-Miller, 12.872; 4. 2 – Shane Stewart, 12.877; 5. 15 – Donny Schatz, 12.926; 6. 87 – Aaron Reutzel, 12.934; 7. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr, 12.980; 8. 49X – Tim Shaffer, 12.987; 9. 49 – Brad Sweet, 12.999; 10. 1A – Jacob Allen, 13.062; 11. 39 – Spencer Bayston, 13.065; 12. 7S – Jason Sides, 13.163; 13. 49D – Shawn Dancer, 13.209; 14. G1 – Max Stambaugh, 13.222; 15. 71H – Randy Hannagan, 13.238; 16. 5T – Travis Philo, 13.271; 17. 97 – Caleb Helms, 13.454; 18. 11N – Cap Henry, 13.467; 19. 22M – Dan McCarron, 13.602; 20. 42 – Ty Tilson, 13.853.
Qualifying Flight B: 1. 41 – Carson Macedo, 12.899; 2. 14B – Christopher Bell, 12.928; 3. 71X – Joey Saldana, 12.944; 4. 19 – Brent Marks, 12.996; 5. 17 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.997; 6. W20 – Greg Wilson, 13.012; 7. 4 – Brock Zearfoss, 13.026; 8. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 13.038; 9. 19P – Paige Polyak, 13.054; 10. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 13.060; 11. 21 – Brian Brown, 13.072; 12. 5 – David Gravel, 13.077; 13. 81 – Chad Kemenah, 13.151; 14. 12N – Cole Duncan, 13.190; 15. 83 – Cory Eliason, 13.202; 16. 99 – Brady Bacon, 13.206; 17. 97G – Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.228; 18. 02 – Brandon Long, 19. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 13.602, 20. Kraig Kinser, NT.
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 71P – Parker Price-Miller, 2. 15 – Donny Schatz, 3. 71 – Gio Scelzi, 4. 49 – Brad Sweet, 5. 39 – Spencer Bayston, 6. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr, 7. 71H – Randy Hannagan, 8. 97 – Caleb Helms, 9. 22M – Dan McCarron, 10. 49D – Shawn Dancer. (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 49X – Tim Shaffer, 2. 18 – Ian Madsen, 3. 87 – Aaron Reutzel, 4. 2 – Shane Stewart, 5. 7S – Jason Sides, 6. 11N – Cap Henry, 7. G1 – Max Stambaugh, 8. 1A – Jacob Allen, 9. 5T – Travis Philo, 10. 42 – Ty Tilton. (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 41 – Carson Macedo, 2. 71X – Joey Saldana, 3. 4 – Brock Zearfoss, 4. 21 – Brian Brown, 5. 17 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 6. 81 – Chad Kemenah, 7. 83 – Cory Eliason, 8. 97G – Hunter Schuerenberg, 9. 19P – Paige Polyak, 10. 16 – Ryan Ruhl. (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #4 (8 Laps): 1. 14B – Christopher Bell, 2. W20 – Greg Wilson, 3. 19 – Brent Marks, 4. 5 – David Gravel, 6. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 7. 99 – Brady Bacon, 8. 12N – Cole Duncan, 9. 02 – Brandon Long, 10. 11K – Kraig Kinser. (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Dash (6 Laps): 1. 49X – Tim Shaffer, 2. 71P – Parker Price-Miller, 3. 18 – Ian Madsen, 4. 41 – Carson Macedo, 5. 14B – Christopher Bell, 6. 71X – Joey Saldana, 7. W20 – Greg Wilson, 8. 15 – Donny Schatz. (Finish determined the first eight starting positions for the A-Main)
C-Main (10 Laps): 1. 99 – Brady Bacon, 2. 97G – Hunter Schuerenberg, 3. 5T – Travis Philo, 4. 11N – Cap Henry, 5. 97 – Caleb Helms, 6. 02 – Brandon Long, 7. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 8. 22M – Dan McCarron, 9. 42 – Ty Tilton, 10. 11K – Kraig Kinser. (First two finishers transferred to the B-Main)
B-Main (12 Laps): 1. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr, 2. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 3. 1A – Jacob Allen, 4. 81 – Chad Kemenah, 5. 83 – Cory Eliason, 6. 12N – Cole Duncan, 7. G1 – Max Stambaugh, 8. 71H – Randy Hannagan, 9. 49D – Shawn Dancer, 10. 99 – Brady Bacon, 11. 19P – Paige Polyak, 12. 97G – Hunter Schuerenberg. (First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
A-Main (30 Laps): 1. 14B – Christopher Bell, 2. 15 – Donny Schatz, 3. 71P – Parker Price-Miller, 4. 41 – Carson Macedo, 5. 18 – Ian Madsen, 6. 19 – Brent Marks, 7. 71X – Joey Saldana, 8. 17 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 9. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 10. 4 – Brock Zearfoss, 11. 2 – Shane Stewart, 12. 21 – Brian Brown, 13. 49 – Brad Sweet, 14. 71 – Gio Scelzi, 15. W20 – Greg Wilson, 16. 39 – Spencer Bayston, 17. 5 – David Gravel, 18. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 19. 7S – Jason Sides, 20. 81 – Chad Kemenah, 21. 49X – Tim Shaffer, 22. 87 – Aaron Reutzel, 23. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr, 24. 1A – Jacob Allen.