By Alex Nieten
BARBERVILLE, FL (February 6, 2025) – It’s the rivalry Sprint Car fans have missed for a long few years. Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson. But it came roaring back in a big way on Thursday night at Volusia Speedway Park.
A heartbreaking spin for Emerson Axsom set up a three-lap duel to the finish for the dirt racers at heart that’ve become stars of the NASCAR Cup Series. And the two titans delivered.
Bell led the way, and Larson threw everything at him. Bell kept the Kreitz Racing No. 69K glued to the bottom in Turns 1 and 2 while Larson ripped the Silva Motorsports No. 57 around the top. Bell slid himself in Turns 3 and 4 leaving Larson to try crossovers. It came down to the final corner of the last lap as Bell again drifted up in front of Larson. The Elk Grove, CA native ducked under Bell as they exited Turn 4. The two drag raced to the checkered flag, and it was Bell holding off Larson by .05 seconds for his first gator.
The finish brought the entire crowd to their feet. Fans got a taste of the two battling on dirt last month when Bell held off Larson in similar fashion at the Tulsa Shootout. And the rivalry was rekindled even more as Bell bested him again for a Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals gator and $12,000.
“It’s just absolutely incredible,” Bell said. “I’m just so thankful that my boss Joe Gibbs and everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing has allowed me to come out here and do this. It’s so much fun. Winning Outlaw races is my pride and joy. I don’t have many of them to my name, and I’m just so thankful to be in the 69K and get to add another one. It truly is a dream come true to be racing out here.”
It was Bell’s first Sprint Car win in only his second race back since taking a hiatus from dirt in 2022. The victory was also his first with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars since October 13, 2019 at Haubstadt, IN’s Tri-State Speedway. The Norman, OK native is up to six wins with The Greatest Show on Dirt for five different teams – Fox Racing, Keith Kunz Motorsports, Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing, CB Industries, and Kreitz Racing.
For team owner Don Kreitz Jr., it was the iconic No. 69K’s first Series triumph in the state of Florida, and Bell is the third different driver to win a World of Outlaws race in the car, joining Kreitz himself and Lance Dewease.
“It’s a pleasure to drive, for sure,” Bell said. “He’s (Kreitz Jr.) a magician whenever it comes to working on this thing. It just rolls around the corner really, really good. I feel like the slicker it gets the better off this car is going to be. The cushion is a little bit tricky. I’ve got to figure out how to drive a little bit better when it starts to get thicker.”
It was back-to-back podiums for Larson in the Silva Motorsports No. 57. He backed up Wednesday’s third with Thursday’s runner-up. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion continues to bang on the door on his first Volusia win. He did everything he could to make it happen, but he couldn’t quite sneak by.
“I thought I did a pretty good job on that last restart of staying with him on the frontstretch and thought I was going to be able to build enough of a run,” Larson said. “But this place is so wide. To run the top is a long ways around. It was difficult, but I thought I could get enough grip and speed to the center of (Turns) 3 and 4 that maybe I could get lucky enough to catch some traction as I diamonded and get a little bit of a run to get by him into (Turn) 1. Just came up a little bit short.”
Rounding out the podium was Logan Schuchart in the Shark Racing No. 1S. It was an encouraging run for the Hanover, PA native who had to wait until late June for his first top three in 2024. It makes Schuchart the de facto point leader as the two ahead of him won’t be competing full-time.
“Tonight, I felt really good just moving around traffic at certain times,” Schuchart said. “Kyle is going to do a really good job and not make many mistakes. I just didn’t get around some lapped cars as quick as I needed to in (Turns) 3 and 4 and kind of lost a little bit of momentum. I went to get back to the top and try to diamond (Turns) 1 and 2, and by that time Kyle was on my left rear and got to the bottom before I did. That took me out of the fight there a little bit.”
It was a devastating night for Emerson Axsom. The 20-year-old native of Indiana looked to be on his way to his first World of Outlaws checkered flag, but a slight mistake while leading resulted in a spin in Turn 4 with a only a few laps remaining.
David Gravel and Brad Sweet completed the top five.
Ryan Timms drove from 21st to 10th to earn the KSE Racing Hard Charger.
Kyle Larson claimed Simpson Quick Time honors.
NOS Energy Drink Heats One, Two, and Four went to Kyle Larson, Bill Balog, and Carson Macedo. WIX Filters Heat Three belonged to Christopher Bell.
The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to Christopher Bell.
Bell also topped the Toyota Racing Dash.
Ryan Timms won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Emerson Axsom.
UP NEXT: The Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals roll on to night three on Friday, Feb. 7 at Volusia Speedway Park. It’s another $12,000 and a gator on the line for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, watch every lap all season long on DIRTVision.
For the entire 2025 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car schedule, CLICK HERE.
FEATURE RESULTS:
NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps): 1. 69K-Christopher Bell[1]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson[4]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart[2]; 4. 2-David Gravel[12]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet[9]; 6. 17B-Bill Balog[6]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz[13]; 8. 26-Justin Peck[11]; 9. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[10]; 10. 10-Ryan Timms[21]; 11. 83-Michael Kofoid[19]; 12. 41-Carson Macedo[7]; 13. 21-Brian Brown[5]; 14. 71-Parker Price Miller[22]; 15. 24D-Danny Sams III[8]; 16. 39M-Anthony Macri[15]; 17. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[17]; 18. 1A-Jacob Allen[23]; 19. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[25]; 20. 7S-Chris Windom[20]; 21. 27-Emerson Axsom[3]; 22. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[24]; 23. 2C-Cole Macedo[27]; 24. 23-Garet Williamson[16]; 25. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[14]; 26. 88-Austin McCarl[18]; 27. 6-Zach Hampton[26]; 28. 99-Skylar Gee[28]
MicroLite Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 10-Ryan Timms[1]; 2. 71-Parker Price Miller[7]; 3. 1A-Jacob Allen[3]; 4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[6]; 5. 9-Kasey Kahne[4]; 6. 5-Brenham Crouch[5]; 7. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[17]; 8. 32-Bryce Lucius[2]; 9. 16T-Brady Bacon[11]; 10. 36-Jason Martin[9]; 11. 2C-Cole Macedo[8]; 12. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[12]; 13. 6-Zach Hampton[14]; 14. 34-Sterling Cling[13]; 15. 11T-TJ Stutts[16]; 16. 44-Chris Martin[18]; 17. 97UK-Ryan Harrison[15]; 18. 28-Conner Morrell[10]
C Feature (10 Laps): 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[3]; 2. 44-Chris Martin[1]; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich[2]; 4. 13-Daison Pursley[4]; 5. 15K-Creed Kemenah[7]; 6. 17GP-Landon Crawley[10]; 7. 12X-Kameron Key[15]; 8. 99-Skylar Gee[16]; 9. 77T-Tyeller Powless[5]; 10. 0-Glenn Styres[13]; 11. 64-Andy Pake[12]; 12. 12S-Adyn Schmidt[6]; 13. 16TH-Kevin Newton[8]; 14. 6G-Bryan Gossel[9]; 15. 16G-Austyn Gossel[11]; 16. 88J-Joey Amantea[14]
Toyota Dash (6 Laps): 1. 69K-Christopher Bell[1]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart[2]; 3. 27-Emerson Axsom[3]; 4. 57-Kyle Larson[6]; 5. 21-Brian Brown[4]; 6. 17B-Bill Balog[8]; 7. 41-Carson Macedo[5]; 8. 24D-Danny Sams III[7]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[1]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart[2]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet[3]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz[4]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[7]; 6. 10-Ryan Timms[5]; 7. 5-Brenham Crouch[6]; 8. 36-Jason Martin[10]; 9. 34-Sterling Cling[8]; 10. 44-Chris Martin[9]; 11. 77T-Tyeller Powless[11]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 17B-Bill Balog[1]; 2. 27-Emerson Axsom[2]; 3. 26-Justin Peck[4]; 4. 39M-Anthony Macri[3]; 5. 83-Michael Kofoid[6]; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen[8]; 7. 71-Parker Price Miller[7]; 8. 16T-Brady Bacon[10]; 9. 97UK-Ryan Harrison[9]; 10. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]; 11. 15K-Creed Kemenah[11]
WIX Filters Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 69K-Christopher Bell[1]; 2. 24D-Danny Sams III[2]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[4]; 4. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[3]; 5. 88-Austin McCarl[6]; 6. 9-Kasey Kahne[7]; 7. 2C-Cole Macedo[10]; 8. 32-Bryce Lucius[5]; 9. 6-Zach Hampton[8]; 10. 48-Danny Dietrich[9]; 11. 12S-Adyn Schmidt[11]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[2]; 2. 21-Brian Brown[1]; 3. 2-David Gravel[3]; 4. 23-Garet Williamson[4]; 5. 7S-Chris Windom[5]; 6. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[7]; 7. 28-Conner Morrell[6]; 8. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[8]; 9. 11T-TJ Stutts[11]; 10. 13-Daison Pursley[9]; 11. 16TH-Kevin Newton[10]
Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying A (2 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson, 00:13.262[21]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:13.435[24]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:13.445[11]; 4. 27-Emerson Axsom, 00:13.493[6]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:13.520[12]; 6. 39M-Anthony Macri, 00:13.540[9]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz, 00:13.564[16]; 8. 26-Justin Peck, 00:13.566[10]; 9. 10-Ryan Timms, 00:13.574[22]; 10. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:13.581[14]; 11. 5-Brenham Crouch, 00:13.582[20]; 12. 83-Michael Kofoid, 00:13.587[15]; 13. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:13.595[18]; 14. 71-Parker Price Miller, 00:13.636[5]; 15. 34-Sterling Cling, 00:13.666[23]; 16. 1A-Jacob Allen, 00:13.694[2]; 17. 44-Chris Martin, 00:13.721[8]; 18. 97UK-Ryan Harrison, 00:13.818[19]; 19. 36-Jason Martin, 00:13.862[26]; 20. 16T-Brady Bacon, 00:13.906[7]; 21. 15K-Creed Kemenah, 00:13.937[17]; 22. 12X-Kameron Key, 00:13.951[4]; 23. 12S-Adyn Schmidt, 00:13.996[25]; 24. 11T-TJ Stutts, 00:13.997[3]; 25. 64-Andy Pake, 00:14.028[1]; 26. 88J-Joey Amantea, 00:14.223[13]
Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying B (2 Laps): 1. 69K-Christopher Bell, 00:13.293[9]; 2. 21-Brian Brown, 00:13.344[6]; 3. 24D-Danny Sams III, 00:13.397[17]; 4. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:13.455[19]; 5. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 00:13.524[10]; 6. 2-David Gravel, 00:13.568[25]; 7. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 00:13.584[5]; 8. 23-Garet Williamson, 00:13.595[12]; 9. 32-Bryce Lucius, 00:13.622[8]; 10. 7S-Chris Windom, 00:13.637[26]; 11. 88-Austin McCarl, 00:13.639[1]; 12. 28-Conner Morrell, 00:13.669[4]; 13. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:13.679[2]; 14. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 00:13.694[16]; 15. 6-Zach Hampton, 00:13.736[15]; 16. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 00:13.737[13]; 17. 48-Danny Dietrich, 00:13.764[23]; 18. 13-Daison Pursley, 00:13.800[14]; 19. 2C-Cole Macedo, 00:13.809[18]; 20. 16TH-Kevin Newton, 00:13.866[20]; 21. 77T-Tyeller Powless, 00:13.924[7]; 22. 6G-Bryan Gossel, 00:13.927[22]; 23. 17GP-Landon Crawley, 00:13.964[21]; 24. 16G-Austyn Gossel, 00:13.990[11]; 25. 0-Glenn Styres, 00:13.994[3]; 26. 99-Skylar Gee, 01:00.000[24]
Non-Qualifier (8 Laps): 1. 77T-Tyeller Powless[2]; 2. 15K-Creed Kemenah[1]; 3. 12S-Adyn Schmidt[5]; 4. 11T-TJ Stutts[7]; 5. 6G-Bryan Gossel[4]; 6. 17GP-Landon Crawley[6]; 7. 16G-Austyn Gossel[8]; 8. 64-Andy Pake[9]; 9. 0-Glenn Styres[10]; 10. 88J-Joey Amantea[11]; 11. 12X-Kameron Key[3]; 12. 99-Skylar Gee[12]