Remember the 2024 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte? Fans were shocked to see Justin Allgaier in Kyle Larson’s car. It was a classic example of weather playing its disastrous part in the sport. Larson, who was attempting the “Double,” failed to show up at the NASCAR race because rain derailed his schedule, and he could run only the Indianapolis 500. Sad much? Well, one of his contemporaries faced the same this year, and it is Joe Gibbs Racing’s torchbearer, Christopher Bell.
Known to have his roots racing dirt mobile and sprint cars, Bell briefly returned to dirt last month, appearing in Kubota High Limit Racing’s season opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But Mother Nature had other plans. Rain pushed Thursday’s program to Friday, directly clashing with Bell’s NASCAR obligations. Just like that, his long-awaited sprint car appearance got washed out. It was a frustrating reminder of how tight the line is between his two racing lives.
But let’s just say the Oklahoma native isn’t done scratching his dirt-racing itch. Fans who’ve followed his rise from small tracks to NASCAR glory know that when Bell heads back to his roots, something exciting is always brewing. This summer, that thrill is about to fire back up—big time.
Christopher Bell is back to where he belongs
Christopher Bell has never made a secret of where his heart lies. “I don’t really like to make a schedule,” Bell told NASCAR. “I really just kind of go week by week, and if my week turns out to be quiet, I’ll look for opportunities to go race.” That week-by-week instinct? It’s rooted in dirt. That’s where he feels most alive.
Keeping aside what had happened at Las Vegas, the stars have finally aligned for him. The Kreitz Racing team confirmed that Bell will fire back up in a 410 Sprint Car on May 2 at Rocket Raceway Park in Petty, Texas. The timing couldn’t be better! The NASCAR Cup Series is racing that weekend at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, just a couple of hours away. That proximity gives Bell the green light to go full throttle twice in one weekend. All thanks to Coach Gibbs and his faith in his rising champion. But why is this blind trust so legitimate and strong?
𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒 @CBellRacing and @KreitzRacing69K have announced their next Sprint Car race together. Read more here. https://t.co/xcIuIeioCE
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) April 22, 2025
Well, Christopher Bell has proven it numerous times. His rise through the dirt scene was fast and fierce. From capturing the 2013 USAC National Midget Championship to dominating in sprint cars and midgets, he proved himself a generational talent on loose surfaces. Even after breaking into NASCAR, he kept winning major dirt events, including the prestigious Chili Bowl Nationals three times! So far, Bell’s 2025 Sprint Car return has been anything but rusty.
In four starts at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park back in January, he’s already grabbed a win and a second-place finish with the World of Outlaws. Mechanical gremlins knocked him out of two races, but he still averaged a blazing 4.3 in time trials when he did qualify. The speed? Still very much there. It will be exciting to see how he performs at Texas (if Mother Nature allows him to)!
Bell and Larson’s early dirt battles are shaping their rivalry
Christopher Bell’s dirt racing career is one of the most decorated among modern NASCAR drivers. It showcases both his versatility and dominance across multiple disciplines. Bell began racing micro sprints at I-44 Riverside Speedway in Oklahoma in the early 2000s, quickly establishing himself as a prodigy on dirt. And, Kyle Larson was far ahead then. At 14, he ran his first sprint car in 1997.
In 2010, C. Bell had already captured the Lucas Oil ASCS2 championship. It was the same year when Larson finished 10th overall in the Chili Bowl Nationals. But that was just the beginning for Bell. In 2011, he won the Mike Phillips Memorial micro-sprint car race. His momentum continued as he finished second in the prestigious Short Track Nationals at I-30 Speedway in 2012, a significant accomplishment in the American Sprint Car Series. But do you know where things started to get salty between the two generational stars?
It was in 2013 when Bell joined Keith Kunz Motorsports, and Kyle Larson had been there for a couple of years already. Both of them were under Toyota’s driver development program. But, with the same equipment, Christopher Bell continued dominating over Larson. Years later, Larson admitted how it killed his ego on a recent podcast of ‘Stacking Pennies’.
“That’s when he started kicking my a– all the time, which really killed my ego. We were on the same equipment, and he was just winning everything. I am running second to him every night, every year at the Chili Bowl,” Yung Money admitted. And, this humbling experience did lead him to make himself better. In 2013, Bell replaced Larson in USAC midget competition and capped the year as the USAC National Midget Champion. He continued to rack up victories, including his first World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series win in 2014 at Jacksonville Speedway.
That same year, while Christopher Bell won 24 USAC Midget races and 26 dirt races overall, including the Turkey Night Grand Prix, Larson went winless in dirt. But he was chasing a different endeavor. Yung Money rocked the NASCAR Cup Series world with exceptional performance, bagging the Sunoco Rookie of the Year driving the #42 car for Hendrick Motorsports. But, how are things going on the asphalt lately?
In 2020, C. Bell debuted in the Cup Series for Leavine Family Racing in the #95 Toyota. Next season, he moved to Joe Gibbs Racing and steered the #20 car for 2021. That year, Larson outshone everyone, becoming the first driver to win three consecutive races in NASCAR history. And this year, his adversary from the dirt has evened his score out four years down the line!
This 4-year gap between their racing prowess is unbelievable! Do you think the generational talent battle will go on till one of them retires? Let us know in the comments below.
The post After Mother Nature Jinxed Christopher Bell’s Las Vegas Hopes, the JGR Driver Makes His Sprint Car Return appeared first on EssentiallySports.
