Christopher Bell celebrated his return to dirt track racing Saturday night by winning and thanking NASCAR Cup team owner Joe Gibbs for allowing him to race in such events.
“I’ve got four words,” Bell said on the FloRacing broadcast after beating Kyle Larson to win the non-wing outlaw micro sprint race at the Tulsa Shootout on Saturday night.
“Thank you Joe Gibbs!”
Bell came up through dirt track racing but has been sidelined in recent years from such events because of a Joe Gibbs Racing policy that prevented its drivers from competing for fear of injury.
Kyle Larson on Christopher Bell being allowed to race on dirt: “I think that’s great for the sport, NASCAR and grassroots racing. It’s exciting. “
Gibbs changed his policy late last season, allowing Bell, Ty Gibbs, and incoming driver Chase Briscoe, among others in the organization, more opportunities to run on dirt should they decide to do so.
“I think that’s great for him,” Larson said in December of Bell getting the chance to race on dirt again. “I think that’s great for the sport, NASCAR and grassroots racing. It’s exciting. I’m glad that he gets to do it, again and hopefully, we’ll get to have many more battles in the midgets and sprint cars down the road.”
They did Saturday night. Bell held off a charging Larson to win the event at the Tulsa Shootout.
The Tulsa Shootout is a precursor to the Jan. 12-18 Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Bell, an Oklahoma native, won the Chili Bowl Nationals from 2017-19. It is among the top midget car events in the country.
Bell is entered in the Chili Bowl Nationals along with Larson, Ty Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and J.J. Yeley.