Christopher Bell (racing driver)

Christopher Bell
Christopher Bell
	Bell at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2021
Born	Christopher David Bell; December 16, 1994; Norman, Oklahoma, U.S.
Achievements	2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion; 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Regular Season Champion; 2017, 2018, 2019 Chili Bowl Nationals Champion; 2015 Eldora Mudsummer Classic Winner; 2014, 2017, 2018 Turkey Night Grand Prix winner; 2013 USAC National Midget Series Champion
NASCAR Cup Series career
	121 races run over 4 years
Car no., team	No. 20 (Joe Gibbs Racing)
2023 position	4th
Best finish	3rd (2022)
First race	2020 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last race	2023 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (Phoenix)
First win	2021 O'Reilly Auto Parts 253 (Daytona RC)
Last win	2023 4EVER 400 (Homestead)
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
	77 races run over 6 years
2022 position	88th
Best finish	3rd (2019)
First race	2017 Hisense 4K TV 300 (Charlotte)
Last race	2022 Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 (Darlington)
First win	2017 Kansas Lottery 300 (Kansas)
Last win	2021 Ambetter Get Vaccinated 200 (Loudon)
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
	55 races run over 5 years
Truck no., team	No. 61 (Hattori Racing Enterprises)
2018 position	108th
Best finish	1st (2017)
First race	2015 American Ethanol 200 (Iowa)
Last race	2023 Tyson 250 (North Wilkesboro)
First win	2015 Mudsummer Classic (Eldora)
Last win	2017 UNOH 175 (Loudon)
NASCAR Pinty's Series career
	1 race run over 1 year
2017 position	48th
Best finish	48th (2017)
First race	2017 Can-Am 200 (CTMP)
ARCA Menards Series career
	6 races run over 2 years
Best finish	25th (2016)
First race	2016 Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 (Salem)
Last race	2017 Scott 150 (Chicagoland)
First win	2016 Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 (Salem)
Last win	2017 Scott 150 (Chicagoland)
ARCA Menards Series West career
	3 races run over 2 years
Best finish	32nd (2015)
First race	2015 King Taco Catering/NAPA Auto Parts 150 (Irwindale)
Last race	2018 Star Nursery 100 (Las Vegas Dirt)
	Statistics current as of May 20, 2023.

Christopher David Bell (born December 16, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 20 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 61 Toyota Tundra for Hattori Racing Enterprises. He is the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion.

Racing career

Early career and dirt track racing

Bell began his racing career in micro sprints at I-44 Riverside Speedway in the early 2000s. He earned the Lucas Oil ASCS2 Championship in 2010 before winning the 66 Mike Phillips Memorial micro-sprint car race in 2011. The following year, he finished second in the Short Track Nationals at I-30 Speedway, a race sanctioned by the American Sprint Car Series. In 2013, he joined Keith Kunz Motorsports in USAC racing, replacing Kyle Larson. On October 31, 2013, he joined CH Motorsports' sprint car racing program. Bell concluded 2013 as the USAC National Midget Champion. In 2014, he began racing asphalt Super Late Models for Kyle Busch Motorsports, including competing in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. On May 7, 2014, he won his first career WoO Sprint Car Series race at Jacksonville Speedway. As a Super Late Model driver, he won races at New Smyrna Speedway, South Alabama Speedway and Southern National Motorsports Park. During the year, he won 24 USAC Midget races and 26 total dirt races, including the Turkey Night Grand Prix.

In 2017, Bell won the Chili Bowl Nationals, becoming the first Oklahoman to win the event since Andy Hillenburg in 1994. Bell followed the 2017 Chili Bowl win with his third consecutive Turnpike Challenge victory, the most recent win coming at his hometown track I-44 Riverside Speedway in Oklahoma City. He finished the 2017 season with a win in the Tulsa Shootout's Winged Outlaw Division.

He won the Chili Bowl again in 2018 and 2019 to become only the third three-time winner of the race.

NASCAR

In 2015, Bell made two NASCAR K&N Pro Series West starts at Irwindale Speedway and Iowa Speedway, driving the No. 54 for Bill McAnally Racing; he finished 15th and second, respectively. In June, Bell returned to Iowa to make his Camping World Truck Series debut for KBM in the American Ethanol 200. Bell finished second to KBM teammate Erik Jones in the race's practice session, and finished fifth in the race. On July 8, 2015, Bell was announced as Justin Boston's replacement in the No. 54 at Kentucky Speedway. Bell won his first career Truck race in the Mudsummer Classic at Eldora Speedway after holding off Bobby Pierce on the green–white–checker finish.

On October 29, 2015, KBM announced that Bell would compete full-time in the Truck Series in 2016. His season started on a terrifying note at Daytona, when on the final lap, Brandon Brown pushed Timothy Peters into him causing his truck to spin. His truck gripped the track, causing it to go on two wheels before it launched into the air and barrel-rolled multiple times. The following week at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bell was leading the race on his way to win, when he blew a tire and crashed into the wall, ending his day. He would have one lone win in 2016 at Gateway. He would finish third in the final standings.

In 2017, Bell won the second race of the season at Atlanta after winning the first two stages and passing Matt Crafton for the lead with 16 laps remaining. In May, Bell made his Pinty's Series and Xfinity Series debuts; in the former, he drove the No. 22 for 22 Racing at the season-opening race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. In the latter, he joined the No. 18 of Joe Gibbs Racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway as part of a seven-race schedule. He also drove the No. 20 at Iowa and Richmond International Raceway before returning to the No. 18 to drive at Kansas Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. At Mosport, he was the lone American in the field as he finished 23rd after suffering a brake failure.

In his Xfinity debut, Bell got an impressive 4th-place finish despite being spun out early in the race by Ryan Reed. During his second start at Iowa, Bell won the pole and looked on track for his 1st career win. Unfortunately, he was caught up in a multi-car crash late when he got turned while leading by the lap car of Ross Chastain following a crash between the lapped cars of Ryan Reed and Brennan Poole which collected Bell and Chastain. The previous night, in the Truck race, he was also on track for a win but dropped back late and finished 5th. At Kentucky, Bell recovered from an early spin and outraced John Hunter Nemechek and Brandon Jones for his third truck win of the season and fifth of his career. Bell won his first Xfinity race in his fifth start at Kansas after catching and passing Erik Jones in the final laps. On November 17, 2017, Bell won the 2017 Truck Series championship by finishing second to his friend Chase Briscoe and being the best finisher among the Championship 4 of Bell, Crafton, Johnny Sauter, and Austin Cindric. Bell ended his Truck Series season with 5 wins, 15 top 5s, and 21 top tens to win the championship.

Bell during driver intros at Road America in 2018

In 2018, Bell moved to the Xfinity Series full-time to drive the No. 20 car for Joe Gibbs Racing. Bell won his first race of the season at Richmond in April, holding off teammate Noah Gragson. In July, Bell won three consecutive races at Kentucky, New Hampshire, and Iowa, becoming the first series regular since Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 1999 to win three consecutive races. Bell entered the Xfinity Series playoffs by winning at Richmond in September for the season sweep of the track. With this win, Bell would advance to the next round of the playoffs. Bell won his sixth race of the season at Dover in October, setting a rookie win record in the Xfinity Series. Bell won at the ISM Raceway on November 10, 2018, advancing to the Championship 4 after being in a must-win situation after poor finishes in the two prior races at Kansas and Texas. Bell finished 11th at Homestead and 4th in points.

Bell returned for his second full-time season in Xfinity competition in 2019. He started with a sixth at Daytona, and the following week won at Atlanta in dominating fashion. The win at Atlanta was the first win for the Toyota Supra since the Camry was the model used when Toyota joined both the Xfinity and Cup Series in 2007. Bell won his second race of the season at Bristol in April, where he also won the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus. Bell won once again at Dover, winning his second Dash 4 Cash bonus. Bell won his fourth race of the season at Iowa in June.

On June 28, 2019, Bell signed a contract extension with JGR through 2020. In the following day's Camping World 300 at Chicagoland, Bell finished third but was disqualified after failing post-race inspection, relegating him to 38th. Bell won races at New Hampshire in July and Road America in August, the latter of which was his first road course win in the Xfinity Series. In September, Bell won the first race of the playoffs at Richmond, advancing to the next round. In November Bell would win at Texas Motor Speedway and would punch his ticket into the championship round at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the second year in a row. He finished the 2019 season third in points after finishing fifth at Homestead.

On September 24, 2019, Leavine Family Racing announced that Bell would drive the No. 95 Toyota in the Cup Series starting in 2020. In addition, his Xfinity crew chief Jason Ratcliff joined him in the team. In LFR's final season, Bell scored two top fives and seven top tens. He would end up finishing 20th in points and earned a drive in the No. 20 at Joe Gibbs Racing for 2021.

In his second race in JGR's No. 20, the 2021 O'Reilly Auto Parts 253 on Daytona's road course, he passed Joey Logano with two laps remaining to score his first career Cup victory. He became the first driver from Oklahoma to win a Cup Series race, the 35th driver to win a NASCAR race in all three main series, and the 100th winner in NASCAR's modern era. In July, he returned to the Xfinity Series at New Hampshire, where he led 151 of 200 laps including the final 146 to win. During the playoffs, Bell made it to the Round of 12, but struggled with a poor finish at Las Vegas, yet he rebounded with a fifth-place finish at Talladega. Following the Charlotte Roval race, he was eliminated from the Round of 8. He finished the season 12th in the points standings.

Bell started the 2022 season with a 34th-place finish at the Daytona 500. At Atlanta, he accidentally struck jackman David O'Dell during his pit stop. Bell crossed the finish line in second place, but he was penalized to a 23rd-place finish for passing below the line on the final lap. Bell scored a win at New Hampshire to become the 14th different winner of the season. During the playoffs, Bell won at the Charlotte Roval to advance to the Round of 8 after being in a must win situation. At Las Vegas, Bell got caught between a wreck involving Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace, resulting in a 34th-place finish and being well below the playoff cutline. Bell won at Martinsville to make the Championship 4. He finished 10th at the Phoenix finale and a career-best third in the points standings.

Bell began the 2023 season with a third-place finish at the 2023 Daytona 500. He scored his first win of the season at the Bristol dirt race. During the playoffs, Bell won at Homestead to make the Championship 4. At Phoenix, Bell suffered a 36th place DNF and was relegated to a fourth place finish in the points standings after his right-front brake exploded, sending him to the turn 3 wall.

CB Industries

On September 19, 2019, Bell in conjunction with fellow racer Chad Boat announced the formation of CB Industries, a World of Outlaws sprint car team fielding the No. 21 Mobil 1 Toyota for Christopher Bell. In the team's first-ever race on September 21, 2019, they won the Jim Ford Classic.

On August 13, 2019, the team won with Bell in their first-ever start in the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series at Tri-State Speedway.

Personal life

Bell got engaged to Morgan Kemenah in December 2018 after they had been dating for four and a half years, and they married in February 2020, weeks before the Daytona 500.

Motorsports career results

Stock car career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Points	Position
2015	NASCAR Truck Series	Kyle Busch Motorsports	7	1	2	3	231	27th
2015	NASCAR K&N Pro Series West	Bill McAnally Racing	2	0	1	1	71	32nd
2016	NASCAR Truck Series	Kyle Busch Motorsports	23	1	9	17	4025	3rd
2016	ARCA Racing Series	Venturini Motorsports	5	2	3	5	1085	25th
2017	NASCAR Xfinity Series	Joe Gibbs Racing	8	1	3	5	0	NC†
	NASCAR Truck Series	Kyle Busch Motorsports	23	5	15	21	4035	1st
	NASCAR Pinty's Series	22 Racing	1	0	0	0	21	48th
	ARCA Racing Series	Venturini Motorsports	1	1	1	1	240	72nd
2018	NASCAR Xfinity Series	Joe Gibbs Racing	33	7	18	20	4026	4th
	NASCAR Truck Series	Kyle Busch Motorsports	1	0	0	0	0	NC†
	NASCAR K&N Pro Series West	Bill McAnally Racing	1	0	0	1	35	40th
2019	NASCAR Xfinity Series	Joe Gibbs Racing	33	8	20	21	4032	3rd
2020	NASCAR Cup Series	Leavine Family Racing	36	0	2	7	678	20th
2021	NASCAR Cup Series	Joe Gibbs Racing	36	1	7	16	2279	12th
2021	NASCAR Xfinity Series	Joe Gibbs Racing	2	1	1	2	0	NC†
2022	NASCAR Cup Series	Joe Gibbs Racing	36	3	11	20	5027	3rd
2022	NASCAR Xfinity Series	Joe Gibbs Racing	1	0	0	1	0	NC†
2023	NASCAR Cup Series	Joe Gibbs Racing	34	2	10	18	*	*
2023	NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series	Hattori Racing Enterprises	2	0	1	1	0	NC†

^† As Bell was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

NASCAR

() (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Cup Series

NASCAR Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NCSC	Pts	Ref
2020	Leavine Family Racing	95	Toyota	DAY 21	LVS 33	CAL 38	PHO 24	DAR 24	DAR 11	CLT 9	CLT 21	BRI 9	ATL 18	MAR 28	HOM 8	TAL 29	POC 4	POC 39	IND 12	KEN 7	TEX 21	KAN 23	NHA 28	MCH 13	MCH 17	DRC 21	DOV 22	DOV 27	DAY 13	DAR 34	RCH 15	BRI 28	LVS 24	TAL 39	ROV 24	KAN 10	TEX 3	MAR 15	PHO 17	20th	678
2021	Joe Gibbs Racing	20	Toyota	DAY 16	DRC 1	HOM 20	LVS 7	PHO 9	ATL 21	BRD 34	MAR 7	RCH 4	TAL 17	KAN 28	DAR 14	DOV 21	COA 38	CLT 24	SON 24	NSH 9	POC 17	POC 32	ROA 2	ATL 8	NHA 2	GLN 7	IRC 36	MCH 13	DAY 32	DAR 20	RCH 3	BRI 29	LVS 24	TAL 5	ROV 8	TEX 3	KAN 8	MAR 17	PHO 9	12th	2279
2022				DAY 34	CAL 36	LVS 10	PHO 26	ATL 23	COA 3	RCH 6	MAR 20	BRD 7	TAL 22	DOV 4	DAR 6	KAN 5	CLT 5	GTW 9	SON 27	NSH 8	ROA 18	ATL 19	NHA 1	POC 6	IRC 12	MCH 26	RCH 2	GLN 8	DAY 36	DAR 5	KAN 3	BRI 4	TEX 34	TAL 17	ROV 1	LVS 34	HOM 11	MAR 1	PHO 10	3rd	5027
2023				DAY 3	CAL 32	LVS 5	PHO 6	ATL 3	COA 31	RCH 4	BRD 1*	MAR 16	TAL 8	DOV 6	KAN 36	DAR 14	CLT 24	GTW 11	SON 9	NSH 7	CSC 18*	ATL 23	NHA 29	POC 6	RCH 20	MCH 13	IRC 9	GLN 3	DAY 16	DAR 23	KAN 8	BRI 3*	TEX 4	TAL 14	ROV 15	LVS 2	HOM 1	MAR 7	PHO 36	4th	5001
2024				DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	BRI	COA	RCH	MAR	TEX	TAL	DOV	KAN	DAR	CLT	GTW	SON	IOW	NHA	NSH	CSC	POC	IND	RCH	MCH	DAY	DAR	ATL	GLN	BRI	KAN	TAL	ROV	LVS	HOM	MAR	PHO

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
2020	Leavine Family Racing	Toyota	17	21
2021	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5	16
2022			12	34
2023			5	3
2024

Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	NXSC	Pts	Ref
2017	Joe Gibbs Racing	18	Toyota	DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	CLT 4	DOV	POC	MCH										ROA 19	DAR						KAN 1	TEX 6	PHO 4		91st	0¹
2017		20															IOW 16*	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	IOW	GLN	MOH	BRI			RCH 6	CHI	KEN	DOV	CLT				HOM 36	91st	0¹
2018				DAY 39	ATL 3	LVS 2	PHO 4	CAL 21	TEX 2	BRI 29	RCH 1*	TAL 12	DOV 4	CLT 3	POC 36	MCH 11	IOW 2	CHI 12	DAY 3	KEN 1	NHA 1*	IOW 1	GLN 9	MOH 11	BRI 2	ROA 23	DAR 34	IND 7	LVS 4	RCH 1	ROV 5	DOV 1*	KAN 37	TEX 32	PHO 1*	HOM 11	4th	4026
2019				DAY 6	ATL 1*	LVS 13	PHO 30	CAL 3	TEX 3*	BRI 1	RCH 16	TAL 3	DOV 1	CLT 31	POC 5	MCH 13	IOW 1*	CHI 38	DAY 3	KEN 2	NHA 1*	IOW 2*	GLN 2	MOH 2	BRI 14	ROA 1	DAR 4	IND 29	LVS 2*	RCH 1*	ROV 12	DOV 25	KAN 12	TEX 1*	PHO 16*	HOM 5	3rd	4032
2021	Joe Gibbs Racing	54	Toyota	DAY	DRC	HOM	LVS	PHO	ATL	MAR	TAL	DAR	DOV	COA	CLT	MOH	TEX	NSH	POC	ROA	ATL	NHA 1*	GLN	IRC	MCH	DAY 6	DAR	RCH	BRI	LVS	TAL	ROV	TEX	KAN	MAR	PHO	75th	0¹
2022	Joe Gibbs Racing	18	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LVS	PHO	ATL	COA	RCH	MAR	TAL	DOV	DAR	TEX	CLT	PIR	NSH	ROA	ATL	NHA	POC	IRC	MCH	GLN	DAY	DAR 7	KAN	BRI	TEX	TAL	ROV	LVS	HOM	MAR	PHO	88th	0¹

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	NCTC	Pts	Ref
2015	Kyle Busch Motorsports	51	Toyota	DAY	ATL	MAR	KAN	CLT	DOV	TEX	GTW	IOW 5															27th	231
2015		54											KEN 17	ELD 1*	POC	MCH	BRI	MSP	CHI	NHA	LVS 14	TAL 13	MAR	TEX 8	PHO	HOM 25	27th	231
2016		4		DAY 16	ATL 26	MAR 19	KAN 4	DOV 3	CLT 8	TEX 32	IOW 9	GTW 1	KEN 4	ELD 2	POC 10	BRI 7*	MCH 24	MSP 5	CHI 4	NHA 2	LVS 6	TAL 6	MAR 4	TEX 11	PHO 7	HOM 8	3rd	4025
2017		4		DAY 8	ATL 1*	MAR 3*	KAN 4	CLT 3	DOV 25	TEX 1*	GTW 6	IOW 5*	KEN 1*	ELD 9	POC 1	MCH 2	BRI 7	MSP 26	CHI 3	NHA 1*	LVS 2*	TAL 2	MAR 8	TEX 3	PHO 8*	HOM 2	1st	4035
2018		51		DAY	ATL	LVS	MAR	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	IOW	GTW	CHI	KEN	ELD	POC	MCH	BRI 28	MSP	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	108th	0¹
2023	Hattori Racing Enterprises	61	Toyota	DAY	LVS	ATL	COA	TEX	BRD	MAR	KAN	DAR	NWS 16	CLT	GTW	NSH	MOH	POC 4	RCH	IRP	MLW	KAN	BRI	TAL	HOM	PHO	91st	0¹

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

K&N Pro Series West

NASCAR K&N Pro Series West results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	NKNPSWC	Pts	Ref
2015	Bill McAnally Racing	54	Toyota	KCR	IRW 15	TUS	IOW 2	SHA	SON	SLS	IOW	EVG	CNS	MER	AAS	PHO		32nd	71
2018	Bill McAnally Racing	60	Toyota	KCR	TUS	TUS	OSS	CNS	SON	DCS	IOW	EVG	GTW	LVS 10	MER	AAS	KCR	40th	35

Pinty's Series

NASCAR Pinty's Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	NPSC	Pts	Ref
2017	22 Racing	22	Dodge	MOS 23	DEL	CHA	ICA	TOR	WYA	WYA	EDM	TRO	RIV	MOS	STE	JUK	48th	21

ARCA Racing Series

() (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Racing Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	ARSC	Pts	Ref
2016	Venturini Motorsports	66	Toyota	DAY	NSH	SLM 1*	TAL	TOL																25th	1085
2016		15							NJE 10	POC	MCH	MAD	WIN	IOW	IRP	POC 7	BLN	ISF	DSF	SLM 1	CHI 3	KEN	KAN	25th	1085
2017		25		DAY	NSH	SLM	TAL	TOL	ELK	POC	MCH	MAD	IOW	IRP	POC	WIN	ISF	ROA	DSF	SLM	CHI 1	KEN	KAN	72nd	240