Lonnie Wheatley, NORMAN, Okla. (July 22, 2014) – Just one week ago, Christopher Bell had about come to terms with the likelihood that he would be spectating rather than racing at the upcoming Knoxville Nationals. He also had an off night slated when the USAC Silver Crown series takes to the Belleville High Banks next Friday.
Both of those things have changed just that quickly, as the 19-year-old from Norman, OK, will wheel a Silver Crown car in the midst of the Belleville Midget Nationals before throwing his hat in the ring for Rookie of the Year honors at the 54th Annual Knoxville Nationals on August 6-9.
Bell will pilot Brandon Berryman’s No. 31 All Pro Auto Reconditioning JR1-chassis at the Knoxville Nationals after taking the seat of the RPM/Gormly No. 99 for USAC Silver Crown competition at Belleville.
“It looked like the schedule might kind of lighten up some in August, now all of this has come together,” Bell commented. “I’m excited about it, I have at least 12 races now over the next couple of weeks.”
The busy stretch begins with Bell aboard the Fox Brothers No. 53 for this week’s MOWA Speedweek events in Illinois that get under way Wednesday at Highland Speedway before moving on to Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach on Thursday, Jacksonville Speedway on Friday and then Macon Speedway on Saturday.
From there, it’s on to Kansas Midget aboard the potent Keith Kunz Motorsports No. 67 Midget for USAC Midget action including a Tuesday night (July 29) stop at Beloit’s Solomon Valley Raceway and then the Belleville Midget Nationals on July 31 and August 2.
With the USAC Silver Crown series tackling the High Banks for the second year during Friday of the Midget Nationals weekend, Bell jumps into the RPM/Gormly No. 99 with ace crew chief Rob Hart turning the wrenches.
From Belleville, it’s directly on to Knoxville Raceway for the Sunday, August 3, Capitani Classic aboard Berryman’s No. 31. “Brandon just got a 410 so we’re ready now, it’ll be nice to get some laps in it on the Sunday before the Nationals so I can get adjusted.” Bell will also take in the Monday, August 4, Front Row Challenge event at Oskaloosa’s Southern Iowa Speedway.
With several large events looming in four different cars including USAC Midgets, USAC Midgets, winged 410s and winged 360s, Bell comes off another weekend that included a runner-up finish on Friday at Attica before another run towards the front was cut short at Fremont.
“We just weren’t quite good enough at Attica,” Bell explains. “We had a white and checkered together, I didn’t really have the run I wanted but I tried it, we just came up a little bit short.
One night later at Attica Raceway Park, Bell was on the move once again in the Fox Brothers No. 53. “We got up to third and I darned near turned it over,” Bell explains. “I banged off the cushion, when it came down it broke the bead off the left rear so we were done.”
It was another good weekend of racing to build on. “We were fast both nights, hopefully we can carry that over into the MOWA shows this week.”
2014 Quick Stats: 62 races, 16 wins, 32 top-fives, 40 top-tens.
Next Up:
Wednesday, Highland Speedway (Highland, IL) – Fox 53 Winged Sprint Car
Thursday, Tri-City Speedway (Pontoon Beach, IL) – Fox 53 Winged Sprint Car
Friday, Jacksonville Speedway (Jacksonville, IL) – Fox 53 Winged Sprint Car
Saturday, Macon Speedway (Macon, IL) – Fox 53 Winged Sprint Car
Keep Track: Keep track of Christopher Bell’s on-track action including schedule and results at http://www.christopherbellracing.com/.
If you would like to keep up with all of Christopher Bell’s racing action by having press releases e-mailed directly to you, simply send your e-mail address to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
Penning the recurring series of “The Wheatley Chronicles” articles on racinboys.com, Lonnie Wheatley provides media, public relations and more for select tracks, drivers and events. For more information, Wheatley may be contacted at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.