Lonnie Wheatley, NORMAN, Okla. (January 8, 2015) – Most racers would be quite pleased with a pair of top-tens against a stellar cast of competitors in the initial three rounds of the Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown at Yuma, Arizona’s Cocopah Speedway.
But, for a racer accustomed to winning to the tune of more than 50 times over the past two years, it’s just not quite enough.
Such is the case with Christopher Bell, who looks to close out Winter Heat in strong form this weekend after top ten runs on Saturday and Tuesday.
“We’ve really kind of struggled,” Bell said. “We’re chasing it some right now.”
After a grinding crash in Friday night’s Winter Heat opener, Bell bounced back with finishes of seventh on Saturday night and then eighth on Tuesday night aboard Brandon Berryman’s All-Pro Auto Reconditioning No. 31b.
“We’ve definitely got the car better over the past couple of races, we just have a little more to go,” Bell explains.
After racking up 27 overall feature wins in 108 starts in 2014, Bell’s New Year got off to a rough start with a big feature crash in Friday’s Winter Heat lid-lifter.
“Another car chopped (Reece) Goetz and it knocked his front end down,” Bell describes. “I was right behind him and had nowhere to go and hit him hard.”
Both drivers walked away from the wild crash.
“It didn’t hurt the frame but broke just about everything else on the car,” Bell says.
The 20-year-old from Norman, OK, bounced right back with a heat race win the next night before racing on to seventh in the main event and then followed that up with a charge from 15th to eighth in Tuesday night’s feature.
“We’re getting it back to where I feel comfortable in it,” Bell says.
With two nights of Winter Heat action remaining on Friday and Saturday, Bell has worked his up to sixth in points and looks to gain more with a point fund in place for the top five in final points.
“The pay is good out here, hopefully we can get a couple more strong finishes and maybe get a win,” Bell concludes.
He’ll take a shot at the top step of the podium on both nights and then it’s off to Tulsa, OK, on Sunday for the always highly-anticipated Chili Bowl Midget Nationals.
2015 Quick Stats: 3 races, 2 top-tens.
Next Up:
Final two rounds of “Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown” Winged 410-ci Sprint Car action at Cocopah Speedway near Yuma, AZ, on Friday and Saturday, January 9-10 in the Brandon Berryman No. 31b.
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.