“Good to win one in front of him”: Kyle Larson strikes back at Christopher Bell amid JGR driver’s dirt racing return

Kyle Larson spoke about his emphatic win over fellow NASCAR driver Christopher Bell. The Hendrick Motorsports driver got the better of the JGR star in the recently concluded DIRTcar Nationals Event at the Volusia Speedway on Friday.

Larson's victory came a day after Bell, who returned to dirt racing this year, won the World of Outlaws race on February 6 at the same track. In this race, Bell defeated Larson to take home his first gator trophy and $12,000 in prize money.

By winning at the Volusia Speedway, Larson won at 18th different track and it was the HMS driver's 36th win in the World of Outlaws racing series. Speaking about the experience and how he felt after denying Christopher Bell a consecutive victory in the Sprint car race, Larson admitted that beating Bell felt "good."

"You know how good both are, especially, you know, Bell not racing this stuff for a long time. So yeah, it's pretty neat that two Cup guys on Sunday are tied with one lead in the Outlaw tour currently," Larson told Matt Weaver on X (formerly Twitter). "I think that's really awesome. And obviously, with him going to 69K, you knew he'd be extremely fast. So yeah, it's fun to have him back and good to win one in front of him."

Following this, Larson emphasized the track condition that helped him overcome Bell's challenges. He added on this,

"It was just faster paced. I feel like the bottom was not there quite as much as three and four. And then it was just easier to run the top. Like there wasn't a cushion or a curb to get kind of swallowed up and you can kind of run just off of it. So it was pretty easy to run the top. So I think it just kept the pace a little faster."

Up next, Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson will compete for the championship in the finale of the Sprint car series on February 8, Saturday. Both the NASCAR drivers are currently tied in the championship with 386 points.

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Kyle Larson revealed what put him ahead of Christopher Bell on Friday

As Kyle Larson beat Christopher Bell to win the World of Outlaws race on Friday, he touched upon the advantage he had over Bell while racing at the Volusia Speedway on February 7.

Here's what Larson said (as quoted by worldofoutlaws.com):

"It’s (Volusia) a place that I feel like I’ve raced well," he said. "I just always start so far back. I haven’t felt like that gator has been close enough. We’ve been getting the night started off pretty well, and my car feels really good throughout the night. I felt really good there again."

Kyle Larson (5) during the last change qualifying race for the Clash at Bowman Gray at Bowman Gray Stadium. - Source: Imagn

After Dirt racing gets over, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell are expected to gear up for the 2025 Cup Series season where they will continue to race for their respective outfits, Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing. Larson will be in charge of his #5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry, while Bell will remain in the #20 Toyota Camry XSE.