Christopher Bell returned to Super Late Model racing ahead of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season on Tuesday. He is geared to compete in the ASA STARS National Tour season-opener alongside Joe Gibbs Racing director of competition Chris Gabehart.
Bell is a 30-year-old professional stock car racing driver signed for Joe Gibbs Racing. With the team lifting the ban on racing outside NASCAR, the Oklahoma native gets to enter various series again, with the ASA STARS National Tour as the latest on the schedule.
Per veteran motorsports journalist Matt Weaver's X (formerly Twitter) account, Christopher Bell can be seen hopping inside the No. 20 Toyota, marking his return to Super Late Model racing after about eight years.
"Christopher Bell back in a Super Late Model. What a timeline," Weaver wrote.
According to Weaver via the Short Track Scene, Christopher Bell will drive the No. 20 car for Donnie Wilson Motorsports in the series opener at New Smyrna Speedway. It is the backup car to Cole Butcher's main ride recently driven in the World Series of Asphalt. Chris Gabehart, Denny Hamlin's former crew chief, will serve as Bell's shot-caller in the ASA STARS National Tour season-opener.
Speaking about his return to Super Late Model racing, the 30-year-old driver said:
"I'm very lost and I feel out of place a little bit. It's been so long since I've done this." [0:10]
Christopher Bell is slated to drive at Daytona International Speedway for NASCAR's Bluegreen Vacations Duels on Thursday. The event will kick off the Daytona Speedweek leading up to the Daytona 500 on Sunday.
The Toyota pilot will look to secure his maiden win in the "Great American Race" following a back-to-back P3 finish in the last two years.
"I wasn't good enough": Christopher Bell on his 2025 Chili Bowl performance
As mentioned, Christopher Bell has been racing outside NASCAR this year after Joe Gibbs Racing lifted the ban. One of the racing series Bell entered was the Chili Bowl, though he left the race weekend disappointed due to an underwhelming performance on the track.
While Bell had a promising start with a victory in the Race of Champions, the driver finished 10th in the main event. Fellow NASCAR driver Kyle Larson was crowned the champion and won his third Golden Driller trophy.
In a post-race interview with Matt Weaver at the SageNet Center in Oklahoma, Christopher Bell said:
"I just wasn't good enough tonight and I wasn't good enough on Thursday night. So, that's the bottom line." [0:05]
He added:
"I mean, so it was tough for me to pass, but I just wasn't that good. And I felt like if you were good, you would have been able to pass. So, just didn't have it [...] I was on a pretty big high after the race. Like, I had a great week as a race fan. As a competitor, it wasn't as good. But yeah, loved it as a race fan."
Nevertheless, Bell is a proven winner in the Chili Bowl scene. He is one of the two full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers to win the Golden Driller trophy three times (2017-2019) alongside Kyle Larson.
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