Latest news with #TulsaShootout
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NASCAR Crew Chief Says Team Happy to Accept Risk of Allowing Drivers to Race on Dirt
Shortly after the 2024 NASCAR Cup season ended, Joe Gibbs Racing decided to allow its drivers to compete in dirt track races. It's a decision that crew chief Adam Stevens believes is beneficial 'He's a race car driver. For him to stay sharp, he needs to drive a race car,' Stevens said about Christopher Bell, who won the Cup Series race at Atlanta on Sunday. 'Cutting simulator laps just really doesn't do that. You wouldn't ask a professional golfer to lock his clubs in the closet for three months over the winter and show up at the first tournament. I bet he wouldn't play very well.' During NASCAR's off-season, Bell competed in the Tulsa Shootout and the Chili Bowl. 'There is some risk that comes with that, but it's to our benefit. It's not only to our risk,' Stevens said. 'I think staying sharp and enjoying yourself is the other component. He doesn't have a lot of other hobbies. He loves to work on race cars, drive race cars, watch race cars and that's what he loves to do. When he has downtime, that's what he wants to do. It's nice to have an avenue to clear your head and focus on something in between races.'
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
World of Outlaws cranks at Volusia. NASCAR star Christopher Bell aboard in Barberville
The 54th annual DIRTcar Nationals roll along at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, and the newly unleashed Christopher Bell takes to the dirt Wednesday night when the World of Outlaws begins a four-night run on the half-mile track. As the World of Outlaws opens its 48th season, Bell continues his first season back on dirt since 2022, when his NASCAR Cup Series team — Joe Gibbs Racing — contractually prohibited their drivers from such outside work. Bell first returned to dirt-tracking last month in his native Oklahoma, at the Tulsa Shootout and the Chili Bowl Nationals. He's scheduled to run in WoO's season opener Wednesday night, and perhaps again Thursday night. Buy our Daytona 500 book here Bell will drive the No. 69 entry owned by Sprint Car Hall of Famer Don Kreitz. Bell's last laps in Barberville came in 2019, when he posted three straight top-five finishes, including a runner-up. The $12,000 winner's share of the purse is goosed to $20,000 for Saturday night's final WoO race at the banked oval dubbed 'The World's Fastest Half Mile.' Bell will have plenty of competition, including defending WoO Sprint Car champ Danny Gravel. He has five WoO wins at Volusia, and in his last 30 starts, he's recorded 20 top-five finishes. Last year, he won the four-night points battle and collected the coveted Big Gator trophy that goes along with it. Sprint Car legend Donny Schatz also returns. The 10-time series champ has 24 Volusia wins, 15 of those in the World of Outlaws. His Volusia win in last spring's Bike Week Jamboree was his 500th career Sprint Car victory. More information: and Saturday's non-wing outlaw micro sprint car feature race in the Tulsa Shootout saw Christopher Bell beat Kyle Larson by a tenth of a sec. Joe Gibbs Racing just approved dirt racing for its drivers this year and Bell made the most of his return. #ChristopherBell #TulsaShootout — Dan Snyder Motorsports (@DanMotorsports) January 6, 2025 New Smyrna Speedway adds to the local noise Friday, opening night of its annual World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing. The nine straight nights of racing will feature 13 different divisions of cars, including NASCAR's Whelen Modified Tour and the ASA Stars National Tour, both of which begin their 2025 season on the high-banked, half-mile track in Samsula. More info: This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR | Christopher Bell back to dirt this week in World of Outlaws
