Christopher Bell struck history on Nov. 22 at Ventura Raceway in Ventura, California, becoming just the third three-time “Turkey Night Grand Prix” winning driver in the 78-year history of the famed race.
Bell was behind the wheel of one of the Columbus-based Keith Kunz Motorsports midgets.
For the second consecutive Thanksgiving night, however, Bell had to fend off a familiar foe who was on a quest to reach the same exclusive club of three-time winners in Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian teammate Kyle Larson.
After applying relentless pressure to Larson throughout much of the second half of the 98-lap event, with just 12 laps remaining, and mired in lapped traffic, Bell slipped underneath Larson between Turns 3 and 4 to grab a lead he wouldn’t relinquish, adding a third “Turkey Night” trophy to his ever-growing collection following previous wins in 2014 and 2017.
Bell, the 2013 USAC P1 Insurance National Midget champion from Norman, Oklahoma, sang the praises of playing the role of the chaser in traffic, as a cop would in the hot pursuit of a suspect on the lam.
“I just got lucky there being in second,” Bell admitted. “Someone was making the bottom work underneath me in 3 and 4, and I figured it was going to get better and better. I trapped Kyle up there with a lapped car, and I was able to squeak by in the rubber, stay down there and not miss my marks.”
Bell, always the hard charger, began the race from the ninth position, but steadily climbed his way up the scoring pylon into the top three as outside front row starter Chad Boat held the advantage up front for the first half of the main.
Bell took the lead for good on Lap 78 from Larson and then held off the NASCAR driver in the final laps for the win. Chad Boat finished third followed by Tucker Klaasmeyer and Tyler Courtney.
The victory was the 23rd USAC National Midget win for Bell, moving him past Bobby East and Shorty Templeman on the all-time list and into 20th, where he’s now tied with Tom Bigelow, Pancho Carter, Tommy Copp, Kevin Olson and Billy Vukovich.
The USAC National Midget season will conclude on Dec. 15 with a special event (non-points) race at the Southern Illinois Center in Du Quoin, Illinois.
Feature (98 laps): 1. Christopher Bell; 2. Kyle Larson; 3. Chad Boat; 4. Tucker Klaasmeyer; 5. Tyler Courtney; 6. Tanner Carrick; 7. Brady Bacon; 8. Jason McDougal; 9. Jerry Coons Jr.; 10. Justin Grant; 11. Cole Bodine; 12. Jesse Colwell; 13. Colby Copeland; 14. Robert Dalby; 15. Cody Swanson; 16. Logan Seavey; 17. Spencer Bayston; 18. Michael Faccinto; 19. Shane Golobic; 20. C.J. Leary; 21. Ryan Robinson; 22. Rico Abreu; 23. Sam Johnson; 24. Zeb Wise; 25. Tanner Thorson; 26. Robby Josett; 27. Austin Liggett; 28. Carson Garrett; 29. Alex Schutte; 30. Holley Hollan.
Final USAC P1 Insurance Midget National Championship points: 1. Logan Seavey 1,019; 2. Chad Boat 918; 3. Brady Bacon 903; 4. Tyler Courtney 862; 5. Spencer Bayston 862; 6. Tanner Carrick 846; 7. Justin Grant 845; 8. Kevin Thomas Jr. 711; 9. Zeb Wise 632; 10. Jerry Coons Jr. 606.
Chili Bowl Nationals update
With over 100 entries confirmed, the list of drivers for the 33rd annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire has been released with 118 entries listed on the Chili Bowl website.
Including 25 former A-Feature starters, the list of teams includes 2006 race winner Tim McCreadie, who has made the shift to racing for James Neuman Racing for the 2019 event. Revealing a throwback design dedicated to his father Bob McCreadie, the 2018 World 100 winner will sport the No. 9 on the Boss/SR-11 powered machine, McCreadie is one of four drivers in the Neuman Racing camp with Jake Neuman, Brian Shirley, and Joe B. Miller filling the other three rides.
Announcing his return to the Chili Bowl, Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman will make his fourth appearance in the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals. Bowman’s last run in the Chili Bowl was in 2016 with a 13th-place finish in the E-Feature. Alex will field a second car for USAC racing star, C.J. Leary, who wheeled a car for Bowman in 2018 and raced into a B-Feature on Saturday night.
Always a field of drivers to watch, the Chili Bowl rookie class has a dozen drivers so far. Comprised of a strong mix of competitors from nearly every discipline, East Coast open-wheel driver L.J. Lombardo will make his first attempt in Tulsa. Racing for Kenney Johnson, the 22-year racing veteran competes throughout the season in 358, Sportsman, and Big Block Modifieds. His 2018 season included a trio of wins.
So far, entries for the Chili Bowl Nationals represent 24 states and 96 municipalities from the United States, Australia and New Zealand. The event will take place Jan. 14 to 19 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Christopher Bell is the two-time and defending race winner.
Eldora sets 2019 schedule
Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, has announced that tickets are on sale for their 2019 special events for late model and sprint car fans.
The 25th Annual Dirt Late Model Dream, paying an event-record $125,000-to-win, will take place from June 6 to 8. The 36th Annual Kings Royal for sprints will be July 18, to 20. The NASCAR Truck Series will visit on Aug. 1, and the 49thAnnual World 100 for late models paying $52,000 to win will be Sept. 5 to 7.
For ticket information and pricing, you can visit the track’s website at eldoraspeedway.com.
This week in racing history
From 40 years ago in 1978, Butch Wilkerson captured the track championship for the sprints at Lawrenceburg Speedway.
From 30 years ago in 1988, Brownstown Speedway named its track champions for the year, with Jim Curry (late models), Earl Plessinger (street stocks) and Ray Hughes (bombers) winning their respective division points championships.
Also, from 1988, Twin Cities announced its track champions were Dill Whittymore (late models) and Mark Clark (street stocks).
Area sprint car champions from 1988 were Leon Thickstun at Lawrenceburg Speedway and Jeff Gordon at Bloomington Speedway.
From 20 years ago in 1998, Brownstown track champions were Marty O’Neal (late models), Tim Clark (street stocks), Brad Cummings (modifieds) and Ray Godsey Jr. (bombers).
James Essex writes a motorsports notebook for The Republic. Send comments to [email protected].
