NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — Christopher Bell’s first start at New Smyrna Speedway in a decade proved to be more eventful than he had anticipated.
Bell’s Clyde Hart Memorial 200 was dominated by adversity, as two separate early incidents and a pit road penalty forced him to repeatedly drive from the rear of the field. Despite this, Bell never wavered from the challenges in front of him and battled his way back to sixth by the time the checkered flag was displayed.
The decision for Bell to race Tuesday was last-minute, which left him a limited amount of time to acclimate to the track conditions and a car that was originally a backup for his teammate Cole Butcher. He enjoyed climbing back into a Super Late Model but knew his showing could have been much better.
“It was fun and frustrating,” Bell said. “We tried to keep an open mind. Obviously, I didn’t qualify well. Moved up through the field and was in a pretty good spot up until [the penalty], and that was a bummer to go to the back again after halfway. It was up and down.”
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New Smyrna was an ideal track for Bell to make his surprise late entry. His lone previous attempt at the World Series of Asphalt back in 2015 saw him prevail in a 100-lap Super Late Model feature over names like Harrison Burton, Zane Smith and others.
The years since that victory have seen Bell emerge as one of the best competitors in both NASCAR and the world. Among the accomplishments Bell has on his growing resume are a Coca-Cola 600 victory, a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title and three consecutive triumphs in the Chili Bowl from 2017-19.
Bell initially balanced out his stock-car commitments with dirt-track racing, but he has explicitly focused on NASCAR in recent years. The status quo changed at the start of the 2025 season with Bell attempting his first Chili Bowl since 2022 while also running sprint cars at Volusia Speedway Park earlier in February.
A return to Super Late Model competition also crossed Bell’s mind. With the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna ongoing just 20 minutes away from Daytona International Speedway, Bell contacted Donnie Wilson Motorsports about potentially entering the Clyde Hart Memorial 200.
The deal was quickly put together in time for the event, reuniting Bell with his old Super Late Model car owner Bond Suss, who is now the general manager for Donnie Wilson Motorsports.
“I didn’t have anything else going on,” Bell said. “We’ve got [Daytona 500] practice [on Wednesday], but Bond Suss and I had been talking for a while about putting something together. It ended up working out.”
Joe Gibbs Racing Director of Competition Chris Gabeheart also accompanied Bell to New Smyrna as his crew chief for the Clyde Hart Memorial 200. The presence of Suss, Gabeheart and Wilson gave Bell plenty of confidence about his chances to win despite the expedited schedule.
Finding a rhythm proved to be a challenge for Bell with no practice prior to Wednesday. With his teammates being the only source of information available from the previous day’s practice, Bell could only post a quick time of 18.229 seconds, which placed him 30th of 32 cars on the starting grid.
The two early wrecks only compounded Bell’s struggles, but he only sustained minimal damage and gradually grew more comfortable as the race progressed. An onslaught of cautions led to diverging strategies amongst the leaders, enabling Bell to climb his way into the top 10 by the halfway point.
All of Bell’s progress would be erased when he was assessed a penalty on pit road during a controlled caution. Now at the tail end of the lead lap again with fewer laps at his disposal, Bell began methodically picking off his competition, all while attempting to avoid any further collisions with the ASA STARS National Tour regulars.
“I’m just trying not to create enemies,” Bell said. “I’m out here racing for fun, but for these guys, this race is a big deal to them. This is what they do, and I’m trying to stay out of people’s way.”
When the dust settled on a chaotic night of racing at New Smyrna, Bell’s red No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota was still intact and comfortably inside the top 10 once again. The comeback from Bell capped off an efficient night for Donnie Wilson Motorsports, as Bell’s 17-year-old teammate Gavan Boschele took home the checkered flag.
Although Bell wanted to park his car in New Smyrna’s Victory Lane again, he found plenty of positives to take away from his impromptu visit to the facility. One highlight for Bell was sharing ideas with Suss again, the same person who helped Bell with his initial transition into stock cars many years ago.
Every opportunity to compete in pavement races outside the Cup Series carries immense value for Bell. Dirt races are the focal point of Bell’s non-NASCAR schedule, but he is not ruling out another Super Late Model collaboration with Suss and Wilson at some point in 2025.
“This is a blast,” Bell said. “It’s fun to broaden your horizons and get to race with different people. We’ll have to see what the schedule allows [for Super Late Models], but I enjoy these one day shows for sure. Hopefully I get to keep it up.”