Bell holds off Pierce for Eldora win
It was the first victory for Bell in just his third career start. Bell’s triumph marked back-to-back victories for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the No. 54 Toyota Tundra at Eldora.
"It's just unbelievable," said Bell in Victory Lane. "I've been coming here quite a few times and if you would have told me two years ago that my first win at Eldora was going to be in a truck, I would have told you you're crazy. This is just fantastic. I'm just thrilled to be here."
Dirt late model ace Bobby Pierce scored the 21 Means 21 Pole Award earlier in the day, giving MB Motorsports, one of the longest running teams in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, its first-ever pole. Pierce lost the lead on Lap 1 to John Hunter Nemechek, but took it back on Lap 2.
Pierce maintained control of the race, until a Lap 42 restart when Bell, also a dirt veteran, swiped the lead from Pierce in Turn 1. Bell led through Lap 60.
When Spencer Gallagher spun on Lap 53, NASCAR utilized the yellow flag to serve as the competition caution originally scheduled for Lap 60, allowing teams to come in for tires and fuel. Brad Keselowski elected to stay out during the caution, inheriting the lead alongside Bell for the Lap 61 restart.
Bell quickly slid by Keselowski a lap later and stretched his advantage by 1.5 seconds until a debris caution on Lap 72 brought the field to his bumper.
Through the race's then-longest green flag stretch, Bell increased his lead on Pierce, but when Chris Fontaine spun on Lap 94, it once again bunched up the field.
On the restart, Pierce attacked Bell and stole the lead on the backstretch and kept it through a yellow for John Wes Townley on Lap 94. Bell slid in front of Pierce two laps after the restart and held the point until the end of segment two for the second competition caution of the night.
Under the yellow, most of the field elected to stay out, setting up for the start of segment three, a 40-lap dash.
Showcasing his dirt track skills, Bell checked out from the field with Pierce, Ty Dillon, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick chasing. The opportunity to pull away would be denied when the 11th caution flag of the night waved.
Chasing his first career win in his truck series debut, Pierce stalking Bell for the lead, made contact with the Turn 4 wall with about 15 laps remaining, causing significant rear-end damage. Even with a battered truck, Pierce stayed on the throttle. The challenge for the lead would be slowed with 11 laps remaining when Timothy Peters went for a solo spin in Turn 2.
A five-lap sprint to the finish set up for the winner of the 1-800-Car-Cash Mud Summer Classic with Bell and Pierce up front on the restart.
Bell would accelerate hard, while a slow restart for Pierce put him in the clutches of Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick. Pierce escaped them and set his sights on Bell.
When Korbin Forrister spun with two laps to go, the drama meter pegged even more, setting up for a green-white-checkered finish.
On the final restart of the night, Bell refused to give up the race lead and withstood an attempted pass by Pierce on the last lap to earn the win.
"I'll tell you that’s pretty awesome that Bobby and I could come here and run 1-2," added Bell. "I never heard of him until I was at a sprint car race last year and he was running his late model. It's pretty cool that a couple of dirt guys could run 1-2 at a dirt race track."
Tyler Reddick finished third ahead of Erik Jones and Daniel Hemric. Inaugural Eldora winner Austin Dillon was sixth followed by Nemechek, Cameron Hayley, Matt Crafton and Ty Dillon.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to action on Aug. 1 at Pocono Raceway for the running of the Pocono Mountains 150 (1 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM).
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 54 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 1st
How special is it to get your first NCWTS victory at Eldora on the dirt?
"This is just unbelievable. I've been coming here quite a few times and if you would have told me two years ago that my first win at Eldora was going to be in a truck, I would have told you that you're crazy. I just can't thank Toyota Certified Used Vehicles enough and TRD (Toyota Racing Development) – Ed Laukes, Paul Doleshal, Dave Harbuck, Tyler Gibbs, Jack Irving, Camping World and all the fans for coming out tonight. This is just fantastic. I'm just thrilled to be here."
How intense was the battle with Bobby Pierce in the closing laps?
"That's pretty awesome that me and Bobby (Pierce) can come here and run one-two. I never heard of him until I was at a sprint car race last year and he was running his late model. It's pretty cool that a couple of dirt guys can run one-two at a dirt race track."
After running sprint cars at Eldora, did you ever believe your first win would be in a NASCAR truck?
"It's just really special. I think my first race here was in 2013 in a midget and I've run second here twice and I just never could seal the deal. Two years ago I remember watching this race on TV and I had just started in the midget ranks and just a kid from Oklahoma. I thought how cool it would be if I was able to come up here and race a truck at Eldora. Just an honor to be here. I never would have dreamed I would be a NASCAR truck winner here at Eldora."
Did you feel you had a better shot to win the King's Royal Saturday night or the truck race tonight?
"Honestly, I probably would have told you Wednesday just because the King's Royal is so tough. I've never really been good here in a sprint car before, but I actually had a really good shot there Saturday night at winning the King's Royal, just blew a tire there with five to go. I knew I'd be in a KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) truck, which is the truck that won here last year so I knew I had a fair shot as long as I could keep the fenders on it and keep the frontend in front of the backend."
How has the transition been to the trucks and what other races will you run in a truck this season?
"I've been running the super late models for KBM – I started doing that last year and honestly I was just really thankful that I ran the two K&N races. When I went to Iowa I was really surprised at how much similar the trucks drove to the K&N cars and I felt like that really groomed me to be able to run as good as I did at Iowa. As far as my next race, I think this is my last one for the year. Hopefully I'll get some more opportunities here in the future, but just thankful to be here at KBM."
How and when did it come together for you to race here at Eldora for KBM?
"All the trucks were full there at that time and then whenever the 54 got opened up, thankfully I was able to get some sponsorship lined up and was able to come out here and be part of the KBM team. I found out right after Kentucky."
Did running the King's Royal help prepare you for tonight's race?
"The sprint cars are just so hard to drive and they have so much horsepower and you're going so fast. You run around here in 13 seconds and you get in a truck where the quick time tonight was a 20.7. You're just able to think a lot more in the trucks because you're going a little bit slower. It's still just really technical – you really have to hit your lines otherwise you're going to go really slow. I think running the sprint car really allowed me to run better tonight."
What was your goal for what series you wanted to compete in growing up?
"Honestly I didn't. I just remember as a kid going to an awards banquet back in Oklahoma where I was running a junior sprint, basically a go-kart and I said I wanted to be a World of Outlaw driver. It didn't really matter to me, I always said I was going to run street stocks if I wanted to, I just wanted to race for a living and I would adjust my lifestyle to whatever my income allowed me to run. I'm just really thankful to be here and never would have dreamed that I would be making NASCAR starts."
What was your strategy on the restarts and choosing the outside lane?
"At the beginning of the race I thought we were spending more time under yellow than we were under green. Just choosing my lanes on my restarts was really difficult because it seemed like whoever was in second was going to get the lead at that time and I didn't know as a leader if I wanted to drop down to the bottom where I could protect the slider and then get back to the top, but I knew if I did pick the bottom and didn't beat him into turn one then I wouldn't be able to get up and probably lose a lot more. I figured if Bobby (Pierce) was able to clear me on the slider then I would just ride behind him until we got strung out a little bit where I could go race him instead of racing the whole field."
How much pressure did you feel competing for the team that won this race a year ago?
"I knew coming in here that I had a really good truck. They were probably a little more confident than I was. I was pretty shaky there in the hauler. I kept asking for moral support – do you think we're really good? They kept telling me we were fine. You always have pressure whenever you run for KBM. It's nice because you're in the best equipment so you're able to run a lot better than you would if you were in a lesser truck, but you better run good because you're running for KBM."
What do you see for your future in NASCAR?
"Honestly, I'm living my dream right now. I'm getting to race for a living and getting to race 100 times a year and that's all I've ever wanted to do was just get to race. Whatever opportunities may come my way I'll be thrilled to take advantage of them and three years ago I was just a micro-sprint racer in Oklahoma and now here I am running a NASCAR Camping World truck – just never would have seen that coming. Never would have thought that I would get the opportunity to do it. It's pretty cool and an honor to be up here."