Christopher Bell’s return to the world of racing after a short and rare break away was different from most. While the eyes of the NASCAR world were on Iowa Speedway ahead of the Iowa Corn 350 weekend, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was a few miles away at Knoxville Raceway.
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Bell was attending the Knoxville 360 sprint car race on Saturday 8th August, not as a driver like Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson (who finished 4th 30-lap Championship A-Main feature), but as a spectator grateful to be out there.
Bell confessed that he was lucky the timing worked out in his favor. Though he did admit that he would have preferred to be there for the Knoxville Nationals from August 12 onward. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver even went on to say that competing in the Knoxville Nationals is a big dream of his.
“I only got to do the Nationals a couple of times, and it was really hard,” Bell told Connor Ferguson of Always Race Day, per a video shared on X.
“It’s a hard track to just pop in and do really well. For me to come back here and run the Nationals, I would want a lot of time in a sprint car before the Nationals. Probably a couple of races here in Knoxville. This is a place I just didn’t get to run a whole lot whenever I was growing up running sprint cars. It is certainly on my bucket list. I want to come back here and do good.”
Bell does have experience in the Sprint cars himself, and has taken part in both the 360 and the 410 categories before. In the 2017 360 Knoxville Nationals, he made it to the championship finale and finished sixth. Bell also won at the Knoxville Raceway during a feature race in the summer of 2021.
Bell might have followed Larson’s route and taken part this year. But he was elsewhere and wasn’t really idle. He competed in the World of Outlaws race, driving for Kreitz Racing. He admittedly started from a decent position, but the race did not go in his favor. Still, he had no regrets.
Unlike Kyle Larson, who is well-known for competing in dirt races alongside NASCAR, Christopher Bell is more careful with his schedule. The 31-year-old revealed that he chooses race tracks that he enjoys racing at. One example is the Oshweken Speedway in Canada. Apparently, he and Kreitz had raced there in the past, and they were interested in going again
Bell later previewed the upcoming Knoxville Nationals. He noted its fast and challenging nature, especially when traffic is involved. Another layer of complexity comes via the race format. Firstly, there is the pill draw, which decides the heat race line-up. For race day, Bell’s advice was to be super aggressive on the start. He was of the opinion that the best driver can read their car well and know how they react in traffic. That is what truly separates the truly elite drivers from the rest.
The #20 driver has admitted that he attempted the Knoxville Nationals in the past. Unfortunately, he has never quite managed to make it to the A-Mains. As such, he has vowed to do better and make it all the way before he retires. For the moment, the driver will want to focus on his NASCAR Cup Series campaign.
He made it to the Top 4 for two consecutive years, but finished 5th in his last two campaigns. Sadly, things are not going to plan in 2026 as he has yet to score a win this season. On the bright side, Christopher Bell has enjoyed several Top 5 finishes, including six runners-up finishes. His situation was not helped when he sustained a broken wrist after a Michigan crash. However, he has seemingly recovered from it and is now going strong.
For now, Bell’s Knoxville Nationals dream will have to wait. But with the NASCAR season still in full swing, his focus remains on turning around his 2026 campaign and getting back to Victory Lane. He has zero wins this year, but with six second-place finishes, sits 10th in the standings, and looks poised to make it to The Chase.
Bell starts the 2026 Iowa Corn 350 from 22nd place on the grid, next to Shane van Gisbergen on the 11th row.