Christopher Bell Pulling Double Duty at Chicago
Seeking Third ARCA Win and First NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Regular-Season Championship
Concord, North Carolina (September 12, 2017) – Current NASCAR Camping Truck Series (NCWTS) points leader Christopher Bell returns to competition with Venturini Motorsports (VMS) and the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards for Thursday’s SCOTT 150 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Bell, owner of four NCWTS victories on the season, returns to Chicago with a full slate of weekend racing taking his talent to the track for double duty action.
In addition to rejoining VMS behind the wheel of the team’s prepared No.25 Musselman’s BIG CUP Apple Sauce / JBL Audio Toyota Camry in a rare Thursday night series feature, the 22-year old Norman, Oklahoma native also looks to wrap up the NCWTS regular-season championship in Friday night’s Chicagoland 225.
Bell, locked into this season’s NCWTS Playoffs driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM), currently holds a 30-point advantage over last year’s champion Johnny Sauter in the series’ regular-season standings.
“It’s exciting coming back to the ARCA Series, especially with Venturini Motorsports,” said Bell. “They’re just a fun bunch to be around…I’ve always enjoyed racing with them and we’ve had a lot of success together over the last couple of seasons. And the ARCA race is just really good preparation for the Truck race.”
“There’s not really a mile-and-a-half that relates to Chicagoland. It’s got a fairly worn out surface which makes for great racing and the back straight is really round which makes it really interesting coming off two and getting into three. It’s definitely one of the most unique mile-and-a-halves we go to, and a lot of fun to drive. Nothing really relates to it for shape and track conditions. Really cool track.”
Making his ARCA debut with VMS in ’16 Bell took to the track five times capturing back-to-back wins at Salem Speedway to go along with five consecutive top-10 finishes including a third-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway in his first-ever track appearance last September.
Since 2015, Bell has emerged from behind the wheel of his midget race car to become one NASCAR’s biggest and most popular driving stars. Winning at virtually every discipline of racing the 2017 Midget Chili Bowl Nationals Champion continues to make headlines as he climbs the ranks of NASCAR.
Chasing his first NASCAR Series tour championship with KBM, Bell has made four NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) starts with Toyota’s Joe Gibbs Racing this season scoring a fourth-place finish in his series debut at Charlotte Motor Speedway and earning his first NXS pole award at Iowa Speedway.
In 45 career NCWTS starts with KBM Bell has tallied 6 wins, 20 top-5 and 33 top-10 finishes to go along with three pole awards. Throughout his NASCAR career (NCWTS/NXS) spanning 49 races the talented Toyota driver has notched nearly 1,000 laps led between the two series.
Schedule/Media Coverage
The SCOTT 150 is LIVE on FOX SPORTS 1 (FS1). General Tire Pole Qualifying will accompany race day activities at 4:35 p.m. The SCOTT 150 starts at 7 p.m. Thursday night, Sept. 14. ARCAracing.com will provide live timing and scoring and live chat of all on-track activities.
ABOUT MUSSELMAN’S APPLE SAUCE
A family tradition, deeply rooted in quality.
Musselman’s BIG CUP satisfies appetites of teens and adults with active lifestyles, while Musselman’s Squeezables is the healthy snack Mom can provide to her children who are on-the-go.
Musselman’s was founded in Biglerville, PA, in 1907 by Christian and Emma Musselman. The original plants in Biglerville and Gardners, PA, provided much needed canned goods for the servicemen during WWI including corn, tomatoes, and of course apples. They focused on the processing of the abundant local fruit in the area, producing apple sauce, apple juice, and their now-famous Musselman’s Apple Butter.
In 1984 the C. H. Musselman Company was purchased by a cooperative of local fruit growers (Knouse Foods, Inc.). The Musselman’s name, which reflects quality, tradition and value was preserved and remains a thriving brand today under the ownership of the growers who still tend to their fruit orchards. Knouse Foods, Inc., established as a growers’ co-op in 1949, has a long history of providing outstanding fruit products. They believe making healthy, delicious fruit products is more than just a job; it’s a way of life. And that’s why the growers who have spent their entire lives nurturing their orchards and harvesting their fruit also own the company. That pride and care are the key ingredients that make Knouse fruit products the very best.
For more information visit www.Musselmans.com.
ABOUT VENTURINI MOTORSPORTS:
Venturini Motorsports (VMS), fielding cars for over 30-years in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, is one of the premier NASCAR driver development programs in the country. Multiple team championships and consistent on-track success, VMS has evolved into one of the most recognizable names in motorsports. Since 2007, VMS has assisted in the career development of notable NASCAR drivers such as Joey Logano, Erik Jones, William Byron, Justin Allgaier, Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell, Noah Gragson, Ryan Blaney, Brennan Poole, Daniel Suarez, and Brandon Jones. Over the years the Venturini name has become synonymous with modern-day racing in America. In 2012, the Venturini family was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (www.NIASHF.org) and now find themselves enshrined with such sports icons as Joe DiMaggio, Mario Andretti, Vince Lombardi, Tommy Lasorda and Rocky Marciano.
Official: www.VenturiniMotorsports.com | Twitter: @VenturiniMotor | Facebook: Venturini Motorsports
Sources: Venturini Motorsports PR