NASCAR’s latest foray onto dirt might have been an “epic failure,” but Christopher Bell believes the Xfinity and Cup series can successfully slide around those surfaces in the future.
“I think there would be no problem at all,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said this week during an episode of the NASCAR on NBC Podcast. “No challenges at all going to the right dirt track with the right people in place.”
That apparently wasn’t the case last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, whose dirt track played host to a K&N West race Sept. 13. It received less than flattering reviews, namely from a two-time defending winner of the prestigious Chili Bowl.
“Vegas was an epic failure,” said Bell, who has been racing midgets and sprint cars for much of his career. “Total epic disaster.
“But it was because they didn’t have the right people in place taking care of the racetrack. Dirt racing is 100 percent dependent upon track preparation. It doesn’t matter what dirt track you go to, some nights are awesome, and some nights are awful, and it’s just due to the preparation, and that’s just the name of the game in dirt racing. So I think you take Cup cars and Xfinity cars to the right place, and it would be a great show.”
What tracks would be best suited for stock cars? Bell listed several:
–Eldora Speedway, which has been a candidate for more NASCAR races after playing host to the Camping World Truck Series since 2013 (Bell, the 2017 truck champion, won the series’ race there in ’15);
–Knoxville Raceway in Iowa;
–Calistoga Speedway in California (“I don’t know about the facility itself, but the track would be an excellent place.”)
–The dirt tracks at Las Vegas and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“There are racetracks all over that could do it,” he said.
Running Cup or Xfinity on dirt might require some modifications – possibly a slightly softer tire (trucks and K&N ran an “extremely hard” tire that has limited grip, “but if they wanted to, they could do it tomorrow and have no issues with it.”) and a unique suggestion from Bell to remove the windshields.
“The biggest thing is the windshields,” he said. “That’s a huge problem running stock cars on dirt. At Eldora, (track owner) Tony (Stewart) does a really good job of getting the surface prepared, but we all want a racetrack that has moisture in it, right?
“But you can’t have moisture in it because the windshields get too mudded up, and then you can’t see. Well, the extreme opposite happened at Vegas, where we had no moisture in the racetrack, and not only could the fans not see, the drivers couldn’t see, either. They went out there, they watered it a little bit to calm the dust down, but still you get so much dust that sits on the inside and outside of the windshields, that it’s really hard to see. The windshields are the biggest problem (for) dirt racing (with) stock cars.”
Bell has stayed true to his roots this season, running 52 races between NASCAR and dirt tracks. He has four victories as an Xfinity Series rookie, entering Friday’s playoff opener as one of the championship favorites.
“I do like my chances,” Bell said. “The schedule is right up my alley. I love 1.5-mile racing. It’s my favorite. It’s just awesome.”
During the podcast, Bell also discussed:
–Why he left his native state of Oklahoma to further his sprint car career;
–The similarities with Kyle Larson in his path to NASCAR;
–His desire to stay out of the limelight.
To listen to the NASCAR on NBC Podcast, click on the embed above, or you can download the episodes at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts.
