How Christopher Bell Picked Racing While Surrounded by Football and Basketball in Oklahoma

Christopher Bell is a rare Oklahoma native in the NASCAR garage. While the sport has its roots planted in the Southeast, with hubs like North Carolina serving as the backbone for teams, tracks, and driver pipelines, Bell came up through a different lane in Oklahoma, where stock car racing does not sit at the center of the map.

In that part of the country, Friday nights and fall weekends belong to football, with basketball close behind. The path to NASCAR is not laid out in front of young drivers. Oklahoma does have a dirt track scene, but it lives in its own world, tied to sprint cars. Bell found his way through that door, but he admits it was never part of the plan.

Speaking to FOX23 News Tulsa, Bell said the idea of racing at NASCAR’s top level never crossed his mind while growing up. “I never in a million years would have thought that I was going to be a NASCAR driver growing up in Oklahoma. Football and basketball in the name of the game for sure. And I would say more so football than basketball.”

“But my dad was a high school basketball coach. So I grew up, you know, tossing tossing footballs, shooting hoops.” That changed when he got a taste of dirt track racing at a young age. One lap turned into another, and before long, he was hooked. By the time he entered his teenage years, Bell put other sports on the back burner and went all in on racing.

“And then I got introduced to dirt track racing at a really young age, and “And then I got introduced to dirt track racing at a really young age, and then the more I did it, I fell in love with it. And that’s uh what I wanted to do. Whenever I got into high school, it was all about racing, and I quit playing sports, and yeah, I would love to have another Oklahoma dirt track racer follow me to the NASCAR ranks. I think that would be really cool,” he continued.

Bell knew where he stood in other sports and did not see a long road there. Racing, on the other hand, opened doors. He found his footing behind the wheel, and the results followed. At 15, he landed his first paid drive, and once he got that first check, the direction was set.

Now driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, Bell carries the flag for his home state with pride. He has often spoken about wanting to bring a title celebration back to Norman, Oklahoma.

He has come close in recent seasons, but the final step has stayed out of reach. In 2026, the #20 driver has kept himself in the hunt through the opening stretch, sitting sixth in the standings with three top-five and three top-10 finishes in five starts. He has already led 225 laps.

About the author

Neha Dwivedi

Neha Dwivedi is an experienced NASCAR Journalist at The SportsRush, having penned over 5500 articles on the sport to date. She was a seasoned writer long before she got into the world of NASCAR. Although she loves to see Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch win the races, she equally supports the emerging talents in the CARS Late Model and ARCA Menards Series.. For her work in NASCAR she has earned accolades from journalists like Susan Wade of The Athletic, as well as NASCAR drivers including Thad Moffit and Corey Lajoie. Her favorite moment from NASCAR was witnessing Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. win the championship trophies. Outside the racetrack world, Neha immerses herself in the literary world, exploring both fiction and non-fiction.

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