DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — It couldn’t be more of an understatement to say the last three weeks of Townsend Bell’s life have been unexpected and life-changing – a surprise ask by his friend, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship team co-owner Jimmy Vasser (along with team co-owner James “Sulli” Sullivan) to compete in the Rolex 24 At Daytona – and then much more radically, weeks later, having to evacuate his home in California as the wildfires approached.
It is Bell’s first driving role in three years, and he will be doing double duty on track as a driver in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class and in the booth as a broadcaster during the NBC telecast of the famed race.
He arrived in Daytona Beach with a suitcase – one of the few belongings he quickly grabbed from his home in Pacific Palisades as he and his wife evacuated with the fires quickly moving toward his neighborhood.
“It’s certainly the most devastating scene I’ve ever witnessed in person and in an eerie way it kind of reminds me of the 60 seconds after the [fatal] Dan Wheldon crash in Vegas,” Bell said. “It’s funny how it triggers that memory. Totally different situation, but utter disbelief.
“Just like I climbed out of the car after the [fatal Wheldon] crash versus when I went back to my neighborhood after the fire, you’re like, ‘No way this has just happened.’”
Bell said he was ironically on the phone discussing his new job in the broadcast booth for the 2025 IndyCar season when his wife came into the room and told him the fires had reached their neighborhood and they needed to leave. Now.
They evacuated to his wife’s parents’ home, but days later, Bell went back to his house and got his racing helmet, ear plugs and racing shoes – renting a scooter to reach the house with the roads closed because of the emergency situation. He remembers that experience well.
“I lived in neighborhood that burned down except when I turned the corner, the house that I live in was still standing and the fireball was at the top of the hill kind of coming down the canyon,” said Bell, a 2014 Rolex 24 class winner in GTD. “So, I went inside and called my wife and said, ‘I need to know the three things you need the most right now.’”
In 11 minutes, Bell said he packed for his three jobs – racing and commentating – coming up in the next three weeks. His house in Pacific Palisades was among only a couple dozen still standing in the entire neighborhood – two homes he owns in Malibu, however, burned to the ground.
“Just a surreal experience,” said Bell, who estimates it may be six to 12 months before he and his wife can go back to their home to live, but notes sadly, some of his close friends have lost everything.
“Having said that, what an incredible effort from all the first responders that didn’t sleep for days and did everything they could to defend a 70-mph blowtorch.’’
Of being in Daytona Beach this week, Bell concedes, “to have a little escape right now, is actually welcome.’’
