TULSA, Okla. – Three-time Chili Bowl Nationals winner and NASCAR Cup Series winner Christopher Bell competed in three classes Wednesday during the Tulsa Shootout as he looks to earn his second Golden Driller from the annual event.
Bell scored runner-up heat finishes in non-winged outlaw, where he was bested by Emerson Axsom, and A class while taking a third-place heat finish in winged outlaw.
He earned his lone Tulsa Shootout Golden Driller in 2017, when Bell won the 55-lap finale for the winged outlaw division.
Noticeably absent from Bell’s cars during Wednesday’s preliminary action were left-side panels. While many of the race cars in the Tulsa Shootout include left-side panels, Bell has chosen not to use them on his cars.
He explained his reasoning in a Twitter post.
“It seems like a lot of guys started going to the full covered left sides,” Bell wrote. “I always enjoyed watching the drivers as a kid, so I decided to take everything off and let the race fans see me work.”
Bell will be back on track Thursday when he competes in his stock non-winged heat race.
• NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Sheldon Creed, a former off-road racer, also competed in three classes at Tulsa Expo Raceway. He earned a pair of second-place finishes and a third-place run.
Another Truck Series champion, Brett Moffitt, was also in action, competing in two classes.
Another off-road racer turned Truck Series regular, Hailie Deegan, raced in two classes.
Up-and coming late model driver Caden Kvapil was also in action.
• USAC midget and sprint car sensation Emerson Axsom won a pair of heat races Wednesday. Axsom triumphed in the non-winged outlaw class and in A class. He finished second in his winged outlaw class heat.
• Kevin Thomas Jr., one of the winningest USAC sprint car drivers of this past season, won a pair of heat races on the opening day of the Tulsa Shootout.
Thomas, who will focus on winged sprint car racing this season, won non-winged and winged heats and finished third in A class.
• Having won the USAC East Coast sprint car title in 2021, Alex Bright also raced in three divisions Wednesday night. Bright picked up heat race victories in winged outlaw and A class competition and finished second in his non-winged heat.
• A former Tulsa Shootout winner, Blake Hahn won both of his heat races Wednesday. The reigning Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series champion, triumphed in non-winged and winged outlaw competition.
His win in non-winged outlaw saw him start 10th and march through the field to win. It was the deepest any heat winner started during Wednesday’s action. As a result, he topped the passing points list in that division.
• Sprint Car & Midget columnist Brady Bacon, who won his fourth USAC sprint car championship last season, raced in three classes and picked up a pair of runner-up finishes and a third-place effort.
• Dirt late model ace Ricky Thornton Jr., who competed in two classes, won the first heat race of the day, topping the opening non-winged heat.
• Frequent NOW 600 micro sprint winners Chelby Hinton and Frank Flud each won heat races on Wednesday.
• Jonathan Beason, who swept all three nights of the Gateway Dirt Nationals in a midget, picked up a pair of heat race victories and a third-place finish on the opening night of the Shootout.
• Frequent IndyCar Series and NASCAR competitor Santino Ferrucci, also a former Chili Bowl racer, competed in two classes.
• Chase Cabre, who finished second in the ARCA Menards Series East standings in 2019, earned a pair of runner-up finishes in non-winged and A class.
• Jonathan Shafer, who recently announced plans to contest the full CARS Late Model Stock Tour schedule aboard the R&S Race Cars house car, scored a heat win in non-winged outlaw.
• Cale Coons, the son of USAC Triple Crown champion Jerry Coons Jr., picked up a heat win in the restricted A class. He also scored a third-place finish in his A class heat.
• Among the many sprint car and midget drivers competing in the Tulsa Shootout are Turkey Night Grand Prix winner Logan Seavey, All Star sprint car champion Tyler Courtney, USAC ace Tanner Thorson, ASCS and USCS sprint car driver Derek Hagar, Michael Faccinto, Brent Crews, Tim Buckwalter, Mitchel Moles, Chuck Gurney Jr., Joshua Shipley, Jason McDougal, Cannon McIntosh, Gary Taylor, Joe B. Miller, Ryan Timms and Cole Bodine.
• Other drivers to pick up multiple heat wins included Tyler Smith, Scotty Milan, Russ Disinger, Thomas Kunsman, Johnny Boland, Faccinto, Shawn Mahaffey, Hinton, Brecken Reese, Dominic Carter, Jake Hagopian, Moles, Caleb Debem, Braxston Wilson, Craig Ronk and Miller.