NASCAR star Christopher Bell has admitted that he enjoyed his first taste of being a team owner.
Bell ran this year's Chili Bowl in a car that he owned for the first time in his sprint car career, with he and Australian driver Kaidon Brown competing under the same new umbrella in Tulsa.
The Cup Series star ended up finishing eighth in the A-Feature race at the prestigious event on Saturday night, although he did beat his NASCAR rival Kyle Larson, who had been running well until he flipped his car and was forced out of the race.
While there's not currently any indication that Bell will look to follow some of his peers into NASCAR team ownership later in his career, he seemed to feel positively about the experience in Tulsa.
Bell: I didn't intend to drive for my own team
Speaking at the event, Bell admitted: “Last year I drove for KKM, and when I left the event, it just kind of really hit me. I felt like that chapter of my career was behind me. I said, ‘I wanna try something else.’ My goal isn’t to drive for myself. Honestly, my goal was to have two drivers I enjoy being around.
“Kaidon was always part of the plan, but unfortunately the guys that were on my list (for the second car) already had commitments. So, I was then like, 'Well, I guess I’ll just drive it'."
He added: “From the car owner side, I just enjoyed the prep process and the shop work and assembling the cars. Thinking of how we’re going to setup our pit area, the handling of the food, all that stuff. I think I just enjoyed all the extracurriculars of it.
“The Chili Bowl and the Tulsa Shootout is literally the perfect event for me to spend my offseason. I don’t have to put much into it during my regular day job, then when the offseason comes, I’ve been full-time working on these things and preparing for this week.”
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