Christopher Bell emphasizes the growing importance of road course races playing a major role in NASCAR standings  

Cup Series driver Christopher Bell thinks that being good at road courses is a necessity nowadays. There was a time when there was only a pair of road course races on NASCAR’s schedule. But now there are five. Therefore, every team and driver tends to take them seriously.

Bell is ahead of his 20th start of the 2025 season, which also happens to be on a road course. Named the Toyota/Save Mart 350, the 110-lap event will roll out in Sonoma Raceway, a 2.52-mile street circuit in California, on Sunday, July 13.

When asked what his thoughts were about the increased number of road races on NASCAR’s schedule, Bell said,

“I'm good with it... I like it. It's enough now where the teams and the drivers have to take it seriously. Before, whenever it was only Sonoma and Watkins Glen, you had a lot of teams that didn't take the road courses seriously and didn't put a lot of effort into it.” (2:37 onwards)

“But now with so many road courses, you have to be good at them if you want any chance at doing well in the season standings,” he added. (3:24 onwards)

Christopher Bell will start his upcoming race at Sonoma from P10, alongside Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman on Row 5. It’s going to be his 200th career start, making it a milestone achievement for the Oklahoma native. Fans can enjoy the race on TNT Sports (3:30 pm ET onwards) or listen to live radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Bell will enter the race sixth in the driver standings with 565 points to his name. He owns three wins, seven top-fives, and 11 top-10s in all.

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Christopher Bell is all set to return to dirt racing at Eldora Speedway

In between this week’s race at Sonoma and next week’s race at Dover Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell will race at Eldora Speedway. He will compete in the first two nights of the 42nd annual Kings Royal, which is expected to he held on July 16-17 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

Bell will drive the No. 69k 410 entry for Don Kreitz, Jr, in Wednesday’s Kubota High Limit Racing Double Down Duels and the Joker’s Jackpot on the following night. Elated at the opportunity, the driver said,

“NASCAR has the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, Brickyard 400 and Southern 500. Sprint car racing has the Kings Royal and the Knoxville Nationals. Those are always the big events. The Kings Royal is a huge event, and it’s always an honor to be a part of it, even if it’s only for the first two nights.”

Christopher Bell will be backed by Interstate Batteries behind the wheel of the No. 69k 410 winged sprint car. Winning Wednesday night’s event will get him $12,000, while winning Thursday night’s event will yield a $100,000 prize.