Christopher Bell will enter the Darlington Throwback Weekend with tribute cars for his late racing mentor, Rick Ferkel. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver will honor Ferkel in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Cup Series races next week.
Before debuting in the Cup Series in 2020, Bell made strides in the sprint car racing scene with Rick Ferkel as his mentor and team boss. Ferkel, who passed away in January 2024, won over 400 feature events and was an original World of Outlaws member.
Speaking about Ferkel and his throwback paint schemes for the Darlington race weekend, Christopher Bell said (via Joe Gibbs Racing):
"Rick really helped put me on the national scene by giving me my first opportunity in a full-blown sprint car [...] He hired me to drive a sprint car when I was a 16-year-old kid. I moved in with him and his family for a while."
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"After I left Rick Ferkel Racing, he became a life mentor, a driver coach, and someone that I would lean on every week for advice, and he’d check in to see how I was doing. Rick always preached to me to make sure I drove as hard as I could at all times, and I’m honored to get to pay tribute to him at Darlington," he added.
The 30-year-old will kick off the Darlington Throwback Weekend with the No. 19 Sport Clips Toyota GR Supra in the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 (Xfinity). He will cap off the weekend driving the No. 20 DEWALT Toyota Camry in the Goodyear 400 (Cup).
The Darlington racecars will sport a silver greenhouse area to add a sprint car wing-like design element. Moreover, the cars will feature his late mentor's name and the number "0" to pay homage to Rick Ferkel's racing number.
Bell also honors Ferkel, a.k.a. "Ohio Traveler", with a special decal on his dash every race weekend.
Christopher Bell achieved unprecedented three consecutive race wins in Next-Gen era at Phoenix
After the Shriners Children's 500 at Phoenix Raceway, Christopher Bell became the first NASCAR Cup Series driver to win three races in a row in the Next-Gen car era (2022- present). He was the first to do so following Kyle Larson's hat trick in the 2021 season.
The Oklahoma native started the Phoenix race in 11th place before gaining positions to win stage two. He eventually crossed the finish line ahead of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin by 0.049 seconds, with Kyle Larson completing the top three.
His earlier wins came at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Circuit of the Americas.
However, Bell had challenging races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, as he finished outside the top 10. He has dropped to fifth in the 2025 standings despite winning the most races (three).
Before the Darlington Throwback Weekend, the No. 20 Toyota pilot will compete in the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway this Sunday. The 400-lap event will mark the first short-track race of the year.
