“I’ve got four words: Thank you, Joe Gibbs.”
Christopher Bell has been given the go-ahead to race on the dirt, and it’s a damn good thing that’s the case, otherwise, we wouldn’t have had the instant classic that was Saturday’s 55-lap Tulsa Shootout.
The Norman, Oklahoma-native is bringing a Golden Driller home with him from Tulsa, Oklahoma, after defending against one of his biggest rivals in the NASCAR Cup Series and in dirt racing, Kyle Larson.
What a thriller between Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson in the #TulsaShootout:
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) January 5, 2025
With just three laps remaining in the 55-lap contest, Bell held a sizeable lead over second-place Larson, but the driver of the CB Industries No. 83 was quickly running down the race leader by ripping the top.
Flirting with disaster several times in each set of corners, Larson made a valiant charge to get within striking distance of Bell, but couldn’t quite get close enough, despite a lunge in the final corner.
It’s the fifth Golden Driller that Christopher Bell has earned — three from winning the Chili Bowl Nationals and now two from the Tulsa Shootout.
Although he finished second place in Saturday’s 55-lap event, Larson’s 2025 Tulsa Shootout was nothing to scoff at, by any means, bringing home Golden Drillers in the A-Class Feature and Winged Outlaws Division.
Emerson Axsom came home in third place in the main event, with Ricky Thornton, Jr. and KJ Snow rounding out the top five. Blake Hahn, Jake Nail, Clinton Boyles, Aiden Purdue, and Sam Johnson rounded out the top-10.
