NASCAR Eldora 2015 results: Christopher Bell wins Mud Summer Classic thriller

The Mud Summer Classic, NASCAR’s only national series dirt track race, produced another memorable event with Christopher Bell emerging victorious after a hard-fought battle with Bobby Pierce on Wednesday night at Eldora Speedway.

Bell and Pierce were consistently the fastest in the Camping World Truck Series race, exchanging the lead several times throughout the evening. But Bell took control in the third and final segment, then secured the win by twice fending off Pierce on restarts over the closing 11 laps.

Driving a truck entered by Kyle Busch Motorsports, the 20-year-old Bell was making just his third start in NASCAR’s No. 3 series. Bell’s background consists primarily of dirt racing, including competing in the Kings Royal sprint car race last Sunday at Eldora.

“If you had told me my first win at Eldora was going to come in a NASCAR truck, I would have told you you’re crazy,” Bell said. “It’s awesome what NASCAR has done, getting to be able to come here to Eldora.”

Owned by three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, Eldora is the only dirt track to host one of NASCAR’s top three divisions. Since its 2013 inception, the Mud Summer Classic has evolved into one of the sport’s marquee events attracting drivers from a variety of disciplines. Wednesday’s field included Sprint Cup regulars Brad Keselowski and Austin Dillon, NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader and a host of drivers who run almost exclusively on dirt tracks.

“That’s pretty awesome that me and Bobby can come here and run one-two. I never heard of him until I was at a sprint car race last year and he was running his late model. It’s pretty cool that a couple of dirt guys can run one-two at a dirt race track.”

Eldora was Pierce’s NASCAR debut and he more than left an impression. The 18-year-old captured the pole-position in qualifying earlier in the night and backed that up by winning his qualifying heat.

As Pierce tried valiantly to rundown Bell, he bounced off the wall several times, severely damaging his truck. Even in spite of the damage, which included a decklid precariously close to falling off, Pierce still kept pace with Bell, but he could never muster enough speed to complete a winning pass.

“Bell did everything right to win the race,” Pierce said. “It was a lot of fun out there.”

Tyler Reddick finished third, with Erik Jones fourth and Daniel Hemric fifth.

Neither Bell nor Pierce have any further NASCAR races scheduled. Bell, considered one of Toyota’s top prospects, will almost certainly contest additional Truck Series races this season. Pierce’s future is less certain. He just recently made the transition to pavement racing to enhance his chance of landing a NASCAR ride.

“I’m living my dream right now,” Bell said. “I’m getting to race for a living and getting to race 100 times a year and that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do was just get to race. Whatever opportunities may come my way I’ll be thrilled to take advantage of them.

“Three years ago I was just a micro-sprint racer in Oklahoma and now here I am running a NASCAR Camping World truck -- I just never would have seen that coming. Never would have thought that I would get the opportunity to do it. It’s pretty cool and an honor to be up here.”