JGR star Christopher Bell reflects on winning the Chili Bowl Race of Champions in his self-owned car: “Makes the triumph so much sweeter”

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell won the second consecutive Chili Bowl Nationals O’Reilly Auto Parts Race of Champions on Monday night (January 12) at the SageNet Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Driving his #21CB self-owned race car, Bell dominated from the pole, leading every lap of the 25-lap race en route to a memorable win of his racing career.

Following the race, Christopher Bell said winning the 2026 Chili Bowl Nationals Race of Champions in his own car is so much sweeter. He fielded the #21CB race car, a rare move for a JGR star, and one that made the entire experience more intense, more personal, and ultimately more rewarding.

Reflecting on the win in an interview with FloRacing, Bell said:

“It just makes everything a whole lot more stressful, that’s for sure. I think it just makes the triumph so much more rewarding. It’s just a lot different whenever it’s all on you, you know; you got to make sure everything’s right, and it just makes the triumph so much sweeter.”

The Chili Bowl Nationals, known as the “Super Bowl of Midget Racing,” is the world’s biggest week-long midget event of the year. The event attracts 404 drivers this year, setting a record high for entries in the event’s history.

NASCAR Cup Series regular Christopher Bell also mentioned people who worked behind the scenes to make the effort possible.

“So really, really proud of Cole. Cole’s done an amazing job on this car, my father-in-law Brian, and yeah, we’ve just been nonstop on this thing after Phoenix.” Bell continued.

The Race of Champions victory was the fourth of his career, previously winning it in 2020, 2021, and 2025.

Christopher Bell’s ultimate goal is to win the Race of Champions and the Chili Bowl in the same year

Christopher Bell, the three-time Chili Bowl Nationals champion, started the 40th edition of the event on a high note. He never won ROC and Chili Bowl together in the same year.

For him, the ROC success feels good, but it still feels incomplete because the ultimate goal is to win both events in a year, and he is hoping to achieve it this year.

In the aforementioned interview, Bell said:

“So, it feels really good to start off the week like this. I don’t know that I’m yet to win the Race of Champions and Saturday night on the same night or in the same year. Hopefully we change that this year.”

Catch Christopher Bell in action during Thursday’s Chili Bowl Hasty Bake Qualifying Night at 5 pm ET on FloRacing.