DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — T.J. Bell (No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota) is a realist.
Bell, a first-year driver with Red Horse Racing, believes you walk before you run and excel in short measures before you win the marathon.
That said, the 29-year-old competitor had no illusions about being a championship contender in 2009.
What the Sparks, Nev., native did tell his team going into the season was he would do everything in his power to win them a race.
“As hard as this team works, they don’t deserve anything less than a win and I promised it to them,” said Bell. “That’s our goal, to go out and win races. We’re not racing for points; we’re not racing for anything else.
“It would mean a lot to get the first victory (since 2006) for this team.”
This could be the week it happens and what better place than in Bell’s home state where he finished eighth in last year’s Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“I love the race track and it’s always good to go back to Nevada and Vegas (being) close to home,” said Bell of Saturday’s 219-mile/350-kilometer/146-lap event. “I’ve got family there and a lot of fans coming down from Reno.”
It’s been an up-and-down season for Bell and his team. He finished fifth in the season’s second race at Auto Club Speedway and was 12th last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He ran as high as third at Chicagoland Speedway several weeks ago in a truck crew chief Rick Gay Jr. has selected for the trip to Las Vegas. Bell says the pair has made significant progress over the course of the season — especially since Timothy Peters (No. 17 Strutmasters.com/Red Horse Racing Toyota) joined the team.
“We’re really getting to know each other very well and we’re getting the trucks set up the way I like to drive them. It’s really good how things are starting to work out because Timothy and I drive similarly.”
Racing isn’t the only item on Bell’s schedule in Las Vegas. On Friday, he and SPEED’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series pit road reporter, Ray Dunlap, will do tandem sky dives courtesy of Extreme Sky Dive — Las Vegas. Bell will be making his first jump; Dunlap his second.
The Las Vegas 350 is the 20th of 25 events on the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck schedule. Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Copart Chevrolet) holds a 217-point lead in the championship standings but never has won in eight trips to the 1.5-mile speedway. Hornaday, however, has finished in the top five on five occasions, including a second in 1998 that wrapped up his second of three championships. He also clinched the 1996 title at LVMS.
“This year we have a really good shot at (a win),” said Hornaday. “We have run pretty well at the 1.5-mile tracks. I’m really excited to get back there.”
