MORRISON, Colo. – Stephen Bell drove his Chevrolet COPO Camaro to the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown winner’s circle from the No. 3 qualifier position at the Dodge//SRT NHRA Mile-High Nationals Sunday at Bandimere Speedway.
Bell took out Doug Hamp, Leonard Lottig, Arthur Kohn and finally Leah Pruett for the win.
“I am feeling now as good as I have ever felt in my life,” said Bell after picking up the win. “It was a great day and we worked really hard. [Crew chiefs] Greg and Aaron Stanfield made great tuning decisions all day and I did an OK job driving the car.”
Throughout the day Bell kept his focus and took every round one by one. The final round was a race for the ages as Bell and Pruett left the starting line almost simultaneously with Bell getting the slightest of reaction time edges, .051 to .053, and at the finish line it was Bell getting the nose of his Camaro in front of Pruett’s Dodge Drag Pak. The final elapsed times lit up the scoreboard 8.259 to 8.265 seconds respectively.
“Things just went our way today. It was a magical day,” said Bell. “We have had a really fast car for two or three races and we just needed some racing luck. We will be at Topeka, Kansas, in August and then the U.S. Nationals. We are really excited and the car is running good.”
With the win Bell jumped from fourteenth place in the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown point standings to fifth place just seven points out of third. He will also have the bounty tag as the series moves to Heartland Park Topeka for the next Factory Stock Showdown event.