Christopher Bell Honoring Mentor Rick Ferkel With Darlington Throwbacks

Christopher Bell will celebrate his racing roots during NASCAR's Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway.

Bell is honoring one of his racing mentors, Rick Ferkel, with a pair of throwback schemes during the Darlington race weekend on April 5-6. The Oklahoma native will drive the No. 19 Sport Clips Toyota GR Supra in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 on Saturday, April 5. Then, he will drive the No. 20 DEWALT Toyota Camry XSE in Sunday's Cook Out 400.

Both cars will sport vintage schemes reflecting the Sprint Cars driven by Ferkel during his racing career. Ferkel won more than 400 feature events and was an original member of the World of Outlaws. Ferkel passed away on January 1, 2024, and Bell continues to honor Ferkel with a special decal on the dash of his NASCAR entries.

Bell considers Ferkel one of his greatest mentors, helping him break into the racing world and offering guidance early in his career.

“Rick really helped put me on the national scene by giving me my first opportunity in a full-blown sprint car,” said Bell. “He hired me to drive a sprint car when I was a 16-year-old kid. I moved in with him and his family for a while. After I left Rick Ferkel Racing, he became a life mentor, a driver coach, and someone that I would lean on every week for advice, and he’d check in to see how I was doing. Rick always preached to me to make sure I drove as hard as I could at all times, and I’m honored to get to pay tribute to him at Darlington.”

Both the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series designs will features a silver greenhouse, intended to replicate the look and feel of a sprint car wing and roll cage. Ferkel's name will also be on the name rails for the cars, which will also emphasize his trademark number "0."

Cathy Ferkel, Rick's wife of nearly 50 years, will be in attendance during the Darlington race weekend along with several of their children and grandchildren.

Bell has won three races this season in the NASCAR Cup Series and currently sits fifth in the championship standings. Those three wins came in consecutive races at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Circuit of The Americas and Phoenix Raceway.

The Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway is scheduled for Sunday, April 6, at 3:00 p.m. ET. Live coverage will air on FOX Sports 1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

-Photo credit: Joe Gibbs Racing