Christopher Bell, Carson Brown Battle for ASA STARS National Tour Win at Tri-County

The paved 0.400-mile oval of Tri-County Speedway may have been the site of Wednesday's Ebb Logistics 250 Presented by SAVE22.VET for the Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA STARS National Tour, but the mid-week showcase had the feel of a dirt track showdown.

NASCAR Cup Series driver Christopher Bell, fresh off his victory Sunday in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, scored the win in Wednesday's Super Late Model race. While the official margin of victory shows Bell won by more than two seconds, he spent most of the race battling fiercely with STARS National Tour championship leader Carson Brown.

Bell took the lead for the final time from Brown on lap 157 in the 250-lap race. Before that, they battled intensely, working multiple lanes on the exciting Tri-County racing surface, attempting sliders, and putting on a show for the fans in attendance.

Bell enjoyed every second of the battle, making sure to congratulate Brown after climbing out in victory lane.

"This place is badass, man," said Bell. "It's so much fun. I want to say good job to Carson [Brown]. That was some MIllbridge stuff right there, buddy. He was putting his dirt experience to use. He was so fun to watch coming through the field. I didn't know that I was going to be able to get him. He was really fast. I guess, whenever I got out front, I don't know if he just got his tires hot or what. That was a lot of fun."

A little more than 10 years ago, Bell was one of the rising stars competing in Late Model races looking to climb the racing ladder. On Wednesday night, he was the NASCAR star battling promising prospects such as Brown and Keelan Harvick for the win.

Harvick's bid for victory on Wednesday ended just past the halfway mark with an engine issue, but he led the first 37 laps of the contest and also caught Bell's eye.

"Times have changed, that's for sure," Bell said. "It feels like just yesterday that I was here running Late Models full-time. Now, there's a very, very good young crop of drivers. I feel bad for Keelan, too. Keelan did a great job, he obviously had a really good car. That was a lot of fun. I can't thank Bond [Suss] enough, Donnie Wilson, Wilson Motorsports. It's really cool to see what these guys do and all of Toyota, Toyota Racing Development. They work really hard to give young drivers chances. It's just been so fun to be a part of this."

Brown finished second in the event, also coming off a victory on Sunday with the ARCA Menards Series at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds. He appeared equally excited about the battles up front despite coming out on the losing end.

"It's hard to hang my head on this one," said Brown. "It was a lot of fun with Bell, there. We were swapping back and forth on both ends, just throwing sliders. Man, I can't thank all the guys at SAVE22.vet, Ebb Logistics, everyone that makes this happen. RCR, ACR, Chevy, everyone that chips in. Man, that was a lot of fun.

"I think I was just trying to have fun, and it ended up working out for us in the short-term. I guess not the long run. Good job to Bell and the whole crew over there. Hopefully, we can come back next year.

Former Kulwicki Driver Development Program champion Ty Fredrickson finished third, relying on some key adjustments and pit strategy to recover for a strong showing after falling out of the top 10 early.

"We fired off really loose in that first run, and I lost all the track position I got from qualifying," said Fredrickson. "My dad made good calls in the pits with some pit strategy and we were able to work up to the front. We probably weren't as good as the 20 and the 81, but I was kind of hoping they would do a little too much of a slider and get into each other a little bit.

"All in all, great run for us. We didn't know if we were coming down here for sure, but I'm glad we made the trip."

Casey Roderick finished fourth, with Derek Kraus rounding out the top five.

The next event for the Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA STARS National Tour is the Glass City 200, scheduled for September 19 at Toledo Speedway.

-Photo credit: Toyota Racing

Ebb Logistics 250 Unofficial Results