Matt Bell Targets the Triple in New Jersey

Matt Bell Targets the Triple in New Jersey

Milleville, N.J. (19 July 2011) – As Matt Bell travels nearly 3,000 miles to New Jersey Motorsports Park for Round 9 of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge championship this weekend, the California racer rides a wave of momentum having scored two consecutive race victories in the previous two rounds of competition.

Bell and Stevenson Motorsports co-driver John Edwards dominated in their two most recent runs, leading 27 of 44 laps on the way to scoring victory at Road America and then following up that effort with a return to victory lane after leading 51 of 79 laps at Bell’s home track of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

The race wins were breakthroughs for the Riley Technologies-built Chevrolet Camaro, which Stevenson Motorsports debuted in the final race of the 2009 season. After the team signed Bell for the 2010 season, he brought a string of firsts to the Camaro’s credit including first pole, first lead laps and first podium.

On the way to victory lane at his home track, Bell topped off his strong qualifying streak with a run to the pole and will look to repeat the feat at New Jersey Motorsports Park – a track that has seen him at the top of the speed charts before.

While racing for Turner Motorsports in 2009, the young racer grabbed the top spot in only his second start at the track and led 28 laps before handing over driving duties to co-driver Bill Auberlen. In last year’s race in the Garden State, Bell started on the inside of the fourth row and went on to score his second top-10 finish at the track with a run to sixth in the Stevenson Motorsports Camaro.

Last year’s NJMP round also saw Bell in Daytona Prototype competition as he stunned the paddock with his award-winning debut DP run with Doran Racing despite never having even sat in a DP before the weekend started.

“It was great to capture another win, and to do it at my home track was really just awesome. That’s something I’ll not soon forget, but of course even before going up to the podium for the trophies at Laguna, John and I were already talking about New Jersey,” said Bell. “Stevenson Motorsports always works so hard to give us a great car and we had a good run here last year so hopefully we’ll be back on the podium again on Saturday. We’ve had some highlights through the last year and a half, but we’ve also had some tough days as this Camaro has been developing. Now, we’ve got a car that is very competitive so we’re all eager to make the most of this opportunity. ”

With only two races remaining on the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge schedule, Bell sits third in the Driver Championship Standings and will look to score maximum points as he and Edwards go for their third straight victory at the B+ Foundation Heroes 200 on Saturday.

Bell and Edwards will open the weekend with a promoter test day on Thursday, July 21 with official practice set to follow on Friday. Qualifying will take place Saturday, July 23 at 10:10 AM (ET) with the 2.5-hour race to begin at 2:45 PM (ET).

SPEED will carry coverage of the event on July 30 at 3:00 PM (ET).

www.sundaymanagement.com

Quick Stats, Matt Bell:
Career Poles: 8
Career Wins: 4 (Daytona/2009, Trois-Rivieres/ 2009, Road America/2011, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca/2011)

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Matt Cleary
Sunday Group Management
media
http://www.sundaymanagement.com
317.908.2975 (m)


Based in Indianapolis, Sunday Group Management is a leading motorsports management and communications consulting firm.

Sunday Group Management works with clients in a variety of motorsports categories, including NASCAR Sprint Cup driver AJ Allmendinger, Riley Technologies, GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series organization Michael Shank Racing, Continental Tire, and several teams and drivers in Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition.

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