BEAUMONT, TX (September 20, 2022) – After battling multiple gremlins with his micro-sprint, Ryder Wells looks at this week’s C. Bell Micro Mania event at Texas Motor Speedway as prime real estate to go bounty hunting for some big-time NASCAR drivers. The 2020 POWRi Lone Star 600 Rookie of the Year, plans to park his Kickin’ the Tires No. 24 Sawyer Chassis Outlaw Non-Wing Micro in Victory Lane on Saturday night.
“When I first heard about this race, I knew I had to enter,” Wells said. “This is the kind of event that can make a racer’s career. I am hoping to have a good showing and go out there and turn some really fast laps, hopefully, getting to the front.”
Oklahoma-native Christopher Bell, who is the 2017 Camping World Truck Series Champion, three-time Chili Bowl Nationals champion and Tulsa Shootout winner, is the one who dreamed up the iconic event. He, along with the staff at Texas Motor Speedway, has worked since June to make it a reality.
The four-day event begins Wednesday, September 21, 2022, and culminates with the main event Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. Micro Sprints are smaller versions of full-sized sprint cars with side-mounted 600cc motorcycle engines that can generate 140 horsepower with similar chassis and body styles to the larger versions.
Joining Bell from the NASCAR world in the Outlaw Non-Wing Micro division will be two-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion, Kyle Busch, Xfinity Series Champion Daniel Hemic, Camping World Truck Series champions Sheldon Creed and Brett Moffitt, Snowball Derby winner John Hunter Nemechek and USAC National Sprint Car Champion JJ Yeley.
“We are definitely going bounty hunting,” Wells joked. “Those guys are all legends but they have everything to prove and nothing to gain because they are expected to win. I just need to go out there, stay focused and run my race. I really have no pressure because we are all equals behind the wheel.
“The track is new, so we are all on a level playing field and I’m ready to race. We’ve had some really good runs this year but we also had some bad luck, too. I am really confident our car is in peak shape and I am prepared for this race.”
Drivers are competing for a first-place prize of $10,000 and all drivers able to beat Bell cleanly in the final will split an additional $10,000 bounty. At last count, there were more than 125 entrants across two divisions, which included a junior division for racers under 12 years old. Busch’s son, Brexton, and Owen Larson, the son of defending NASCAR Champion Kyle Larson, will compete in that division.
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DRIVER: Ryder Wells
HOMETOWN: Lumberton, TX AGE: 15
- 2021 Season
- 5 – Wins
- 11 – Top 5s
- 2022 Season
- 3 – Top 5s
- 5 – Top 10s