He arrived at the Ohio home on an Autumn Friday afternoon wearing wire-frame glasses and a boyish smile. His mind had been racing throughout the trip, as this was the chance of a lifetime every young racer dreams of.

It was late 2011, and Christopher Bell had made his way to a modest residence in Tiffin, Ohio. Inside that modest residence awaited one of the greatest drivers in the history of sprint car racing: Rick Ferkel. Ferkel had been fielding his own race car since retiring from driving many years before.

Ferkel and his race car were not in a good place at the moment. They struggled to be competitive on the local tracks in the Ohio region, and that went against Ferkel’s every grain. A proud man and a fierce competitor, running in the back was not what he stood for.

A week or so earlier, amid his angst over not running well, Ferkel had received a call from his longtime Oklahoma friend Wade Wisely. Wisely, keenly aware of Ferkel’s struggles, gushed about a local kid who was tearing it up in the Sooner region in a micro-sprint. Maybe he could give it a go in your sprint car? Ferkel bristled at the idea. “I’m not interested in a kid,” he insisted.

A couple of days later Ferkel’s car ran 14^th after starting on the pole. That was the last straw; Ferkel dialed Wisely’s number.

“Send that kid up here,” he said.

With a squeaking hinge the door swung open and 71-year-old Rick Ferkel contemplated 16-year-old Christopher Bell. Ferkel was, he would later admit, almost speechless with shock. A kid is one thing; this boy looked like he might still be in elementary school.

“How old are you?”

“I’m 16.”

“You were supposed to be 18! Have you ever driven a sprint car before?”

“No. But I’m almost 17. Can we go racing tonight?”

Ferkel’s plan was to race the following night at Fremont, Ohio. But there was something about this kid; Ferkel made a phone call and learned that Wayne County was running 410-inch sprint cars tonight. He hung up the phone.

“Want to go to Wayne County?”

“Yeah, yeah!” Bell answered.

They drew last in their heat and as he buckled in, Bell listened as Ferkel gave him instructions. Just go out there and get a feel for it, he said. It’s different than anything you’ve been in.

Rick Ferkel and Christopher Bell in 2014. (Paul Arch photo)

When the green flag waved Bell was third by the end of one lap. He finished second. They made the redraw and drew fourth for the feature.

More coaching from Ferkel: It’s okay if you race it a little bit; just do what you feel.

In the early laps Bell tried a big move that didn’t work and fell way back. But he kept plugging away, and finished fifth. As he waited for Bell to return to their pit, Ferkel kept thinking: This is the best we’ve ran all year.

Bell climbed from the car and pulled his helmet off. He looked at Ferkel and smiled.

“How did it feel?” Ferkel asked.

“Like driving a rocket!” Bell said, and the old man and the young boy shared a laugh and a moment that any racer can understand.

And so began the friendship, the mentorship, the admiration, the affection, between Rick Ferkel and Christopher Bell. Despite the gulf of time, despite the distance, despite the fact that two men were at vastly different places in their life and career, a bond was forged in that moment.

From then on, Rick Ferkel was quick to praise the talent and potential of Christopher Bell, who spoke glowingly of the great Rick Ferkel and his immense impact on the trajectory of Bell’s career. From then on, Ferkel beamed with pride as he watched Bell climb the ladder of success, ultimately landing at the top levels of the sport with NASCAR.

Ferkel died on New Year’s Day in 2024 at age 84, bringing to a close a legendary life and career. One measure of a man’s impact is his influence on others; for a time beginning in the early ‘70s and lasting almost 20 years, every sprint car racer in the Midwest wanted to be like Rick Ferkel.

Rick Ferkel in 1978. (Rick Richard photo provided by NSCHoF)

That’s why it brought such a smile recently when Bell—currently 4^th in NASCAR Cup points—dedicated his Martinsville Speedway weekend to Ferkel. Bell’s Xfinity and Cup cars each carried a special tribute to “the Ohio Traveler” and his famed No. 0 sprint car.

A lot has happened for Christopher Bell since that fateful Ohio weekend in 2011. It really was the chance of a lifetime.

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