Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell have been going back and forth since their Dirt racing days.  The former is widely hailed as a “generational talent” in motorsports circles and isn’t accustomed to losing. The 2021 Cup Series winner has gone head-to-head against plenty of all-time greats in his career, but a specific driver has stood above the rest. Rooting from the same discipline, their racing styles coincide with each other. Larson despises Bell and looks forward to even scores out when he gets the chance. But, why so?

Competing against Christopher Bell has never been easy for Larson. The California native looks back on his struggles against the Oklahoman and how falling short tested his ego and motivated him to do better during his early days in the sport. Well, maybe it was deeper rooted and came before the sport!

Kyle Larson was given a reality check by the new kid on the block

Everyone associates Kyle Larson with the iconic No. 5 Chevy. However, did you know that the racer was once a Toyota Racing Development driver? During his early years, the driver learned the tricks of the trade in open-wheel cars, including the United States Auto Club (USAC) midget, as well as sprint cars for Keith Kunz Motorsports and Hoffman Racing with the backing of the Japanese manufacturer. After a few years of success, there was a new kid on the block, one that had the talent to give Larson a run for his money. Yup, it was Christopher Bell.

Revealing his hatred for competing against the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Kyle Larson said on Corey LaJoie’s Stacking Pennies podcast, “I ran for Keith and Pete with the TRD program at KKM like full-time in 11, a lot in 12 and then he came in, I think middle of 12 or 13 and that’s when he started just kicking my a-s you know, all the time which really like, killed my ego for a long time cause we’re in the same equipment and all this and that and I mean he’s just winning everything and I’m running second to him like every night, every year at Chili Bowl. All that you know, so choked a win away, blew up one year, choked it away the next year so like, I hated, I hated getting beat by him.”

Christopher Bell’s dominance at the Chili Bowl Nationals is the stuff of legends. The racer has won the indoor midget car race three years in a row (2017, 2018, and 2019), becoming the first Oklahoman to win the competition since Andy Hillenburg in 1994. The competition is where his rivalry with Kyle Larson blossomed, and the two drivers go head-to-head for bragging rights even today. While Bell won the Chili Bowl Race of Champions in 2025, leading all 25 laps in a dominant result, Larson ended up winning the main event, tying his rival’s record with three wins.

However, that’s not the only time the two drivers have clashed during the off-season. Thanks to Joe Gibbs Racing’s change in policy, Christopher Bell was allowed to compete on dirt tracks during the winter, and the racer didn’t disappoint. The 30-year-old won the Non-Wing Outlaw Main Event at the Tulsa Shootout and outfought Kyle Larson at the World of Outlaws opener at Volusia Speedway Park. He even took a slight dig at the HMS driver after winning at Atlanta Motor Speedway recently by saying, “I love superspeedways”, to add salt to his rival’s wounds who has traditionally struggled on such tracks.

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Christopher Bell sheds light on his rivalry with Larson

Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson share a unique rivalry. While the two can be fierce competitors on the track, they do have mutual respect for it. Both drivers come from a dirt racing background and have engaged in plenty of skirmishes over the last few years. However, there are more similarities between the two drivers than they would care to admit. Back in 2018, when Bell was plying his trade in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was compared to Larson, and he went on to say it was “the biggest compliment that people have given me.”

Fast forward to the present day, and the dynamics between the two have changed drastically. Shedding light on the relationship with Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell said, “I mean it is a rivalry I guess. I tried to ignore that word, but we respect each other. We’re not enemies; we’re not going to sit here and go throw fists, but we respect each other. We’re rivals. We’ve competed against each other for a long, long time, and many years to come.”

Even though Christopher Bell won at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran finds himself six points behind Larson in the NASCAR Cup Series. However, with only two races having gone by, there is a lot more to race for before the Bill France Cup is awarded at Phoenix Raceway. Both the drivers missed out on a Championship 4 appearance last year despite being the most consistent performers. Will they compete for the silverware this year? Time will tell.