EDITOR’S NOTE: With a lack of racing on-track due to the recent coronavirus pandemic around the globe, SPEED SPORT is digging into the archives and reflecting on races from the past.

Today, we look back on the 2013 Indiana Midget Week round at Lincoln Park Speedway, which marked the first USAC win for Oklahoma superstar Christopher Bell.

PUTNAMVILLE, Ind. – Christopher Bell may be a present-day star in the NASCAR Cup Series, but his journey to the top began with a victory in 2013 at Lincoln Park Speedway.

On that night – June 13, 2013 – Bell took advantage of circumstances and a fast race car to win during Indiana Midget Week, his first score in USAC National Midget Series competition and his first with Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports as well.

Bell benefited from four of the top-nine qualifiers failing to transfer through their heat and found himself on the pole. He jumped out ahead of another KKM teammate, Rico Abreu, to grab the early lead.

However, with just five laps in the books, a power outage led to a red-flag period.

A wide track led to lots of slide jobs as the race resumed, with ninth-starting Brad Mosen the prime mover as he climbed into the top-five.

Three KKM teammates – Bell, Abreu and Kyle Larson – ran first through third for an extended run, until Mosen came calling after a restart and took advantage of Abreu and Larson racing for second to seize the runner-up spot.

Mosen immediately reeled in Bell and applied pressure for most of the second half of the race, with Larson eventually disposing of Abreu to track them down while in third.

With just eight to go, Jerry Coons Jr. stopped while running sixth with a flat right-rear tire. Tire wear was an issue, and the front-runners cooled their tires, including some packing down the enormous cushion in turn one.

Larson jumped up there on the restart and immediately circled Mosen. He set his sights on Bell and tried the outside in one again, but the move was to no avail. With time running out, Larson threw two slide-jobs for the lead but failed to make them stick.

He made one more desperation slide into turn three on the final lap, but came up short, leaving the win to Bell in the Curb Records/Toyota TRD No. 71 Bullet-Speedway Toyota.

“This means so much to me. I’m thankful for the opportunity with Keith (Kunz), Pete (Willoughby), and Kris on this team. We were fortunate to start up there after qualifying 10th,” noted Bell, who led all 30 laps. “I had to go as slow as I could without getting passed and try to have some stuff at the end. I could hear Kyle out there, so I opened up my entry a little, and then he started sliding me. I saw the white flag and thought ‘Well, here we go.’ Keith warned me under the red that I had to save tires, and we might not make it.

“Kyle is the best in the business, so it’s really cool to be able to beat him for this.”

Larson just missed out on back-to-back wins, but did garner the ProSource Fast Time Award at Lincoln Park aboard the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports-owned, Toyota/TRD-backed No. 71K Bullet/Speedway Toyota.

“I was thinking if I could pressure him (Bell) some, he might use his tire up, but he stayed calm and I wasn’t able to get anywhere,” Larson said. “It was cool to see him win his first, and I think he’s gonna win a lot of races this year. We had that red, and I heard the announcer talking about running up above the cushion, actually. It worked for me a little earlier, so I thought I’d try it again. It helped in two ways, getting by a car and saving the right-rear some.

“I had more tire than Chris, but we just didn’t quite have enough to get him.”

New Zealand driver Mosen finished off a fine run to come home third in the Western Springs Speedway/BSL Racing Products No. 7NZ Breka/Esslinger.

“We ran some other races before this week and didn’t have much success, but this is the time to step up and have some good runs. I’m so proud of our team,” Mosen said. “We bring these cars from New Zealand and don’t do many shows, but the boys put together a great race car. It’s so much fun to come up here and race with all these great drivers.

“To race wheel-to-wheel with those guys was awesome. I had a hell of a good time.”

Tracy Hines backed up his second-place run from the previous night by coming home fourth, while Abreu wound up fifth.

Steve Buckwalter picked up the B&W Auto Mart Hard Charger Award after driving from 16th to finish sixth in the Buckwalter’s Roofing/VRP Shocks No. 25 Elite/Ott by Deppe.

The finish:

1. Christopher Bell, 2. Kyle Larson, 3. Brad Mosen, 4. Tracy Hines, 5. Rico Abreu, 6. Steve Buckwalter, 7. Andrew Felker, 8. Brad Kuhn, 9. Brady Bacon, 10. Michael Pickens, 11. Levi Jones, 12. Bryan Clauson, 13. Caleb Armstrong, 14. Dave Darland, 15. Dillon Welch, 16. Bobby East, 17. Jerry Coons Jr., 18. Tyler Thomas, 19. Darren Hagen, 20. Zach Daum, 21. Tanner Thorson, 22. Davey Ray, 23. Kevin Thomas Jr., 24. Austin Brown.