Matthew Elwin Bell (born August 31, 1985) is a professional race car driver. Bell was born in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it has a population of 82,376. Mountain View was integral to the early history and growth of Silicon Valley, and is the ...

. Although Bell grew up in

Los Altos, California Los Altos (; Spanish for "The Heights") is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 31,625 according to the 2020 census. Most of the city's growth occurred between 1950 and 1980. Originally a ...

, he attended Mountain View High School from which he graduated in 2004. After graduation, he pursued transportation design at the

Academy of Art University The Academy of Art University (AAU or ART U), formerly Academy of Art College and Richard Stephens Academy of Art, is a private for-profit art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded as the Academy of Advertising Art by Richard S. S ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Shortly after his third year of attendance, Bell joined Grand America Road Racing Association

Koni Challenge Series The Michelin Pilot Challenge is a grand touring and touring car racing series run by the International Motor Sports Association. Originating from the Canadian Motorola Cup, the series was taken over by Grand-Am in 2001 to become the Grand-Am Cup ...

in 2008 and raced with

Turner Motorsport Turner Motorsport (Also known as TMS Racing or Turner racing ) is a professional sports car racing team located in Newton, NH, and is the second most prolific BMW privateer racing team in the world, second only to Schnitzer Motorsport, who sto ...

. For two years he raced for Turner Motorsport. Bell is racing for Stevenson Motorsport in the 2010 No. 6 Sunoco Camaro. Bell resides in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster C ...

and when not racing is an instructor at Jim Russell Racing School.

Racing career

In 2012, Bell made his debut in

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

competition, driving the No. 4 Chevrolet in the

Nationwide Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

for

JD Motorsports JD Motorsports, is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. It is owned and operated by Johnny Davis. It currently fields two Chevrolet Camaro SS teams: The No. 4 for Bayley Currey and ...

Road America Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Champ ...

. Five years later, Bell returned to the series – now the Xfinity Series – at

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. Mid-Ohio has also colloquially become a term for the entire north-central regio ...

, where he drove the No. 90 for

King Autosport DGM Racing (formerly King Autosport) is a Canadian professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is owned by Mario Gosselin. The team is now located in Lake Wales, Florida,The team formerly ...

. His car suffered from brake issues and he violently crashed into the tire barrier in turn one; he finished 38th.

Images

File:Matt Bell 4 2012 Road America Sargento 200.jpg, Bell at his 2012 NASCAR debut File:matt willowsprings.jpg, Bell at

Willow Springs Raceway Willow Springs International Motorsports Park (commonly referred to as Willow Springs) is located in Willow Springs near Rosamond, California, about north of Los Angeles. It is the oldest permanent road course in the United States. Constructio ...

File:4 Matt Bell Turn 13 2012 Road America Sargento 200.jpg, Bell's No. 4 at the 2012

Sargento 200 The Henry 180 is a NASCAR Xfinity Series race that has taken place at Road America since 2010. Henry Repeating Arms holds the naming rights to the race, and the pole and race winners are awarded matching, custom Henry 180 Edition Big Boy Lever-A ...

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series

Sports car racing

(

) Bold – pole position (overall finish/class finish).

Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge

Rolex Sports Car Series

American Le Mans Series

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Matt Living people 1985 births People from Mountain View, California Racing drivers from California Racing drivers from San Jose, California 24 Hours of Daytona drivers American Le Mans Series drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers NASCAR drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Academy of Art University alumni Mountain View High School alumni Meyer Shank Racing drivers Michelin Pilot Challenge drivers