NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Christopher Bell has been one of NASCAR’s rising young stars for the past few years. Over the past few weeks, Bell and the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 car have been so hot that he is close to joining some pretty select company.

Bell, a 23-year-old Oklahoma native and an Xfinity Series rookie, heads into tonight’s (Saturday night’s) race at Iowa Speedway seeking to become the first series regular with a three-race winning streak since Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 1999. Kyle Busch did it four times between 2008 and 2016 but he was also running full-time in the Cup Series — something Bell might be doing sooner rather than later if he keeps winning like he has.

“It would definitely be something special,” Bell said of the chance to win three straight. “To be able to get two in a row at Kentucky and Loudon, which are race tracks that are extremely different, is something that I’m proud of for our team … and we’ve got a good shot at it. We’ve been really fast here at Iowa.”

In less than three years, Bell has grown from largely an unknown driver to one in serious pursuit of both a second straight NASCAR championship — he won a Trucks title last year driving for Busch — and a shot at a ride at the sport’s highest level.
Bell got something of a late start to NASCAR, at least compared to some of his fellow drivers who were in a stock car before they even graduated high school.

Bell ran a pair of K&N races and seven Trucks events in 2015, winning for the first time on the dirt at Eldora. Bell showed enough promise to land a full-time truck ride with Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2016, winning just once but finishing in the top 10 in 19 of 23 events. Last season was the first of consecutive breakout seasons for Bell. He won five times and finished in the top five 15 times, and he clinched the championship by finishing second at Homestead.

Bell moved up yet again in 2018, landing a 23-race Xfinity deal with JGR after running just eight times in the series — including a win at Kansas in 2017.