Roughly a year ago right now, Stewart Friesen was fed-up with racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and threatened to leave it in a knee-jerk reactive fit.
It was a really bad day.
Now, the organization he co-owns with Chris Larsen won a race at Bristol Motor Speedway with his personal favorite race car driver behind the wheel and the excitement was palpable.
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This is unbelievable,” Friesen told Motorsport.com while packing up on Friday night. “I mean, he’s been my favorite driver for a long time. I got to go to Ventura (Speedway) in California and watch him win the Turkey Night Grand Prix (USAC Midget Race) years ago and sit in the stands and I was just like, ‘man, he is so good.’
“So now to have the relationship we do with him and Toyota to have him win in one of our trucks, it’s incredible.”
Bell was pretty emotional in victory lane and it drew questions about the reasons why in the media center afterwards. It was his first Truck Series win since 2017 but that wasn’t it.
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Again, it’s about the interpersonal relationships.
“Honestly, this isn’t about me,” Bell said. “It’s about this team. This is my hobby, running a Truck Series race. It’s not my day job.
“The mechanics, crew chiefs and truck guys at (Halmar Friesen Racing), this is their day job. Seeing how much it means to them, that makes it special to me, and makes me want to run races for this team.”
Bell says he remembers his time as a Truck Series regular, back when HFR was just getting started. He said he respects what Friesen and Larsen have built, especially as fellow dirt racers. Friesen moonlights as one of the most successful Big Block Modified drivers in New England and the Maritimes.
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When Friesen severely injured himself in one of those cars last year in Quebec, and missed the remainder of the NASCAR season, Bell got the first call to fill-in at Watkins Glen.
“That really opened my eyes to see how much this group cares about and loves the sport,” Bell said. “When I was first in the Truck Series, I remember Stewart showing up with this team and I’ve literally seen them build it from the ground up into what it is now.
“At Watkins Glen, I saw the potential that it had and it means a lot that we finally got some of the fruit of their labor with a win.”
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But again, roughly a year ago, Friesen couldn’t have been any more down on the Truck Series. He got crashed out of a race at Rockingham and lamented the state of the race craft around him.
A win at Michigan softened the edge later that summer. Then the time away recovering from his injuries reminded him why they built this team in the first place.
Winning on Friday was just the figurative icing on the cake.
“I love this series and Chris Larsen loves this series,” Friesen said. “Mohawk Northeast loves this series and it’s how we’re able to bring two trucks to the race track.
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“And look at the talent in the field tonight. Holy wow, it’s a shot in the arm to have this caliber of competition. We have old-school steel bodies, a lot of fabrication and it’s something we believe in. We have people back in the fab shop and guys working on front and rear ends. This is grassroots racing man.
“Maybe that’s not the right word for it but its salt of the earth racing and this is why we love the Truck Series. People always ask me if we want to go Xfinity racing and I always say, ‘no, I love the Truck Series’ because of this and the schedule that lets me go play with our Modified too. …
“So, to get our truck in victory lane, this is awesome.”
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