Townsend Bell was born on April 19,1975 and is an American professional motor racing driver competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and as a motorsports commentator for NBC Sports' IndyCar Series coverage.
23 Facts About Townsend Bell
2.
Townsend Bell spent time in karting, Skip Barber, Formula Dodge and the Barber Dodge Pro Series before graduating to Indy Lights in 2000.
3.
Townsend Bell won the Indy Lights championship in 2001 and earned two starts in a Champ Car in a joint effort between Patrick Racing and Dale Coyne Racing as a test for a full-time seat in 2002.
4.
Townsend Bell earned Roberto Moreno's seat at Patrick that year.
5.
Townsend Bell raced a partial season and scored a best finish of fourth at Portland.
6.
Townsend Bell's efforts shifted to Europe and in 2003 he was teammate to series champion Bjorn Wirdheim in International F3000 competition.
7.
Townsend Bell started one race as an injury replacement for Tomas Enge in the same car in 2005.
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Townsend Bell made his first Indianapolis 500 appearance for Vision Racing in 2006, qualifying 15th and finishing 22nd.
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Townsend Bell returned to the IndyCar Series in 2008 driving the No 23 car in events where Milka Duno was not scheduled to race.
10.
Townsend Bell's best result in 2008 was an eighth-place finish at Richmond International Raceway in June.
11.
Townsend Bell was entered in a third team car in the Indy 500, where he qualified twelfth and finished tenth.
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Townsend Bell was on a limited-month schedule but had an impressive race day, advancing from 24th on the grid up to the top five.
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Townsend Bell posted his best Indianapolis 500 qualifying effort to date in 2011, racing for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.
14.
Townsend Bell finished 9th in the 2012 Indianapolis 500 with Sam Schmidt Motorsports.
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Townsend Bell is a color commentator for NBC Sports with lead anchor Leigh Diffey and fellow analyst James Hinchcliffe.
16.
Townsend Bell made his sports car debut in 2012 and won the 12 Hours of Sebring on debut with Alex Job Racing.
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Townsend Bell matched his Sebring feat in his first Rolex 24 at Daytona start in 2014, winning that driving with Level 5 Motorsports.
18.
Townsend Bell is competed full-time in the 2017 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona class with Alex Job Racing in an Audi R8 GT3 and returned to Le Mans with Ferrari in 2017.
19.
Townsend Bell is a color commentator for NBC Sports with lead anchor Leigh Diffey and fellow analyst James Hinchcliffe.
20.
Townsend Bell has filled in for Formula One coverage on NBC, most notably in 2016 when he replaced Will Buxton, who was on bereavement leave for the races at Sepang and Mexico City.
21.
Townsend Bell is a color commentator for NBC Sports's IndyCar, Global RallyCross Championship as well as the host of What'Cha Got on Fox Sports 1.
22.
Townsend Bell has both competed and commented in the Stadium Super Trucks.
23.
At the 2013 X-Games in Munich, Townsend Bell competed in Global Rallycross and finished 6th in the final.