VOLUME 58 ISSUE 4 JANUARY 26, 2021 P33
and led from start to finish). He
won the crown at Philadelphia's
JFK Stadium. It was a double-
header and Bell went 1-2 over the
weekend.
After clinching the title, Bell
said, "I'm going to call my mom
and dad and tell them I won—
maybe then it will sink in that
I'm the new champ. It sure feels
good."
However, Bell could never
quite get the 500cc outdoor title
that he so wanted. In 1980, he
changed gears and followed the
250cc National circuit and fin-
ished second to Kent Howerton.
Throughout his professional
racing career, Bell was plagued
by knee injuries, which had a lot
to do with his height. At six-foot-
four inches, Bell, whose nick-
name was "Too Tall" (for obvious
reasons), could use his long legs
to his advantage in the whoops,
but they were prone to injury in
the corners, ruts and on tighter
tracks, he said.
After undergoing multiple knee
operations, Bell eventually called
it a premature end to his racing
career. His last victory came at
the Dallas Supercross in 1983.
"The Supercross champion-
ship was a career highlight," Bell
told the AMA Hall of Fame. "It
takes a lot to win a champion-
ship and that year it was 17 or 18
races, so it was a long series,
and it meant a lot to win that."
Bell passed away, Sunday,
January 24, after reportedly hav-
ing suffered a heart attack while
riding his mountain bike near his
Southern California home. He
was 63. CN
Bell wrapped
up the 1980
AMA Supercross
Championship in
Philadelphia.
Bell put himself on the map
when he won the Superbowl
of Motocross at the L.A.
Coliseum in 1978 when he
out-lasted his teammate Bob
Hannah in the main event.
