Jaxon Bell Drives to Pole Positions in Toyota GR Cup Championship Series

Rounds seven and eight of the 2025 Toyota GR Cup Championship took place at Virginia International Raceway last weekend near Danville, Virginia and Palisadian Jaxon Bell qualified first to earn the pole position for both races, showing again that he is a rising star in the sport of auto racing.

Bell finished fourth in the first race and third in the second, although a post-race 30-second penalty for contact dropped him to 15th.

“That was a difficult weekend in Virginia,” Bell said. “Our BraunAbility #7 was fast and I had high expectations after starting on pole for both races. However, a few crucial mistakes I made put us in a bad spot. I learned a lot, will take those lessons going forward and can’t wait to bounce back at Road America.”

A 2021 graduate of Palisades High, Bell had six wins and 11 podiums in 16 races as a rookie in the Skip Barber Formula Race Series in 2023 and placed fourth overall in the Toyota GR Cup standings last year with seven podium spots, including a win in Austin and a pole position in Virginia. Jaxon is the oldest son of Townsend Bell, a three-time Top-10 finisher at the Indianapolis 500 and a Verizon IndyCar Series pro.

Growing up near the top of Chautauqua, Jaxon attended Palisades Elementary, went to middle school at Calvary Christian and played flag football and PPBA at the Palisades Recreartion Center. After graduating from Pali High ee decided to move to Charlotte, North Carolina because it is the home of motorsports in North America. Every NASCAR team is based in one town in the USA, Mooresville. For 18 months he worked for Hattori Racing, sweeping floors, cleaning the bathrooms, delivering parts, servicing and cleaning race car parts—whatever they needed him to do. It was humbling but instilled a strong work ethic, all-around racing technical knowledge and valuable insight into how a professional racing team works. In March 2023 he moved to Miami to work as the simulator racing instructor at The Concours Club and a few weeks later he debuted in the Skip Barber Formula Race Series with two checkered flags at Michelin Raceway in Atlanta after placing second in both practice sessions. His career has continued to produce positive results ever since.

The next event of the 2025 Toyota GR Cup Championship will be on August 15-17 at Road America, in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.