Townsend Bell waited all offseason to find out if Fox Sports wanted him as an analyst for its inaugural season of IndyCar coverage. When he finally got the job and was on his first phone call with his new producer, his wife burst into his California office and told him the Pacific Palisades area was on fire and they had to evacuate.
Bell and his wife drove to his mother’s house in Santa Monica to watch television coverage of deadly wildfires in the Los Angeles area. He texted neighbors and watched footage from his Ring camera, trying his best not to worry.
Then he remembered he had left all his racing gear at home the day before he left for a three-week trip that included a run in the Rolex 24 at Daytona next weekend. Bell convinced his wife to hurry home, but he had to find a way to get back to the Palisades through traffic.
His solution? Rent a scooter on the street.
Bell tried to ride his scooter back to Pacific Palisades, but the bike stopped, forcing him to ride uphill the last two miles to his home. As the flames grew closer and closer, Bell called his wife and asked her what three things she wanted her to grab. He ran around the house for 12 minutes, taking pictures for insurance purposes.
Bell has a racing helmet, earplugs and everything he needs for his whirlwind trip to be featured in the Fox Sports booth this week in Indianapolis, then head to Daytona International Speedway to compete for Vassar Sullivan Racing. I got it.
He has a boarding house in Daytona, but Bell doesn’t know where he’ll be living when the race ends a week from Sunday. His home in the Pacific Palisades was one of about 20 that survived the fire in an area that lost hundreds of homes. There will be extensive smoke and soot damage, and it will likely be uninhabitable for a year.
Bell’s two rental properties in Malibu were gutted, and his wife was staying at a friend’s guesthouse in Sherman Oaks when he left California last week. And Bell has been haunted ever since he rode his scooter, passing a mother rushing to pick up her children from a nearby school. Those schools are no longer there.
“The whole Palisades looks like a nuclear bomb went off,” Bell told The Associated Press. “We don’t even know what to do next. There’s almost nothing left in our neighborhood: no water, no electricity, no gas, no schools, no post office.”
New Year’s Day isn’t the ideal way to start what’s shaping up to be a big year. Bell was on a family vacation in New Zealand when her two sons begged her to stop by the Rolex store the day before. Bell’s shoulders slumped as soon as he entered. The Rolex that won his class at Daytona in 2014 was stolen in a burglary in 2018.
His spirits were high when Jimmy Vasser called him early in the new year and asked if he could be part of this year’s Rolex Lexus program. Just the day before, Bell, who hadn’t raced in three years, thought he would never have the chance to replace his stolen watch.
Bell will be driving and assisting with NBC Sports’ coverage of the race. Despite the uncertainty of what will happen next upon his return to California, his mood is upbeat as he eyes the opportunity to replace his stolen watch before starting his new gig with Fox Sports.
“You know, I was out here racing when my house got robbed. I have no idea if that’s going to happen,” Bell said. “Well, Daytona has a weird, creepy vibe to it. But I’m very happy to have the opportunity to be here.”
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