Best baseball player from Oklahoma?

Mickey Mantle.

Best football player from Oklahoma?

Lee Roy Selmon.

Best basketball player from Oklahoma?

Wayman Tisdale.

Best golfer from Oklahoma?

Gil Morgan.

Best racecar driver from Oklahoma?

Clear a spot for rising star Christopher Bell.

"That is cool to think about," said Bell of Norman. "There have been a lot of great racers to come out of Oklahoma. To think of all the guys ... who were successful on dirt but never had the opportunity to go to NASCAR like I have.

"It's cool to pave the way. It'll be interesting to see if any young kids follow in my footsteps."

On Oct. 21 at Kansas Speedway, Bell became the first Oklahoma-produced racer to win in one of NASCAR's top two series. He outmuscled Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Erik Jones at the finish to take the Xfinity series event.

Bell and Jones will hook up again Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway in the Xfinity O'Reilly Auto Parts 300.

Bell will also continue his pursuit of the Camping World trucks championship Friday night in the JAG Metals 350 at TMS. Bell has a series-high five wins, including the spring race at TMS.

Bell, driving the Toyota Tundra of Kyle Busch Motorsports, is in good position to reach the trucks championship race in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but that is not a given.

"To win my first Xfinity race was special," Bell said. "But the truck series, that's my day job. I still have some unfinished business there. Need to try to win a championship there."

A trucks championship would rival Bell's top accomplishment to date. In January, he won what has been described as the Super Bowl of midget racing: the Chili Bowl, in Tulsa, Okla.

Bell, 22, became the first Oklahoma driver to win the Chili Bowl since Andy Hillenburg in 1994. Bell has deep roots in dirt-track racing.

Bell watched and learned from accomplished Oklahoma dirt-track sprint-car racers such as Daryn Pittman, Shane Stewart and Hillenburg. They had NASCAR-level skills but preferred the dirt-track life.

Bell began his career on regional dirt tracks, including Cowtown Speedway in Kennedale and Devil's Bowl Speedway in Mesquite. He gained invaluable racing knowledge along the way.

The dirt-track background taught Bell how to respond to changing track conditions. He is comfortable sliding into corners and can race sideways if needed.

"It teaches you such good car control,'' Bell said. "I feel it's the best background you could ask for and definitely the most fun background you could ask for."

The dirt-track training showed in the Xfinity win.

Jones led with four laps remaining. Bell went for the lead by sliding underneath Jones, who had drifted to the high side of the track. Jones made contact and could not recover.

After the race, Jones complained "it's not dirt racing.'' Bell was unrepentant.

"For me, it's always been race as hard as you can," Bell said. "It doesn't matter what the series is. I want to win just as badly.

"When I had the opportunity in Kansas, I wasn't going to let that opportunity go. When you have a car that's capable of winning, you need to take advantage of it."

Bell will move up to a full-time spot with JGR in the Xfinity series next season. That puts him on course to reach the Monster Cup level. Only six Oklahoma racers have started a Cup race.

That group includes Troy Ruttman of Mooreland. Ruttman has the single most significant accomplishment by an Oklahoma driver: winning the Indianapolis 500 in 1952. He has a challenger in Christopher Bell for the title of Oklahoma's best racer.

Top drivers from Oklahoma

A subjective look at the top racers from Oklahoma -- not including Christopher Bell -- in alphabetical order: