For once th final is dominated by real midget teams. 4 of top 5 teams participate in weekly series; Kevin Swindell being the exception. Way to go Alex Bright with a 4th place finish running a family team (financed by his Grandfather) with no big sponsorship and an old "Elite" chassis. He is off to Australia later this week to compete over there.
A Feature (55 Laps): 1. 63-Bryan Clauson[3]; 2. 39-Kevin Swindell[14]; 3. 97-Christopher Bell[2]; 4. 77-Alex Bright[12]; 5. 17R-Dave Darland[10]; 6. 47X-Tim McCreadie[8]; 7. 21-Daryn Pittman[17]; 8. 8J-Jonathan Beason[4]; 9. 3-Chris Windom[9]; 10. 15X-Chad Boat[18]; 11. 67K-Rico Abreu[13]; 12. 24-Tracy Hines[22]; 13. 5D-Zach Daum[5]; 14. 1-Sammy Swindell[6]; 15. 05-Brad Loyet[20]; 16. (DNF) 7M-Kevin Ramey[24]; 17. (DNF) 17K-Alex Schutte[19]; 18. (DNF) 5-Jerry Coons Jr[21]; 19. (DNF) 7C-Caleb Armstrong[1]; 20. (DNF) 63NZ-Michael Pickens[11]; 21. (DNF) 56L-Danny Stratton[16]; 22. (DNF) 71K-Kyle Larson[15]; 23. (DNF) 47-Damion Gardner[7]; 24. (DNF) 16-Thomas Meseraull[23]
Lap Leader(s): Caleb Armstrong (1-5), Clauson (6-55)
Updates on happenings leading up to the Chili Bowl Nationals midget race and day to day results during the Championships. Please feel free to comment. Let me know what you want to hear about.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Picks for Saturday
Clauson over Sammy Swindell and Michael Pickens. Like I know anything. I would love to see any full time midget team win.
Friday, January 17, 2014
NMARHOF
National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony being held right now in Exchange Center behind Expo Center. Among those attending are Johnny Rutherford, Bobby Unser and ARDC Champ Trevor Kobylarz.
Picks for Friday
Lets see if another youngster can step up this evening
Tweet of the Day - Thursday
Guess I'll take that. No brakes after the crash in the B. Then lost em again about 8 laps into the A. Worked the ole @EsslingerEng hard.
Kevin went from 11th to first in the B-Main and 17th to 4th in A-Main. Maybe he should save the weight and remove the brakes.
Christopher Bell unstoppable in Chili Bowl Qualifier
TULSA, Okla. (January 16, 2014) - For the third time in as many nights, the checked flag waved on a first time prelim winner at the 28th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bow Nationals presented by General Tire as Oklahoma’s Christopher Bell led flag-to-flag in Thursday’s John Christner Trucking Qualifying Night A-Feature.
Bell’s win marks the second of the week for an Oklahoma driver, as Jonathan Beason topped Tuesday’s qualifying feature.
Asked of the ease of his night, Bell replied, “I don’t know if that was easy or not, but Keith definitely had me dialed in and the car drove itself around there. It was avoiding the lapped cars and not getting involved in anything stupid.”
Given his home town, Bell was asked just how special the prelim win was to him. “The Chili Bowl is the race to me. If there was one race I could run, it would be here, especially with it being in my home state. I guess this is one of the few time I get to race in Oklahoma, which is around my home crowd; it really is something special to me.”
In a race that took under five minutes to complete, the Norman, Okla. native hit slower traffic by the ninth round with a 1.506 second advantage over Damion Gardner. Able to slip the Keith Kunz No. 67k through the back markers, the Toyota powered entry raced into a roadblock with 11 laps remaining and Garner closing the gap.
“There was one time I passed the first lapped car and then he (Damion) moved to the bottom because he had been running the top and then he started keeping up with me,” said Bell of Gardner closing in. “I kept seeing his nose down there and I was like ‘Aw crap, Damion is down there’.”
As the non-stop run continued, Kevin Swindell was clawing his way through the field. Racing from a C-Feature after a flat tire forced the No. 39 to the pits in his Heat Race, Swindell broke the top ten on Lap 8. Steadily through the field, Kevin snagged fifth from Andrew Deal on the fifteenth circuit.
Into the final four laps, the top two steps on the podium remained unchanged as the pair continued to weave through traffic with the race for the final transfer into Saturday’s A-Feature shaping up between Michael Pickens and Kevin Swindell.
Throwing slide jobs on Lap 21 through turns three and four, Swindell nearly slid through the cushion, allowing the New Zealand shoe to drive back under for the bronze position.
“I wasn’t totally comfortable with the car and settled for third and happy to be locked in and then all of the sudden Kevin comes up inside of me,” commented Pickens of the exchange. “I had to get going and was lucky we had another 10-percent left and was able to shake him off.”
On Pickens again with three to go, Swindell would remain fourth as the pair closed on Gardner.
Mired in slower traffic, Christopher Bell managed to cross 2.850 ahead of Gardner. Pickens held the final step on the podium, sending Kevin Swindell into a B-Feature on Saturday with a fourth place finish after a B-Feature win gridded the No. 39 seventeenth. Pennsylvania’s Steve Buckwalter completed the top five.
Ninth starting Danny Stratton crossed sixth with Andrew Felker, Tracy Hines, Andrew Deal, and nineteenth starting Kevin Ramey completing the top ten.
Thursday’s John Christner Trucking Qualifying Night saw 70 drivers draw in.
Four Chili Bowl Rookies started the A-Feature with Dominic Scelzi crossing fourteenth, followed by Chad Boespflug in fifteenth. Heath Duinkerken was nineteenth with James Eden twenty-third.
The Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire continues with Friday’s Vacuworx Global Qualifying Night. Races begin at 6:00 P.M. (CT) with Hot Laps at 5:00 P.M. For additional information on the Chili Bowl, log onto http://www.chilibowl.com.
Bell’s win marks the second of the week for an Oklahoma driver, as Jonathan Beason topped Tuesday’s qualifying feature.
Asked of the ease of his night, Bell replied, “I don’t know if that was easy or not, but Keith definitely had me dialed in and the car drove itself around there. It was avoiding the lapped cars and not getting involved in anything stupid.”
Given his home town, Bell was asked just how special the prelim win was to him. “The Chili Bowl is the race to me. If there was one race I could run, it would be here, especially with it being in my home state. I guess this is one of the few time I get to race in Oklahoma, which is around my home crowd; it really is something special to me.”
In a race that took under five minutes to complete, the Norman, Okla. native hit slower traffic by the ninth round with a 1.506 second advantage over Damion Gardner. Able to slip the Keith Kunz No. 67k through the back markers, the Toyota powered entry raced into a roadblock with 11 laps remaining and Garner closing the gap.
“There was one time I passed the first lapped car and then he (Damion) moved to the bottom because he had been running the top and then he started keeping up with me,” said Bell of Gardner closing in. “I kept seeing his nose down there and I was like ‘Aw crap, Damion is down there’.”
As the non-stop run continued, Kevin Swindell was clawing his way through the field. Racing from a C-Feature after a flat tire forced the No. 39 to the pits in his Heat Race, Swindell broke the top ten on Lap 8. Steadily through the field, Kevin snagged fifth from Andrew Deal on the fifteenth circuit.
Into the final four laps, the top two steps on the podium remained unchanged as the pair continued to weave through traffic with the race for the final transfer into Saturday’s A-Feature shaping up between Michael Pickens and Kevin Swindell.
Throwing slide jobs on Lap 21 through turns three and four, Swindell nearly slid through the cushion, allowing the New Zealand shoe to drive back under for the bronze position.
“I wasn’t totally comfortable with the car and settled for third and happy to be locked in and then all of the sudden Kevin comes up inside of me,” commented Pickens of the exchange. “I had to get going and was lucky we had another 10-percent left and was able to shake him off.”
On Pickens again with three to go, Swindell would remain fourth as the pair closed on Gardner.
Mired in slower traffic, Christopher Bell managed to cross 2.850 ahead of Gardner. Pickens held the final step on the podium, sending Kevin Swindell into a B-Feature on Saturday with a fourth place finish after a B-Feature win gridded the No. 39 seventeenth. Pennsylvania’s Steve Buckwalter completed the top five.
Ninth starting Danny Stratton crossed sixth with Andrew Felker, Tracy Hines, Andrew Deal, and nineteenth starting Kevin Ramey completing the top ten.
Thursday’s John Christner Trucking Qualifying Night saw 70 drivers draw in.
Four Chili Bowl Rookies started the A-Feature with Dominic Scelzi crossing fourteenth, followed by Chad Boespflug in fifteenth. Heath Duinkerken was nineteenth with James Eden twenty-third.
The Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire continues with Friday’s Vacuworx Global Qualifying Night. Races begin at 6:00 P.M. (CT) with Hot Laps at 5:00 P.M. For additional information on the Chili Bowl, log onto http://www.chilibowl.com.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Bell Flag to Flag in Thriller
 |
| Bell in New Zealand |
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 97-Christopher Bell[1]; 2. 47-Damion Gardner[2]; 3. 63NZ-Michael Pickens[4]; 4. 39-Kevin Swindell[17]; 5. 25B-Steve Buckwalter[7]; 6. 56L-Danny Stratton[9]; 7. 11A-Andrew Felker[8]; 8. 24-Tracy Hines[6]; 9. 15D-Andrew Deal[5]; 10. 7M-Kevin Ramey[19]; 11. 93-Dustin Morgan[11]; 12. 8L-Harli White[10]; 13. 11-Chase Stockon[14]; 14. 17S-Dominic Scelzi[13]; 15. 57B-Chad Boespflug[12]; 16. 19S-Richard VanderWeerd[20]; 17. 35S-Matt Sherrell[18]; 18. 62-Taylor Simas[22]; 19. 81-Heath Duinkerken[23]; 20. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[21]; 21. 37-Brady Short[24]; 22. 3T-Tim Barber[16]; 23. 5E-James Edens[3]; 24. 7L-Layne Himebaugh[15]
Picks for Thursday
K.Swindell, Christopher Bell, Michael Pickens. Challengers include Steve Buckwalter, Dakota Armstrong,
Ricky Stenhouse, Andrew Felker, Damon Garner, Tracy Hines. Watching Kyle O'Gara and Harly White.
Tweets of the Night Wednesday
Four of the six lock-ins so far have been full-time midget teams. And not one is a Kunz car. Good for midget guys!
Please let the nascar driver and midget fight. Please😂
Armstrong holds off Swindell for Chili Bowl Prelim Victory
TULSA, Okla. (January 15, 2014) Drama was plenty when the checkered flag dropped on the second night of the 28th Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire, as Indiana’s Caleb Armstrong edged out Sammy Swindell for his first Chili Bowl prelim victory on Wednesday’s River Spirit Casino Qualifying Night. The second first time winner in as many nights, Armstrong began the night’s 25 lap feature from the outside of the front row. Slowed for a caution on Lap 2, Armstrong’s restart relegated the No. 7c to fourth behind Brad Loyet and Alex Sewell.
Working back to the runner up spot by Lap 4, the cushion served the C&A Motorsports driver well, chasing down leader Chris Andrews by the seventh round as the pair approached the tail of the field. Into traffic on Lap 10, it was Andrews and Armstrong in a race all their own.
Completing the twelfth circuit, the Baker Crop Insurance No. 7c worked around Tulsa’s Chis Andrews for the top spot. Clear from traffic, Andrews went for the slide job two laps later, but instead spun, bringing out the caution on Lap 14.
Back underway with Chris Windom now in pursuit, the RFMS Racing shoe tried for the lead on Lap 19, but was unable to finish the move.
Coming around for the twenty-first time, fifth running Nick Knepper blew through the cushion in turn-three, bouncing the No. 55 off the wall as the engine expired down the front straight-a-way, pouring oil on the bottom of turns one and two.
With the caution displayed, track crews assessed the situation and brought the tiller out to work the nearly engine’s worth of oil into the bottom groove.
Aligned single file for the restart with five laps remaining, Knepper’s departure brought thirteenth starting, Sammy Swindell, into the top five.
Into second with two laps to run, Swindell set his sights on the lead, pulling even with the No. 7c down the back-straight-away with Armstrong maintain the point. Swindell again applied pressure at the white flag.
Committed to the cushion, Armstrong surrendered the lead through the first turn. Giving Swindell just over a half car advantage, Armstrong pulled around the five-time Chili Bowl champion entering the final two turns. Nearly missing the line entering three, Armstrong pitched hard off the cushion exiting the final turn, edging Swindell at the line by 0.441 seconds.
Asked about the final laps, the New Castle, Ind. driver replied, “I saw him (Sammy Swindell) stick his nose in there and I didn’t want to push the issue at first, but then I started pushing it, but I didn’t want to jump the curb. It was easy too, as I did it earlier in the race. I just kept on going and ended up winning.”
On the subject of crews having to till the bottom of the track following the blown engine by Knepper, Swindell responded, “I don’t know if it made a lot of difference. I thought I could slip out there off of two in front of him (Armstrong) there on the last lap. I got there and it wasn’t the grip I thought was going to be there. I should’ve stayed on the bottom. I heard him coming, I just let it go. He ran a good race and I wasn’t going to mess that up.
Chris Windom earned the final pass into Saturday’s championship event.
“We had a really good car,” commented Windom. “We were on Caleb there before that last yellow and I knew Sammy was coming plus I knew JJ (Yeley) was good. They dug that track up in (Turns) one and two, and I made probably the wrong move staying on the top and Sammy got around me on the bottom. I just wasn’t sure what to do there.”
Racing with Rico Abreu for fourth, J.J. Yeley ended his night upside down after the two made contact exiting the fourth turn; resulting in a split finish with the caution displayed with the checkered flag. A very angered Yeley was okay and was scored eighteenth.
Abreu was credited with fourth with Brad Loyet rounding out the top five.
Fifteenth starting Shane Golobic crossed sixth with Brad Kuhn coming from fourteenth to seventh. Jerry Coons, Jr. from eighteenth to eight with Payton Peirce advancing from twenty-first to ninth after transferring from the first B-Feature. Travis Berryhill completed the top ten.
Of the 72 drivers scheduled for Wednesday night, 70 made the draw. Like Tuesday, two Chili Bowl rookies made the call for the A-Feature with Chris Andrews and Parker Price-Miller in the lineup.
The Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire continues with Thursday’s John Christner Trucking Qualifying Night. Races begin at 6:00 P.M. (CT) with Hot Laps at 5:00 P.M. For additional information on the Chili Bowl, log onto http://www.chilibowl.com.
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