2019 Chili Bowl Nationals wrap-up

The championship of the 2019 Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire was settled with a thrilling last lap pass for the lead by Christopher Bell on his Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM) teammate Kyle Larson.

Larson had grabbed the race lead from pole position starter and fellow KKM driver Logan Seavey on lap 20, but was unable to hold off Bell, who took the checkered flag just a car length ahead of Larson.

California’s Justin Grant finished third, with the “Macho Man,” Brady Bacon fourth, Zach Daum fifth and Tyler “Sunshine” Courtney sixth and the Hard Charger Award after he passed sixteen cars during the feature.  

The top ten ‘A’ main finishers were rounded out by Brad Sweet, CJ Leary, Seavey, and Tanner Thorson.  Favorites Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Shane Golobic did not finish the event.

350 cars and drivers took part in the event during the six nights and officials recorded 75 flips during the six nights with all the drivers able to walk away.  Bell who joined Kevin Swindell as the only three-time consecutive winners of the prized Golden Driller, closed out the event with the final recorded flip as he turned over his Toyota-powered Spike while he spun his victory donuts.

Crowd favorite and five-time event champion Sammy Swindell’s 2019 Chili Bowl run ended when he failed to advance out of his “C’ feature, while “The People’s Champ,” Dave Darland was disqualified from the ‘B’ feature when he ignored directions from track officials.

2005 Chili Bowl champion Tracy Hines failed to finish his ‘B’ feature and retired NASCAR star Kasey Kahne who plans a big slate of open-wheel races during 2019 was disappointed when his machine did not finish his ‘E’ feature.  

Surprising many midwestern fans with their strong performances were California racers Robert Dalby who advanced from the ‘C’ feature and Colby Copeland who advanced form the ‘B’ feature. Copeland finished fourteenth and Dalby 20^th.

The 34^th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire will be held January 13^th through the 18^th 2019. Hope to see you there next year!

Chili Bowl 2019 – night five

Friday night’s preliminary feature at the 33^rd annual Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire was all Justin Grant as he captured the 25-lap feature from the pole position. Grant who earlier won his qualifier race, battled Tanner Thorson the entire race which was run without a caution, at a pace that many observers believed was a Chili Bowl record for the distance.

Grant’s victory his third consecutive preliminary night win broke the stranglehold of Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM) which had won all the preliminary races before Friday night. Finishing third behind Grant and Thorson was Chad Boat while fourth place fell to NASCAR star Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with KKM’s Tucker Klaasmeyer fifth.

Notable performances during the night came from Kevin Thomas Jr. and Spencer Bayston, both of whom suffered misfortune in the heat races and did not finish. Thomas Junior won his ‘C’ feature race to advance into the ‘B’ feature in which he finished third to start 22^nd in the ‘A’ main featured and he moved up to finish 14^th at the drop of the checkered flag.

Bayston finished second behind Thomas Jr. in their ‘C’ feature and finished fourth in his ‘B’ feature and started the ‘A’ man in 24^th position. Over 25 laps Bayston worked his way up to finish ninth to win the night’s hard charger award.

350 cars made an appearance on track during the five nights of competition and on the final night every car and driver gets a chance to race once more. Racing in Tulsa Oklahoma begins at 10 AM Saturday morning with the ‘O’ main, then advances backwards through the alphabet to the crowning of the 2019 Chili Bowl champion at the end of the 55-lap ‘A’ main.

Justin Grant wins Chili Bowl night four

 

Friday night was Vacuworx night at the 32nd annual Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa Oklahoma. Coming into the night the Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM) team was undefeated with three straight preliminary night wins for Kyle Larson, Rico Abreu and Christopher Bell.

The KKM team fell one spot short on  Friday night as Justin Grant driving for the Clauson-Marshall team won the 25-lap with Spencer Bayston the reigning USAC midget driving champion finishing second ahead of POWRi regular Andrew Felker who started the race from eleventh place. NASCAR Monster Energy Cup series star Kasey Kahne finished fifth.

 

Felker has quite a comeback story at the 2018 Chili Bowl as he crashed his car in practice on Monday after less then a lap of practice and it required complete disassembly before the frame was straightened, then the car was rebuilt. 

Grant who reigned as the 2007 Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) season champion continued another trend for the week as he earlier won his heat race and qualifying race, along with other strong contenders Chad Boat, Alex Schutte, Dave Darland and Damion Gardner, who finished fourth in the night’s A feature. Boat led the first four laps of the feature yielding to Gardner who led until lap turn two of lap seventeen when Grant took the lead with an outside pass in turn two.

The Chili Bowl Nationals winds up tonight with the 55-lap feature race.

More Silver Crown photos from Phoenix International Raceway 

As we await today's Silver Crown race at Phoenix, scheduled for 3 PM local time, we share more photos from Friday

Today's trophy

The machine of David Byrne

A view of the the three car Nolen racing team. Joe Axsom's car in the foreground Jerry Coons Juniors's black #20 and Tanner Swanson's car in the background. Yes, it's hard to tell Joe and Tanner's cars apart on track.

Kody Swanson's #63

Bob East chief mechanic on Terry Klatt's Ford powered #6 driven by Damion Gardner

Justin Grant pilots the Hemmelgarn #91

The Hoosier left rear tire

all photos by the author