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!