Dodge Chili Bowl Nationals – 274 and Counting
 Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (December 23, 2007) – As the days click off, winding down
to the kick off of the 22nd
Annual Dodge Chili Bowl Nationals, the
entries continue to mount with the latest
count at 274.
Two-time and defending Chili Bowl champion Tony Stewart,
along with Kasey Kahne, J.J. Yeley and
four-time race winner Sammy Swindell, will
take on at least 270 others when the Dodge
Chili Bowl Nationals unfolds atop the
Tulsa Expo Raceway clay oval on January
8-12, 2008.
The complete, current list of official pre-entries for the
22nd Annual Dodge Chili Bowl
Nationals is available at http://www.chilibowl.com/2008chilibowlentries.asp,
with clickable links for all drivers
containing the driver's Chili Bowl
history, 2007 Chili Bowl results, brief
2007 recap and 2008 Chili Bowl entry
information.
With 274 entries already received and more expected before
the event fires off, last year's record
count of 267 competitors is in jeopardy of
falling, as the racing world's attention
shifts to Tulsa, OK, and the newly renamed
QuikTrip Center, formerly known as the
Tulsa Expo Center.
22nd Annual Dodge Chili Bowl Nationals Pre-Entry
Notes:
Past Winners: 2006 Chili Bowl champion Tim
McCreadie's entry was filed over the past
week, bringing the number of past Chili
Bowl winners entered to six.
Others include Tony Stewart, Sammy
Swindell, Cory Kruseman, Tracy Hines and
Johnny Heydenreich.
McCreadie, who became the first Chili Bowl winner to come
from a background other than Sprint Car or
Midget racing, will once again be teamed
with Australian car owner Steve Smith.
This time though, the DIRT Modified
and Late Model ace that is a Richard
Childress Racing development driver will
be piloting a Triple-X chassis.
It's the only Triple-X among the
current entries.
States and Countries: The field for the 22nd Annual Dodge Chili Bowl
Nationals is not only national, but
international as well with drivers from 27
different states as well as Australia and
Canada represented among the current 274
entries.
It
will be mass migration from the left
coast, as California leads the way with 60 entries.
States represented among the
current entries are as follows: Arkansas
(3), Arizona (12), California (60),
Colorado (8), Georgia (1), Illinois (30),
Indiana (32), Iowa (3), Kansas (7),
Mississippi (1), Missouri (16), Minnesota
(1), Nebraska (4), New Jersey (3), New
York (3), North Carolina (2), North Dakota
(1), Ohio (7), Oklahoma (28), Pennsylvania
(8), Tennessee (2), Texas (12), Virginia
(2), Washington (3), West Virginia (1),
Wisconsin (9), Wyoming (1).
Teamed with Tim McCreadie aboard a second Steve Smith entry,
DIRT Modified star Stewart Friesen of
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario brings the
number of Canadians entered to two, with
Friesen joining fellow Ontario racer Glenn
Styres.
Mark Brown is the lone
representative from Australia.
Eleven entries have drivers yet to be determined.
He's Back: After
a long Chili Bowl absence, car owner Steve
Lewis returns with Dave Darland piloting
his Toyota-powered No. 9x entry.
It is believed to be the first time
for Lewis to field a Chili Bowl entry
since 1999, when Jason Leffler finished 16th.
Lewis competed in the inaugural
edition of the Chili Bowl Nationals in
1987 as a driver.
He's Back II: Not
donning a helmet since the end of the 1997
season, Ron Shuman has been named the
driver of the A.J. Felker Racing No. 37T
entry. Shuman was a prevalent force in the initial decade of Chili
Bowl history, making the main event in
nine out of nine attempts with seven
top-ten finishes and a pair of runner-up
showings.
Father-Son Combos: The
addition of Ron Shuman brings the number
of father-son combinations competing in
the 22nd Annual Dodge Chili
Bowl Nationals to three.
Ron joins son Casey Shuman on the
Felker team.
Casey, who has made two of the last
three Chili Bowl main events, competed
against his father on a pair of occasions
when he launched his career in 1997, with
the more experienced Ron getting the
better finish both times.
Odds are on Casey beating his dad
this time around.
Other father-son combinations include Swindell (Sammy and
Kevin) and Sarna (John and C.J.).
Young guns Brady Bacon and Chad
Boat will do the Chili Bowl this year
minus competition from their fathers.
Last year, Leon Bacon and past race
winner Billy Boat took on the kids.
Musical Chairs: Knoxville
ASCS 360 Knoxville Nationals champion
Shane Stewart was shuffled out of the Cruz
Pedregon No. 175 entry at the beginning of
the week for VRA shoe Brian Camarillo.
By week's end, Stewart had landed
in Jasiel Randolph's second entry.
The Smiths: In
21 previous editions of the Chili Bowl
Midget Nationals, it's somewhat remarkable
that only two drivers carrying the last
name of "Smith" have competed in
the Chili Bowl, including Mike Smith
(2005) and Bobby Smith (2002 and 2003).
That number will more than double
with this year's entries from Nathan
Smith, 15-year-old Austin Smith and ARDC
Rookie of the Year Ryan Smith.
Power Teams: Teams with multiple entries is
almost the norm rather than the exception,
but nobody will outdo the Keith Kunz
Motorsports camp that will field eight
entries. Past ASCS National champion Travis Rilat of Forney, TX, was
named the driver of the No. 67x Kunz entry
late in the week, rounding out the stable
that includes Bryan Clauson, Jason Leffler,
Matt Sherrell, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Cole
Whitt, Chris Windom and 15-year-old Caleb Armstrong.
Last year, Chili Bowl rookie Donnie Ray Crawford fared the
best of the Kunz entries by racing to a
fifth-place finish.
Crawford is now teamed up with Gary
Taylor and Sam Hafertepe, Jr., aboard a
Tel-Star Communications entry fielded by
Mike and Megan Eubanks, the same team that Brady Bacon has driven for in his
previous three Chili Bowls.
Bacon is now part of the Kasey
Kahne Racing Team that also includes Kasey
along with World of Outlaws runner-up Joey
Saldana and California gasser Brad Sweet.
Since signing with Roush Fenway Racing, Stenhouse now finds
himself aboard a Kunz entry rather than
the Chevrolet-sponsored Tony Stewart
Motorsports team.
"Smoke" still fields a
formidable team led by himself, with
others including 2005 Chili Bowl champ
Tracy Hines, who returns from injuries
sustained in a dirt bike accident, 2007
USAC Sprint Car champion Levi Jones and
19-year-old Late Model ace Josh Richards.
Hines won his Chili Bowl driving for Wilke-PAK Motorsports.
Wilke-PAK chases a second Golden
Driller with 2007 USAC Midget king and
National Midget Driver of the Year Jerry
Coons, Jr., WoO shoe and six-time
Knoxville Raceway champion Terry McCarl
and Chili Bowl rookie Kurt Davis.
The final Wilke-PAK entry has yet
to be filled.
A new power team to be reckoned with will likely be the
Loyet Motorsports entries, all numbered
"05" or some variation thereof
and wrenched by Rusty Kunz.
Loyet entries include three-time
Chili Bowl runner-up Danny Lasoski, 2007
National Non-Wing Sprint Car Driver of the
Year Jon Stanbrough, P.J. Jones and 2007
POWRi Midget champ Brad Loyet, with one
seat yet to be filled.
A.J. Felker Racing offers up a five-car team (Casey Shuman,
Tyler Brown, Ron Shuman, Joe Walker and
Colby Copeland), Lehmann Racing brings
five (Donnie Lehmann, Lee Grosz, Joe
Duvall, Daniel Adler and one TBA), Cruz
Pedregon enters four (Sammy Swindell, Josh
Wise, Cruz Pedregon and Brian Camarillo)
and Scooter Ellis also brings four (Garry
Lee Maier, Andrew Felker, Brian Portschy
and Blake Fitzpatrick).
Two and three-car teams abound, with Andy Bondio's potent
duo of J.J. Yeley and Cory Kruseman
perhaps the most notable.
Youth Movement: When
the inaugural Chili Bowl Midget Nationals
fired to life in Tulsa, OK, in January of
1987, roughly one-quarter of this year's
entries hadn't even been born yet.
As the Chili Bowl celebrates its 21st
birthday in January, at least 64 of the
entered drivers (24.3 %) won't be old
enough to legally drink any victory
champagne if one should pull off the feat.
Chili
Bowl Originals: Fifty-two drivers took part in the
first Chili Bowl Nationals in 1987.
Five of the drivers among this
year's 274 entries can tell plenty of
stories about the evolution of this
stellar event, as they were racing in the
first one.
Those five include four-time winner
Sammy Swindell, 1990 winner Johnny
Heydenreich, Ron Shuman, Shane Carson and
Steve Newman.
Champions: The
talent pool at the 22nd Annual
Dodge Chili Bowl Nationals is indeed a
deep one, with at least 30 drivers earning
a series or track championship during the
2007 season.
And that list of '07 champions
doesn't even include names like Tony
Stewart, Kasey Kahne, J.J. Yeley, Sammy
Swindell, Cory Kruseman, etc.
Eleven midget champions from 2007 that have entered the
Chili Bowl include Jerry Coons, Jr. (USAC
and National Midget Driver of the Year),
David Gough (UMARA), 16-year-old Justin
Grant (BCRA), Nathan High (AMRA), Brad
Kuhn (BMARA), Brad Loyet (POWRi), Andy
Martin (ARDC), Doug McCune (SSMA), Johnny
Rodriguez (USAC Western States), Chris
Sheil (RMMRA) and Gary Taylor (SMRS).
Eight winged Sprint Car champs are ready for the Chili Bowl,
including Lee Grosz (ASCS Northern
Plains), Mike Goodman (OCRS), Garry Lee
Maier (NCRA), Joey Montgomery (St.
Francois County Raceway), Shane Stewart
(All-Star Speedweek and NSCS Speedweek),
Glenn Styres (SOS), George White (Cowtown
Speedway) and Gary Wright (ASCS National
and National Driver of the Year).
Six wingless Sprint Car champs are entered, including
19-year-old Jeff Bland, Jr. (Bloomington
Speedway and National Rookie of the Year),
Shane Cottle (Kokomo Speedway), Jesse
Hockett (Sprint Bandits TNT), Levi Jones (USAC),
Ryan Kaplan (USAC Western States) and Jon
Stanbrough (KISS and National Non-Wing
Driver of the Year).
Bud Kaeding won the USAC Silver Crown championship.
Other 2007 champions include Stewart Friesen (DIRT Modifieds
at New York's Utica Rome Speedway), Brent
Rees (Rocky Mountain Mini Sprint
Association), Austin Mero (Ventura Raceway
Junior Ford Focus Midgets) and Andrew Deal
(non-wing Micros at Will Rogers Raceway).
Ladies: With
Springfield, Nebraska's Trish Dover named
to drive the Lance Pierovich No. 6p
machine, there are now seven ladies
represented among the field of 274
entries.
Dover joins California girls
Shannon McQueen and Randi Pankratz,
Oklahoma's Michelle Decker, Pennsylvania
sisters Michele and Tracy Miller, and
Washington's Samantha Taylor.
Remember: Two
years ago, a driver muscled an antiquated,
outboard-powered machine past Gary Taylor
and the late Alex Pruett to win a Last
Chance Race on his qualifying night,
earning a standing ovation from the
capacity crowd. The ol' outboard finally steamed out in the Qualifying Race,
but the driver had made his mark.
Now, two years later, that driver
is set to drive one of the Keith Kunz
entries.
That driver, you ask?
Matt Sherrell. From the oldest equipment out there to top-of-the-line
equipment in two short years; what a difference two years can
make.
Feature Starters: Sixty-one
of the entered drivers have started at
least one Chili Bowl championship main
event in the past.
Tops on the list is four-time Chili
Bowl kingpin Sammy Swindell with 15 main
event starts, followed by Danny Lasoski
(14), Kevin Olson (10) and Tony Stewart,
Tracy Hines, Jason Leffler, Dave Darland
and Ron Shuman (each with 9).
Rookies: Sixty
of the currently entered drivers are
embarking upon their first Dodge Chili
Bowl Midget Nationals.
Additional Dodge Chili Bowl information:
What: 22nd
Annual Dodge Chili Bowl Midget Nationals
Where: Tulsa
Expo Raceway – ¼-mile clay oval inside
the QuikTrip Center (formerly known as
Tulsa Exposition Center) at the Tulsa
State Fairgrounds
When:
January 8-12, 2008
Tuesday – Pre-Qualifying Night
Wednesday - Creek Nation Casino Qualifying Night
Thursday – Warren CAT Qualifying Night
Friday – O'Reilly Qualifying Night
Saturday – Bass Pro Shops Championship Saturday Feature
Events
Past Winners: Tony
Stewart (2007 and 2002), Sammy Swindell
(1998, 1996, 1992 and 1989), Cory Kruseman
(2004 and 2000), Dan Boorse (2003 and
1999), Tim McCreadie (2006), Tracy Hines
(2005), Jay Drake (2001), Billy Boat
(1997), Donnie Beechler (1995), Andy
Hillenburg (1994), Dave Blaney (1993),
Lealand McSpadden (1991), Jon Heydenreich
(1990), Scott Hatton (1988), Rich Vogler
(1987).
Bass Pro Shops Kick Off Party: Bass Pro Shops in Broken Arrow, OK, will host a Chili Bowl
Kick Off Party on Monday night, January 7,
beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Drivers from the Tony Stewart
Motorsports team, including Tracy Hines,
Levi Jones and Josh Richards, will be on
hand to sign autographs.
Fans can enter for a chance to ride
in the Chili Bowl pace truck, the King of
Bucks trailer will be present and
accounted for and there will be all
variety of games, prizes and giveaways.
The flyer for the Bass Pro Shops
Chili Bowl Kick Off Party is available at www.chilibowl.com/bpscbkop08.zip.
Trade Show: Always
a popular attraction at the Chili Bowl
Midget Nationals is the Trade Show, which
is open to the public each day (Tuesday
through Saturday) free of charge.
All variety of racing products,
apparel and more is available with well
over 100 different vendors.
The Trade Show covers approximately
20,000 square feet.
Preferred Parking:
A limited number of Preferred
Parking spaces are still available for all
five nights of the Dodge Chili Bowl Midget
Nationals by calling the ticket office at
918-838-3777.
Buffet:
The cafeteria at the east end of
the QuikTrip Center will offer an
all-you-can-eat buffet each day.
The buffet is available from 11:00
a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday through
Friday and then 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on
Saturday.
Tickets: Four-night
tickets for Wednesday through Saturday of
the 22nd Annual Dodge Chili
Bowl Nationals were depleted by the
beginning of June.
A limited number of reserved seats
for Tuesday night's Pre-Qualifying event
are available for $21 per person and may
be obtained by calling 918-838-3777 or at
the gate. Pit passes for all five nights are available at the gate as
well.
Pay-Per-View: Lucas
Oil presents the Chili Bowl Nationals live
on HBO Pay-Per-View for the first time on
Saturday night, January 12.
The
live broadcast on Saturday, January 12
begins at 8:00
p.m. ET (5:00 p.m. PT), with an
immediate pay-per-view replay and
additional replays on Sunday. The HBO
Pay-Per-View racing telecast has a
suggested retail price $24.95 and will be
available to more than 61 million
pay-per-view homes
in the United States and Canada and
millions more worldwide. HBO Pay-Per-View
is the leading supplier of event
programming in the pay-per-view industry.
Ordering
information is available at www.hbo.com.
Viewers
are encouraged to contact their local
cable operator or satellite provider to
order the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals. Customers must have digital cable
or satellite service to order.
A subscription to HBO is not required.
Dodge Chili Bowl Nationals On the Web:
All the action from Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday along with
Saturday's action prior to the
Pay-per-View telecast will be webcast live
at www.racinboys.com.
Complete information, including
entry lists, updates and official results
is available at www.chilibowl.com.
Additional information regarding the Dodge Chili Bowl Midget
Nationals is available at www.chilibowl.com
or by calling 918-838-3777.
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