#11 - Jerry Coons, Jr. (Tucson, AZ)

11th Chili Bowl Appearance

Chili Bowl Main Event Starts: 8

Chili Bowl Main Event Finishes:  20th (1994), 7th (1999), 23rd (2001), 24th (2002), 13th (2004), 12th (2005), 9th (2006), 21st (2007)

2007 Chili Bowl Results:

Wednesday: 1st in Heat 9; 4th in Qualifier 4; 8th in A Main

Saturday: 4th in B Main 2; 21st in A Main

The Arizona native seemingly ran the table in 2007 Midget competition, winning the Belleville Midget Nationals and then Indiana's Midget Week championship en route to the USAC National Midget championship and National Midget Driver of the Year honors.

Including a pair of Australian wins early in the year, Jerry racked up a total of 16 Midget feature wins in 2007.  While five came in USAC action, Jerry also reached victory lane in BMARA, ARDC, POWRi and AMRA competition.

His success wasn't limited to the Midget ranks however, as he also ranked among the top ten in both USAC Silver Crown (fourth) and Sprint Car (ninth) points.

Four Sprint Car wins came in both wingless and winged action, with one Silver Crown triumph in 2007.  In wingless Sprint Car action, Jerry topped the Kamp Motor Speedway round of USAC's Indiana Sprint Week and then swept both nights of Manzanita Speedway's $12,000-to-win Western World Championships in November.  Jerry's winged Sprint Car win came at Tucson's USA Race Park in September, with his Silver Crown score a lucrative $10,000 payday at Eldora's Four Crown Nationals.

After a 2006 season that netted 20 wins, Jerry one-upped himself in 2007 by notching 21 feature wins in 102 starts with 47 top-fives and 61 top-tens.  

Making the cut for the last four Chili Bowl main events and six of the last seven, Coons will be among the prime contenders for the Golden Driller in 2008.

Car Owner:  Wilke-PAK Motorsports

Chassis:  Spike

Engine:  Gary Stanton opar

Sponsors:  Mopar, Speedway Motors, Kwik Change, Hoosier Tire, K&N Filters

Photo: Jerry Coons, Jr., took the USAC Indiana Midget Week championship. (TWC Photo)