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

13th Chili Bowl Appearance

Chili Bowl Main Event Starts: 10

Chili Bowl Main Event Finishes:  20th (1994), 7th (1999), 23rd (2001), 24th (2002), 13th (2004), 12th (2005), 9th (2006), 21st (2007), 18th (2008), 4th (2009)

2009 Chili Bowl Results:

Friday: 2nd in Heat 9; 1st in Qualifier 1; 1st in A Main

Saturday: 4th in A Main

Coons cracked victory lane 14 times in 100 feature starts over the course of 2009 to log his fourth consecutive year of double-digit feature wins, ranking fourth in USAC Midget points and fifth in USAC Sprint Car points.

The USAC Triple Crown champ (Midgets in 2007 followed up by Sprint Cars and Silver Crown in 2008) kicked off the year with his second career Chili Bowl preliminary feature win with seven more Midget triumphs to follow (including a USAC Las Vegas jackpot and a Midget week win at Gas City) and a half-dozen USAC Sprint Car wins including a non-point $10,000 payday at Lawrenceburg and Four Crown honors at Eldora.

Coons carries a streak of six consecutive Chili Bowl championship main event starts into 2010, including a career best run of fourth last year, as he vies for the Golden Driller trophy aboard one of the Wilke Pak entries

Car Owner:  Wilke Pak Motorsports

Chassis:  Spike

Engine:  Toyota

Sponsors:  Speedway Motors, Hoosier Tires, BMRS, AutoNet Mobile, Nos Energy Drink 

Photo: Jerry Coons, Jr., hustles the Wilke Pak Midget around Belleville's High Banks in Belleville, KS. (TWC Photo)