In a finish for the ages, Kyle Larson looked to have his first Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire in hand, but with a furious run as the leaders worked into traffic, Christopher Bell found the hole on the low line entering Turn 1 on the white flag lap to win his third Golden Driller in a row aboard the Columbus-based iRacing/Keith Kunz Motorsports No. 71w.
The finale for the week on Jan. 19 took place at the River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be able to win the Chili Bowl. To do it three straight times is just unbelievable, but man, I don’t even care about three straight. What about that race? I don’t think I’ve ever really been a part of a last lap race like that, so I’m just glad that thing came out in the end,” said Bell who earned Kunz his eighth Golden Driller as a car owner.
“To win like I did there, it’s something I’m going to cherish the rest of my life.”
Taking several shots at the start, the fourth time proved the winner, with Logan Seavey taking off with the race lead. Larson in tow with Justin Grant and Bell giving chase, the line began moving as the race worked past the 14th circuit.
Starting to diamond corners with traffic in the mix on Lap 17, Larson was glued to Seavey’s back bumper. Getting the run on Lap 20, Larson’s run to the lead came the following lap with a low side pass off the fourth turn.
Getting the run on Seavey for the runner-up spot working Lap 33, the caution negated the pass by Bell. Retaking the spot on Lap 34, Bell was on Larson for the lead the following lap before the caution on Lap 35. Swapping lines top to bottom on the restart, Larson began building some distance over Bell.
Finding traffic on Lap 48, Larson’s advantage came under fire as slower traffic played to Bell’s advantage.
Racing to the final two laps, Bell was there. Looking for room to pass, the opportunity came as the pair raced past the white flag. Tapping tires through the first two turns as Larson slipped off the bottom, Larson and Bell came together again through the third and fourth turn with neither wanting to give in. Freeing himself from Larson, Bell was able grab the win by 35-hundreths of a second.
The victory puts Bell in an elite class with Kevin Swindell as the only two drivers to win three consecutive Chili Bowl titles. Swindell still stands as the only one to go 4 for 4.
Falling back to fourth on Lap 23, Grant retook the spot on Lap 36 and held on for the show position in the NOS Energy Drink No. 4a. Racing from seventh, Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon crossed fourth, with Zach Daum moving up three spots to round out the top five. Involved in an earlier caution, Tyler Courtney ended up the night’s Hard Charger, and the Indiana shoe was able rebound from the tail to sixth.
Brad Sweet in seventh was followed by C.J. Leary, Seavey and Tanner Thorson.
For the 33rd annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire, a total of 350 drivers took part in the 2019 event. The week’s flip count reached 75, with the final car over being Bell.
Attempting to rip victory donuts, Bell banked off the cushion and sent the car over. All drivers getting upside down were able to walk away.
The 34th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire takes place Jan. 13-18, 2020 at the River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa. Reserved Seat tickets go on sale on March 6. Ticket holders will receive a notice in the mail. All are encouraged to sign up for email notifications through the Chili Bowl website.
A Feature (55 Laps): 1. Christopher Bell; 2.Kyle Larson; 3. Justin Grant; 4. Brady Bacon; 5. Zach Daum; 6. Tyler Courtney; 7. Brad Sweet; 8. C.J. Leary; 9. Logan Seavey; 10. Tanner Thorson; 11. Danny Stratton; 12. Jonathan Beason; 13. Tucker Klaasmeyer; 14. Colby Copeland; 15. Rico Abreu; 16. Michael Faccinto 17. Chad Boat; 18. David Gravel; 19. Cole Bodine20. Robert Dalby; 21. Jake Neuman; 22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.; 23.Shane Golobic; 24. Sean McClelland.
Twin Cities announces 2019 schedule
Twin Cities Raceway Park in Vernon has announced its 2019 season schedule. The track, through sponsorship from T&K Trucking of Columbus, will be offering a $60,000 points fund to the crate late model, modified, super stock, pure stock and hornet divisions.
On March 9 will be a practice session for all divisions, followed on March 16 with the season opener for 410 sprints, 305 RaceSaver sprints, MMSA mini-sprints, pure stocks and hornets. To conclude the month of March, on the 23rd and 30th of the month will be a regular program for crate models, modifieds, super stocks, pure stocks and hornets.
For the complete 2019 slate of events, go to twincitiestrack.com.
Paragon releases 2019 schedule
Paragon Speedway will be under new ownership for the 2019 racing season. Along with the schedule release, the track will also be switching to Friday Nights this season. Paragon has been a long-time venue for Saturday Night racing, but the new regime has announced it will be working with Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, which will be maintaining its Saturday schedule.
A practice session has been set for April 14, with the first regularly scheduled Friday Night event to be held on April 19. On the program that night will be sprints, modifieds, super stocks, bombers and hornets.
Eldora Speedway set for 2019
Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, announced this week a 21-race schedule for 2019.
The season opener will be on April 27 with a $5,000-to-win event for the Sunoco Late Models. Also racing will be the NRA 360 sprint cars, UMP modifieds and Eldora stock cars.
Devin Gilpin of Columbus is the defending late model track champion at Eldora. For the full schedule, go to eldoraspeedway.com.
