COMMENTARY-Pre-Entry Lists

It's that time of year again. The first Chili Bowl pre-entry list has been posted at the Chili Bowl website. Like every year there's plenty to discuss. There are over 140 cars entered, and the list will nearly double as we approach January.

There's also a nice field shaping up for the "Twas the Midgets Before Christmas Show" in Kansas City.

Some Chili Bowl pre-entry list observations...

-The formidable Wilke-Pak team has switched from Mopar to Toyota engines and will feature drivers Dave Darland, Jerry Coons Jr. and Tim McCreadie.

-2008 USAC National Midget Champion Cole Whitt has also switched to Toyota.

-No Smoke sightings yet. Tony Stewart Racing has entries listed for Levi Jones, Josh Richards and Tracy Hines. There is a number 14 car entered from TSR with no driver listed.

-Kasey Kahne will run one of his own cars, along with teammate Brad Sweet.

-It's fun to watch the NASCAR guys return to real racing, but it means fighting through crowds of NASCAR autograph seekers after Saturday's racing.

-JJ Yeley will run one of his own cars in 2009, vacating the seat in one of the Andy Bondio cars. Yeley will team up with Gary Lee Maier.

-Sammy Swindell has teamed up with his son Kevin to run their own Esslinger powered Spikes.

-Loyet Motorsports will again feature an impressive line-up of drivers. Jesse Hockett, Danny Lasoski and Jon Stanbrough will join Brad Loyet for this year's Chili Bowl. Lasoski and Loyet will also run the Kansas City show.

There are several other interesting driver/car combinations that we'll look at as we approach the start of the 23rd Annual Chili Bowl Midget Nationals.