Chili Bowl Observations

We survived another dose of indoor chaos. Now it's time to settle in and wait until spring. First, a few observations from Tulsa.

-Sammy Swindell won a fifth Golden Driller trophy. Not too bad for a part time racer! Swindell's Esslinger powered Spike looked almost flawless during Saturday's A feature. He could run fast when he needed to, put the car anywhere on the track and simply dominated the second half of a 50 lap star-studded feature.

-The post-race debate was exactly how light weight Sammy's car was. Some claim it tipped the scales at just over six hundred pounds. Since there is no weight rule at the Chili Bowl, it's up to the teams to determine how much they want to spend to save weight.

As formulated as midget racing has become, it's nice to have a little variety and engineering show up in Tulsa.

-Before the feature I picked Jerry Coons Jr. to win. I thought he looked very strong on Friday night, and starting from the pole I thought he'd be tough to get around. Coons did lead some laps early on, but wasn't a factor in the second half of the race eventually fading to fourth.

-Coons and teammate Dave Darland are certainly due for a Chili Bowl victory! I'm glad neither claimed the prize this year, they were both driving Toyota powered machines.

-With Mopar's departure, Gary Stanton now builds Toyota engines. All of the Wilke-Pak cars were powered with Staton-built Toyotas.

-What's happened to Ed Pink?

-I learned a lot from talking to Evan Avant, crew chief for Bobby East. Among other things he told me about the new Ford/Chevy hybrid engine from Gaerte that was used in Jason Meyer's midget. It combines design aspects from a Ford and Chevy cylinder head and is a completely unique engine.

He also told me that the new Esslinger motor on the Klatt/Beast they've been running is essentially the same except for a reversed cylinder head. This allows the injector stacks to be located under the hood and more protected. The exhaust is more of the conventional style. Avant told me that they have three of the 'new' Esslinger motors now, and they should be made available to other teams this February.

-One of the weekend's big stories was Daryn Pittman losing his seat in the 21 Titan Garage Doors Car World of Outlaw car. I think Pittman will land on his feat with a new team and sponsor very soon.

-Damion Gardner learned first hand how difficult it is to win the Chili Bowl for a second time. Gardner had to use a Winner's Provisional to make the A Feature line-up Saturday night.

-We spent time again this year helping out Don Droud Jr. and car owner Bernie Stuebgen. Droud drove for Stuebgen last year as a single car effort. This year they brought in two more cars driven by Gary Wright and California driver Mike Spencer. All three cars made it to the first B main on Saturday, but none were able to advance.

It was still a lot of fun getting to help out a little bit, and feeling like we were part of a team. My thanks to Don and Bernie for allowing us to be a part of their weekend!

-I'll admit, I was a little conflicted. Both Droud's and Wright's entries for Stuebgen were Toyota powered. I figured if a Toyota had to win, I was hoping it was either one of those cars.

-Cody Brewer did have the best looking car this year. His vintage styled midget looked great and sounded angry with its custom exhaust.

-With the Chili Bowl's conclusion comes a long wait. The next race I'll see will be back in Oklahoma at the end of March for the ASCS National show at State Fair Speedway in Oklahoma City. Until then, keep checking in because Oval Operations is just getting started for 2009!