Action is heating up for the Chili Bowl. (ChiliBowl.com) ยป More Photos
Through two nights of competition at the 23rd Annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire, Sammy Swindell stands undefeated.
After serving notice with a convincing Race of Champions triumph on Tuesday night, Swindell took on a field of 68 competitors in Wednesday night's Creek Nation Casino Qualifying Showdown at the QuikTrip Center's Tulsa Expo Raceway.
Piloting an unconventional Midget, at least in terms of appearance with an old super modified style tailtank, the four-time Chili Bowl king put a whooping on the mostly younger generation of racers by winning his heat race, qualifying race and then wiring the field in the 25-lap "A" Feature event.
Queried about the unique tailtank, Swindell simply said, "It's a secret," with a sly grin.
Only J.J. Yeley could keep Swindell in sight in the feature event. But, when Swindell cleared a group of three lapped cars on the white flag lap, the victory aboard the Esslinger-powered Venture Racing/ARIENCO/York Excavating No. 1 Spike was as good as sealed.
"We didn’t really have to press anything, I didn't want to give it away or beat myself," Swindell commented after securing his 16th career Chili Bowl championship main event start. "The thing's been fantastic all week, it's so easy to drive and a lot of fun to drive."
While Swindell assured himself of a prime starting position in his pursuit of an unprecedented fifth Chili Bowl championship and accompanying Golden Driller trophy to go along with wins in 1989, 1992, 1996 and 1998, Yeley and third-place finisher Jon Stanbrough both locked themselves into Saturday night's 50-lap finale as well.
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Swindell's strength on the racetrack was evident from the outset. And, if there were any doubts about the nature of his Race of Champions win on Tuesday night, they were promptly dispelled when he raced from three rows deep to make a last-lap pass of California's Brent Camarillo in the night's fourth heat race.
The Sprint Car racing legend backed it up by making a second sixth-to-first charge in the first qualifying race, making a move around Josh Ford on the eighth of ten laps.
From the pole position in the feature, there was no stopping Swindell. After weathering three cautions over the initial eight circuits as Stanbrough and Darren Hagen diced for second along with Yeley, Swindell cruised a handful of car-lengths ahead of Yeley in the race's mid-stages until hitting lapped traffic on the 15th round.
By the 20th circuit, Swindell found himself mired behind a pair of lapped cars as Yeley closed to within striking distance. Traffic finally worked to Swindell's favor before Yeley could pounce, and Swindell galloped the final lap-and-a-half to the checkered flag unabated.
Yeley brought Cruz Pedregon's Toyota-powered Odyssey Extreme Batteries/Hot Hues No. 1J Spike across the stripe second. Yeley commented that, "I've been in the alphabet soup so many times here that second place is just like winning 'cause I know on Saturday I'm locked in the 'A' and that's a lot less races than I'm used to running here."
Wingless Sprint Car ace Stanbrough secured a fifth consecutive Chili Bowl championship main event start by taking the show position aboard the Loyet Motorsports Esslinger Ford-powered No. 05s Spike.
