The Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been the premier midget racing event in the world since its inception in 1987. This year, 375 drivers from all over the United States as well as Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia competed in the 5-day event on the temporary ¼ mile dirt oval in the Tulsa Agriculture/Expo Center. Rico Abreu won in 2015 and 2016, and he looked to defend his title again this year.
Midgets have a high power to weight ratio, usually packing 300-400 horsepower in their 900 pound frame, according to racecar-engineering.com.
The entries are divided into four groups, and with one group racing Tuesday, the next on Wednesday, then Thursday and Friday. Each night is comprised of heats, and the top finishers race in a daily feature. The top three finishers of each feature automatically qualify for the A Main feature event on Saturday. The rest of the drivers are sorted based on their final finish during the week. On Saturday, these drivers race in a series of consolation/qualifying races to gradually weed out the field,until the final thirteen round out the A Main feature starting order.
Tyler Courtney, Travis Berryhill, Christopher Bell, and Justin Grant won the nightly features. Bell, who is from nearby Norman, Oklahoma and runs regularly in NASCAR won for his first career Bowl win. Second was Daryn Pittman, also from Oklahoma. The top five was rounded out by Grant, Tanner Thorson, and Jake Swanson.
Many local drivers competed, including Alex and Brenden Bright from Collegeville, Pottsville’s Tyler Brehm, Timmy Buckwalter from Douglasville, and Royersford’s Steve Buckwalter. In total, twelve drivers from Pennsylvania were entered.
The Tiger Times 
Posted on January 27, 2017 by thetigertimes7
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