Kevin Swindell scored his third straight Chili Bowl victory Saturday night in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Photo by Lindsey Marks / STIX FX Entertainment / LegendsNation.com
It took a quarter of a century to crown the first back-to-back winner in Chili Bowl Nationals history.
After crowning that champion last January, it only took one more year for a three-peat champion as 22-year-old Kevin Swindell of Germantown, TN, captured his third Golden Driller in a row by wiring the field in Saturday night’s 26th Annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals championship finale at the QuikTrip Center’s Tulsa Expo Raceway.
And, for the second year in a row, it was Kevin taking Roger Slack’s checkered flag ahead of his father and five-time Chili Bowl king Sammy Swindell, though this time the younger Swindell needed no last corner heroics to take the top step on the podium in the feature event that was extended from 50 to 55 laps in tribute to popular Broken Arrow, OK, native and Chili Bowl competitor Donnie Ray Crawford, who lost his life in a tragic Saturday morning incident that cast a pall over the capacity crowd that numbered in excess of 17,000.
While Kevin officially led all 55 laps, Sammy kept the pressure on most of the way and challenged on several occasions in the event that was interrupted by caution just once after the initial start was negated. Ultimately, a near run-in with a lapped car for Sammy on the 52nd circuit gave Kevin the breathing room he needed to take the checkered flag with a 1.458-second advantage aboard the Esslinger-powered John Christner Trucking/NOS Energy Drinks No. 39 Spike.
“I was just trying to survive traffic,” Kevin Swindell explained afterward. “I figured if I could keep trying to pick them off and not make a big mistake, I should be alright.”
After the initial start was waved off when Levi Jones took a tumble in turn three, it was Kevin Swindell leading the feature field to the green flag with Elk Grove, California’s Kyle Larson alongside. K. Swindell jumped into the lead on the subsequent start with third-starter Sammy Swindell racing into second on the opening circuit behind his son. The Swindell duo worked the low side in the early rounds with Larson trying the high side in the early going and losing third to Cory Kruseman.
Just as the Swindell duo hit lapped traffic, Bud Kaeding spun to a stop in turn three with 14 laps in the books to bring out the final caution and setting up a 41-lap run to the checkered flag.
The Swindells took off again on the low side, with Larson reclaiming third by the 16th round as he tried to keep the lead pair within striking distance.
Vying for a sixth Chili Bowl triumph, Sammy Swindell began pressuring Kevin Swindell for the lead at the midway point by testing the upper portion of the track in turns one and two. But Kevin was up to the task, fending off the veteran shoe and then opening up an advantage as traffic came into play several laps later.
Sammy closed back in by the 40th lap though and even pulled alongside on the low side of turns one and two with Kevin up top on the 44th circuit. Kevin kept him at bay and then slipped away in the final handful of circuits when traffic played to his advantage.
With Kevin taking the victory, Sammy explained that, “I wasn’t there when he slipped and when I had a good run there wasn’t any place to go. The cars were so evenly matched, traffic was going to make the difference.”
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Larson held down the show position from the 16th lap in the Keith Kunz Motorsports Speedway Toyota-powered No. 67 Bullet, keeping the leaders within sight but unable to mount a challenge.
“Early in the race, I felt like I could have a shot because they were on the bottom in one and two and I felt like I was quicker up top,” the 19-year-old explained. “But as the race went on I just got tighter and tighter and couldn’t stay out of trouble on the cushion like I wanted to and they got too far ahead and got too many lappers between me and Sammy.”
While Bryan Clauson worked forward from his 11th starting position to fourth by the 20th round, it was Danny Stratton making a late move to snare fourth in Steve and Dianna Hampton’s Esslinger-powered Hampton’s Kustom Works No. 77s Twister.
Clauson rounded out the top five in the Esslinger-powered Indy Car/Indy 500 No. 39c Spike, with Brad Sweet and Kruseman in sixth and seventh, respectively.
Jerry Coons, Jr., turned in the feature’s top passing performance by charging from 23rd to eighth, with NASCAR Nationwide champion Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart completing the top ten.
Richard Vander Weerd was the only Chili Bowl rookie to make the championship feature cut, crossing the stripe in 19th. Two other drivers made first career Chili Bowl finales including Indiana’s Caleb Armstrong in 18th and California’s Rico Abreu in 21st.
With 259 competitors from 32 different states as well as Australia, Canada, Finland and New Zealand taking in the 26th Annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals, a total of 20 feature events were contested on championship Saturday including the “A” Main event.
Vander Weerd and Abreu topped “B” Main action to reach the finale after Jon Stanbrough and Hunter Schuerenberg won the “C” Mains.
New Zealand’s Brad Mosen and Chili Bowl rookie contender David Gravel of Connecticut won “D” Mains, with Johnny Herrera and Chris Windom topping “E” Mains.
Davey Heskin and Cameron won “F” Mains, Chris Morgan and Michelle Decker were victorious in “G” Mains and Matt Westfall and A.J. Hopkins scored in “H” Mains. Evan Sewell and Ryan Beechler claimed “I” Main wins, Matt Johnson and Mike Spencer were best in “J” Main action and Mike Goodman opened the day with a “K” Main triumph.
