Christopher Bell (center) raced to the victory in Thursday’s Chili Bowl Midget Nationals qualifying. The win locks Bell, along with second place finisher Danny Stratton (left) and third place C.J. Leary (right) into Saturday night’s main event. Photo by Serena Dalhamer
For the second year running, home state hero Christopher Bell drove to victory lane in Thursday’s qualifying night at the 31st annual Chili Bowl Midget Nationals at Oklahoma’s Tulsa Expo Raceway.
In a show of dominance by the native of Norman, Oklahoma, Bell’s third preliminary night victory locks him into his fourth championship A-Feature in as many years on Saturday night.
“I’ve been coming to the Chili Bowl for a long time,” said Bell after the victory. “Growing up here in Oklahoma, this is the Daytona 500 for us. I remember coming here as a little kid and sitting in the front stretch grandstands, and every year I’d go buy the Chili Bowl t-shirt. I loved being able to see all the cars on the back of the t-shirts and that’s something that stood out to me as a little kid. Seeing my name on the back of the 2018 Chili Bowl t-shirt would mean just as much as holding a Golden Driller.
“To be able to be in this position again, I feel like I’ve matured a lot as a driver since the previous times I’ve been in this position. I want nothing more than to win the Chili Bowl and I’ve got a good shot at it this week.”
Following a caution just after the start of the second lap, Bell gave chase to Sam Hafertepe, Jr. from his second place starting position. Running the high line on the restart, Bell made the move off the fourth turn to take over the top spot.
After another caution on lap four, Hafertepe, Jr. saw his night turn sour as his racer snagged the restart cone on the drop of the green, with race officials sending him to the tail end of the field.
Back under green, Bell quickly moved back to the top spot, with Danny Stratton moving to second. By the time the race hit the halfway mark, Bell had built up a three second advantage before moving into lap traffic.
Bell continued to hold the lead through two more cautions, and took the checkered flag by a 1.422 second margin. Stratton finished in second, with C.J. Leary in third, locking them into Saturday night’s main event as well.
Coming out of the final turn, Justin Allgaier was set to finish fourth, but contact between he and Thomas Meseraull sent Allgaier’s mount flipping. Allgaier was credited 17th with Meseraull in 18th.
Shane Golobic avoided the melee to come home in the fourth position, followed by Andrew Deal in fifth.
Tracy Hines, Jason Johnson, Jerry Coons, Jr., Justin Peck and Gage Walker rounded out the top ten.
Action in the 31st annual Chili Bowl Nationals continues on Friday night. For more information, visit ChiliBowl.com.
Chili Bowl Nationals
Tulsa Expo Raceway – Tulsa, OK
Night 3 Results – Jan. 12, 2017
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A-Feature
1. 71W-Christopher Bell
2. 47-Danny Stratton
3. 25C-C.J. Leary
4. 17W-Shane Golobic
5. 15D-Andrew Deal
6. 24-Tracy Hines
7. 41-Jason Johnson
8. 5-Jerry Coons, Jr.
9. 5X-Justin Peck
10. 7XX-Gage Walker
11. 55X-Ryan Smith
12. 11E-Cory Elliott
13. 02-Robby Josett
14. 45X-Bricen James
15. 17B-Tanner Berryhill
16. 14C-Coleman Gulick
17. 7A-Justin Allgaier
18. 1R-Thomas Meseraull
19. 15H-Sam Hafertepe, Jr.
20. 51F-Hunter Schuerenberg
21. 92M-Josh Most
22. 2T-Davey Ray
23. 76M-Brady Bacon
24. 00C-Grady Chandler
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