Coons, Jr. Tops Thursday Chili Bowl Qualifying Night

Veteran Jerry Coons, Jr. (center) scored the win in Thursday night’s A-Feature, locking himself into his 12th consecutive years Chili Bowl Midget Nationals Saturday main feature. Andrew Deal (right) finished in second, with four time event winner Kevin Swindell (left) in third. Photo by Pat Grant

Jerry Coons, Jr. hustled the high line to score his third career Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals prelim victory in night three action Thursday night at the Tulsa Expo Center in Tulsa, OK.

What will be the 16th A-Feature start for the Tucson, AZ native, this makes 12 consecutive years that Coons has made the cut for Saturday’s A-Feature.

“We had 60-70 cars here tonight and some of the top drivers,” commented Coons on the win. “In any preliminary night, it’s hard enough to run in the top-three, certainly hard enough to win. Everything has got to go your way, which it did tonight. From our Heat, to our Qualifier, everything went right. The reason we celebrate pretty good on preliminary nights is because it’s still a big win.”

Following a 10 car pile up on the start, Danny Stratton took off to the race lead. Stalked by Andrew Deal, the Kansas driver grabbed took point exiting the fourth turn on lap 4.

Runner second on the following lap, Coons began building momentum. Railing the cushion, Coons set low in turn three, sailing the Wilke-Pak No. 5 to the cushion and the lead on lap 7.

Hitting traffic on lap 11, the Arizona racing veteran gave up very little ground to Deal, despite contact from a slower car on the 13th lap. Able to put two slower cars behind him, the caution flew on lap 14 as Tracy Hines climbed the front straightaway wall while running in the final transfer to Saturday’s A-Feature.

Back under green with the lapped cars between Coons and Deal, it took little time for the advantage to grow, as Coons crossed the finish line 2.220 seconds ahead of Deal.

Asked about the final restart, Deal replied, “I knew the car was good on top. I couldn’t get a good enough run to get around the lapped cars. Luckily they went to the bottom after that restart and that really helped me. I was just thinking, how many laps are left?”

After the Airbox came dislodged from the No. 39 during his heat race, forcing him to the rear of the lineup for causing a caution, Kevin Swindell had to earn his spot in the A-Feature through the night’s second B-Feature. Caught in the crash on the opening lap, Swindell visited the work area to change a tire. Restarting at the back of the field, the four time Chili Bowl champion made the pass for the final podium spot on lap 24.

“I was able to get around the bottom pretty good. I think most of the guys couldn’t and didn’t really try,” said Swindell when asked about his run from the back. “I had the seas part a couple of times to get a few of them and I guess I had to really work past Bernal at the end.”

California’s Ryan Bernal raced to fourth with Christopher Bell clawing from 17th to complete the top five after also being involved in the first lap crash.

Stratton ended up sixth after leading early. Indiana’s Justin Peck from 19th to seventh with Shane Golobic, Seth Bergman, and Kevin Bayer making up the top ten.

Thursday’s John Christner Trucking Qualifying Night saw 80 drivers drawing in, putting the week’s count at 248 competitors. Of those, a dozen added their name to the week’s flip count, bringing the flip count to 33 on the week. All drivers have walked away.

Action continues Friday with the Vacuworx Global Qualifying Night. For more information, visit ChiliBowl.com.

Chili Bowl Nationals
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John Christner Trucking Qualifier – Jan. 15, 2015

1. 5-Jerry Coons, Jr.
2. 15D-Andrew Deal
3. 39-Kevin Swindell
4. 2B-Ryan Bernal
5. 71-Christopher Bell
6. 47-Danny Stratton
7. 5X-Justin Peck
8. 26-Shane Golobic
9. 37-Seth Bergman
10. 91K-Kevin Bayer
11. 19W-Matt Streeter
12. 17-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
13. 10V-Richard VanderWeerd
14. 8H-Harli White
15. 22E-Mike Goodman
16. 57C-Chad Boespflug
17. 24-Tracy Hines
18. 19S-Patrick Stasa
19. 2A-C.J. Leary
20. 17M-Michael Koontz
21. 17W-Cole Wood
22. 73D-David Gravel
23. 50-Daniel Adler
24. 33-Davey Ray