The Chili Bowl is one of the best events in all of Motorsports. To be honest, I don’t want anything to change about the Chili Bowl. I don’t want it to be harder for the guys who race once or twice a year to be able to show up and compete in Tulsa. I don’t want to make it more expensive for those guys, because they are part of what makes the event so great. Regular guys with a full-time job away from racing pulling a car out one time a year to race against some of the best drivers in the world. There is nothing else like it on Earth.
With that being said, I agree with the consensus that is floating around the internet today. There needs to be less laps on the track on Saturday. I wish it didn’t have to be this way, as the full “soup” run beginning during the early hours of Saturday is one of my favorite parts of the event. I wish there was a way for them to master the track prep so we don’t have to see rubber during the second half of the A-Main. The championship A-Main is, and should be, the most important part of the entire week.
I don’t know the best way to do this, but I do know it could probably work if they returned to four prelim nights. With four prelims, Friday can then turn into a day where at least half of the soup is completed. I know Friday is big draw for fans, so then hold the Race of Champions and maybe even the Pole Shuffle to cap off the night.
That lets you begin Saturday with the E or D mains. It allows for less cars on the track and a lot more time for track prep. I am no expert, but Logan Seavey, Nick Hoffman and other drivers knew the track was going to rubber pretty quickly before the race even started. I mean Seavey just won his second consecutive Chili Bowl, and he seemed bummed by the outcome.
We spent all week being treated to excellent racing and track conditions. The excitement and build up all day during Saturday is a thing of beauty, but it quickly gets thrown out when we have a snooze fest of an A-Main. It puts a damper on everything. It even put a damper on Daison Pursley’s incredible run from a D-Main to 4th in the A-Main. Pursley was rightfully the show on Saturday, but it’s a run that will now forever be overshadowed by a disappointing track surface in the A-Main.
In terms of safety, I don’t have the answer for that either. I just know that something needs to change. Maybe somehow adding a layer of padding over the top of the concrete wall could prevent some of the bent frames. Maybe requiring better seatbelts or head/neck restraints is the answer. Like I said earlier, I don’t want to make the Chili Bowl more expensive for those who make the event so special, but I also don’t want to watch somebody get extremely hurt or worse. I don’t know the procedures at the top of the ramp, but I do know it’s a lot different than a normal staging lane. As crazy as it sounds, it seems much easier for a driver to forget to complete one aspect of their safety features when so much is going on around them and so much pressure is being built up. If they are not doing some kind of safety check/reminder, they probably need to start. Some strange things happened again this year, and at some point we need to get rid of the “don’t be a snowflake” attitude and just accept that things need to change before we’re saying “I can’t believe that happened, thoughts and prayers.”
I love the Chili Bowl. I love the moments it provides. The underdog stories, the domination from a select few and the stars being born. I can’t help but feel that we should be looking back and appreciating Seavey going back to back. Appreciating Pursley’s incredible journey in life and his amazing run on Saturday. Appreciating Briggs Danner and Kale Drake making a name for themselves. Appreciating Thomas Meseraull being who he is. Instead, we’re debating on how to prep a track and what changes need to be made.
- 4 Prelim Nights (Monday-Thursday)
- Friday – at least 1/2 of the soup and the Race of Champions / Pole Shuffle
- Saturday – remaining soup / extensive track work / 55 lap A-Main
- No exposed top of concrete barriers
- Upgraded safety standards (nothing that makes the event impossible for small teams)
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