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| Why the hell can't they make the Golden Driller Trophy look like this...we have no idea! |
Chili anyone? Big deal you say? Well, yeah it is a big deal actually. It's one of the biggest weeks in the world of dirt racing from a business stand point. The annual meeting of the midgets in Tulsa, OK has become a transcendent event over the years and a can't miss one at that!
That means, that every year there's more eyes on it and many of them will be first time viewers or have only watched with passive interest for a few years. And it's absolutely nothing to be ashamed of! But how can you know how it works, how to follow along and when? No problem!
We're not Chili Bowl Experts here at TDN and have learned more and more as they years have gone on. We've learned enough that we can even tell you what to look for, how it all goes together and how to best enjoy the action of this years #UselessChiliBowl, yes that's an actual hashtag you will need to be aware of if you plan on following along.
How Does The Chili Bowl Work?
Basically, it holds your chili so it's not too hot to eat or too messy. You can use your hands, but a bowl will be so much better.
Okay, here's the short of it. It's 350+ drivers and they're all divided equally into four qualifying nights held Tuesday through Friday night. Drivers draw numbers right around 3 PM Eastern time, 2 PM Central, so you might want to be on social media to see where your favorite driver will line up in their heat.
Next, there is no time trialing. Immediately disbelieve and be prepared to shame any of your friends that tell you their favorite driver just time trialed on the pole for the night. All drivers will be lined up into heat races consisting of 8 to 10 cars each. From there on, it's all passing points! You probably now how these work, god help you if you didn't, but basically it's not where ya finish in a heat race, it's how many ya pass on the way there. Same goes for qualifying races which we'll talk about next.
So after they tally the passing points, they take the top 40 drivers and put them all into qualifying races, each with an invert of six pre-qualified cars. The 16 drivers that make their way out of those with the highest total combined points in heats and qualifying races get starting spots in that night's Amain. The rest of the field move up through consolations....or don't, and the final two Bmains send four drivers each.
When the feature event is over with, the top three finishers have guaranteed starting spots in the finale on Saturday night.
On Saturday....it's an entire day and night. This is basically 12 hours of racing and potentially more depending on how cautions go. The 12 guaranteed Amain starters from the qualifying races basically play "King of the Hill" to determine starting positions in the feature, but before that, have you ever eaten Alphabet Soup?
Starting with possibly an "O" Main, drivers not already guaranteed starting spots line up depending on their passing points on their qualifying nights in the biggest pot of Alphabet Soup in dirt racing. And it's Sprint Car Alphabet Soup, not Late Model or Modified variety, if you transfer from of the consi's, you go to the back of the next race, not the final race. They do this until there are two BMains left and fill out the rest of the starting final field with six transfers from each Bmain. There may be an Champions Provisional added.
Official Qualifying Procedures
Qualfiing Night Roster (What Drivers Are Qualiftying on What Night)
Okay, so who are some big names driving, and what are there Qualifying Night's? Well, if you click the link above you can find that stuff out on your own. But if you're really lazy then we'll help you out. Here's some names you may have heard of (we hope to god you've heard of them!) and the night's they will roll.
Tuesday:
Chase Briscoe
Kyle Larson
Brad Loyet
Zach Daum
Tyler Courtney
Matt Westfall
Justin Allgaier
RJ Johnon
Alex Bright
Spencer Bayston
Brad Sweet
Kyle Hirst
Wednesday:
Sammy Swindell
Brian Shirley
Chad Boespflug
Parker Price-Miller
Donny Schatz
Bill Balog
Ryan Smith
Chris Windom
Jake Swanson
Sheldon Haudenschild
Brady Bacon
Billy Pauch Jr.
Rico Abreu
Thursday:
Paul McMahan
Jerry Coons Jr.
Chase Stockon
Sam Hafertepe Jr.
Shane Golobic
Danny Smith
Cory Kruseman
Tracy Hines
CJ Leary
Tanner Thorson
Shane Stewart
Hudson O'Neal
Jac Haudenschild
David Gravel
Ryan Bernal
Friday:
Thomas Meseraull
Shane Cottle
JJ Yeley
Hunter Schuerenberg
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Daryn Pittman
Dave Darland
Kody Swanson
Justin Grant
Tim McCreadie
Robert Bell
Chad Boat
DJ Netto
Chris Andrews
Kasey Kahne
Damion Gardner
How Can You Watch?
You can follow the action via Pay Per View on Racin Boys by paying $29.99 a night or get a five night package and save some dough. Racin Boys Network will broadcast the Qualifying Nights ONLY and NOT the Championship on Saturday. Here's your link: Chili Bowl Preliminary Night Broadcasts
For Saturday, you'll need MavTV. If you don't have it.....write your local cable or satellite provider an email and call them every name in the book. Use four letter words and do so with feeling and passion! We'd lobby for you, but we're kind of banned from emailing Comcast here in Pittsburgh after 38 unsuccessful attempts.
Who Should You Bet On
If we were making a Las Vegas line it would probably look similar to this.
Kyle Larson 3:2
Christopher Bell 3:2
Rico Abreu 4;1
Tanner Thorson 5:1
Tim McCreadie 7:1
Justin Grant 7:1
Spencer Bayston 10:1
Donny Schatz: 25:1
TDN Staff Predictions
Tyler Beichner: Rico Abreu
Josh Bayko: Donny Schatz
Gary Heeman: Spencer Bayston
Brian "Dobie" Compton: Tanner Thorson
Kyle Symons: Kyle Larson
Todd Nunes: Christopher Bell
Patrick Miller: Christopher Bell
Jerin Steele: Kyle Larson
Aaron Clay: Sammy Swindell
Frank Iudiciani: Christopher Bell
Caitie McFastlane: Kyle Larson
Larson makes sense, he's been close and might be due. Bell makes a great pick, these things have been won back to back and so on several times. Thorson was very close last year while Bayston is the reigning USAC Midget Champion. Tim McCreadie always makes a good sleeper bet if you're playing in the pools as a non tier one driver as well.
FAQ's
1. Will Scott Bloomquist be there?
No, he won't be. Last time out he kind of sucked and is not really suited towards the style or the car. Give him a year to design a car and get familiar with it, and maybe he could contend, but it would be a waste of resources for him to do so. If you're a diehard Late Model fan, Brian Shirley, Hudson O'Neal and Tim McCreadie will be there.
2. What is a flip count?
The flip count is the running tally of how many cars have gone over during racing action and also a brilliant drinking game!
3. Will there be any illegal video feeds of Saturday night?
Of course there will be! They're unavoidable! However we at TDN are forbidden from sharing them.
4. Do they serve Chili there in Tulsa?
Okay, stop asking questions idiot! Of course they do and it's rumored to put a hole in the back of your pants with more than one bowl's consumption!
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