By T.J. Buffenbarger
Tulsa, OK – (January 12, 2016) – The opening night preliminary of the 30th Annual Chili Bowl Nationals did not disappoint with Alex Bright holding off a last lap run by Joey Saldana to win Warren CAT Qualifying Night at the Tulsa Expo Raceway. Bright held off multiple challenges during several late race restarts including the final lap run by Saldana for the victory.
“We definitely made them proud at home,” said Bright about his fans back in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. “Awesome race, the car was awesome. I can’t thank my crew enough. Everybody helped out. It’s just awesome. This is the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen on Tuesday night, and for this many fans to be here and to win my first (Chili Bowl Preliminary Feature). I came close two years ago, but this is the biggest win of my career so far.”
Bright moved to the cushion early in the race to take the lead. While others faltered on the tricky curb Bright used it to his advantage for the entire event by being patient.
“Slower is faster sometimes. I knew if I got into too hard it was going to upset the car even more. So I took it easy, waited until I got to it, and slowly gassed it out of it,” said Bright. It seemed to do the job. The times I did gas it a little early my front end got up a little bit. That was a little nerve racking, but I kept it under control and did what I needed to do to finish the race.”
After coming close to victory previously at the Chili Bowl, Bright called the preliminary feature victory the biggest of his career for him and his family owned team.
“I’m pumped. Just being locked into the A – Main knowing your safe, knowing your locked in, and not having to race the B – Main is a huge weight off my shoulders. I’m glad I can help out my brother (Brenden) and Isaac Schreurs and help them try to get into the race. My main thing is I have to thank my Grandfather, I couldn’t have done it without him. “
For Saldana, who rarely has the opportunity to run a midget, felt the race was a missed opportunity.
“I’m out of my element and it showed because last year we had a really good car and came up a spot short. This year we had a really good car and should have won except for driver error,” said Saldana. “ over drove the corner on that last lap and felt like we had the car to win, driver made a mistake.”
While Saldana felt disappointment Daum was content on securing a spot in Saturday’s A-Main with his third place finish.
“I didn’t try to get real crazy at the end,” said Daum. “I knew if we didn’t do anything real stupid or drastic we would be in the big show. That’s all that matters here. Prelim nights are cool, but they don’t’ pay that much, and we’re in the show on Saturday night.”
Kyle Larson and Jonathan Beason started on the front row for the 25 – lap preliminary feature. Larson took the lead into turn one with Beason racing with 39 for second. Beason moved into second with Daum moving past Matt Sherrell for the third post on lap three.
Beason, Daum, and bright started racing for second as Larson pulled way. Bright used the top side to move around both into second powering the top. As Bright pulled away Spencer Bayston joined Daum and Beason for second.
The race took a dramatic turn on lap 11 when Larson tangled with the lapped car of Cameron Hagen in turn two and ended up stopped in turn two. Larson restarted at the tail of the field while Hagen retired pit side. Larson recovered to finish 9th.
Bright inherited the lead for the restart when the caution appeared for Darren Hagen stopping in turn four before a lap was complete.
Bright and Daum raced for the lead following the restart with Beason in third. Daum with a run on the bottom while Bright held the top side with Bright holding the lead. Beason used the top to move around Daum for second on lap 13. One lap later Spencer Bayston moved past Daum into third while Kevin Thomas, Jr. closed in fifth. Then on lap 14 Thomas brought out the caution when he stopped in turn four.
Bright, Beason, and Bayston all went to the cushion on the restart with Bayston pressuring Beason for second. Daum then gained some momentum and took third positon coming off turn four away from Bayston. Bayston tried to slide Daum back in turn one four laps later, but could not make the pass.
With two laps to go the battle for second heated up again just as Darren Hagen got upside down in turn four and clipped by Chase Johnson. Hagen emerged from his car uninjured.
Bright drove up to the cushion as Beason, Daum, and Bayston raced three wide for second while Joey Saldana moved into fifth. Beason pulled a slide job on Bright for the lead off of turn four, but could not make the pass. The field checked up and Bayston ended up backwards in turn two, bringing out another caution.
Bright held the lead, but Beason slid Bright through turns three and four to challenge the lead. Beason stumbled and Bright held onto the point with Saldana moving into second and Daum into third around Beason. Saldana then worked the bottom on Bright for the lead taking the white flag. Coming side by side to the finish line Bright edged Saldana and Daum at the finish line. Beason and R.J. Johnson rounded out the top five.
Daum, Paul White, Spencer Bayston, Jonathan Beason, Tyler Brehm, Dustin Morgan, Matt Westfall, Chad Boespflug, Dillon Welch, Nick Wean, and Alex Bowman won heat race events. Ty Husley and Brad Loyet won the D – Main events, Michael Faccinto and Jimmy Light picked up wins in the C – Mains. Qualifying races were won by r Bayston, Darren Hagen, Kyle Larson, and Kevin Thomas, Jr. Dillon Welch and Tony Bruce, Jr. won the B – Main events.
30th Annual Chili Bowl Nationals
Warren CAT Qualifying Night
Tulsa Expo Raceway
Tulsa, OK
Tuesday January 12, 2016
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 5D – Zach Daum [5]; 2. 4H – Tom Harris [3]; 3. 17J – Chase Johnson [7]; 4. 22E – Cameron Hagin [6]; 5. 3FF – Mason Zeigler [4]; 6. 30T – Larry Bratti [1]; 7. (DNF) 7W – Kory Schudy [8]
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 1PW – Paul White [3]; 2. 3C – Raven Culp [1]; 3. 44X – Wesley Smith [8]; 4. 55 – Nick Knepper [6]; 5. 35F – Michael Faccinto [7]; 6. 44J – Jared Sewell [2]; 7. 10 – George White [5]; 8. 0B – A.J. Johnson [4]
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 39B – Spencer Bayston [3]; 2. 3N – Jake Neuman [2]; 3. 7H – Darren Hagen [6]; 4. 45X – C.J. Johnson [7]; 5. 6C – Jeff Flesher [8]; 6. 17KT – Joe Janowski [5]; 7. 59 – Richard Harvey Jr [4]; 8. 56Z – Mindy McCord [1]
Heat Race #4 (8 Laps): 1. 8J – Jonathan Beason [8]; 2. 5$ – Danny Smith [1]; 3. 51J – R.J. Johnson [7]; 4. 12K – Zac Taylor [2]; 5. 99 – Kevin Chaffee [5]; 6. 96 – Cody Brewer [3]; 7. 19N – Nick O’Neal [6]; 8. 26 – Dustin Golobic [4]
Heat Race #5 (8 Laps): 1. 0T – Tyler Brehm [2]; 2. 11C – Chett Gehrke [6]; 3. 00 – Chase Briscoe [1]; 4. 0S – Dylan Westbrook [8]; 5. (DNF) 2S – Travis Scott [5]; 6. (DNF) 3M – Brent Rees [3]; 7. (DNF) 37T – Tim Kent [4]; 8. (DNF) 05 – Brad Loyet [7]
Heat Race #6 (8 Laps): 1. 93 – Dustin Morgan [1]; 2. 39S – Kevin Thomas Jr [4]; 3. 17 – Joey Saldana [3]; 4. 2 – Ryan Hall [2]; 5. 23 – Jimmy Light [7]; 6. 77X – Katlynn Leer [8]; 7. 14T – Tony Rossi [5]; 8. (DNF) 32A – Garrett Aitken [6
Heat Race #7 (8 Laps): 1. 14W – Matt Westfall [2]; 2. 91A – Chris Andrews [1]; 3. 53H – Austin Archdale [4]; 4. 17E – Blake Edwards [5]; 5. 3T – Tim Barber [7]; 6. 5J – Jeff Crook [8]; 7. 76J – David Jones [6]; 8. 5BB – Bobby Brewer [3
Heat Race #8 (8 Laps): 1. 57B – Chad Boespflug [1]; 2. 77B – Alex Bright [5]; 3. 18 – Tony Bruce Jr [3]; 4. 11A – Andrew Felker [4]; 5. 4M – J.J. Ercse [7]; 6. 81 – Jerry Hammock [2]; 7. 9H – Holly Porter [6]; 8. (DNF) 0K – Don O’Keefe Jr [8]
Heat Race #9 (8 Laps): 1. 99P – Dillon Welch [1]; 2. 71K – Kyle Larson [7]; 3. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr [4]; 4. 2D – Steve Davis [2]; 5. 7SS – Wade Seiler [5]; 6. 46 – Kenney Johnson [3]; 7. 926 – Morgan Frewaldt [6]
Heat Race #10 (8 Laps): 1. 78 – Nick Wean [1]; 2. 88T – Tyler Nelson [4]; 3. 7RS – Merril Lamb [7]; 4. (DNF) 35X – Zach Hampton [6]; 5. (DNF) 98 – Jarid Blondel [2]; 6. (DNF) 0Z – Joe Rinne [3]; 7. (DNF) P40 – Aaron Dromgoole [5]
Heat Race #11 (8 Laps): 1. 55B – Alex Bowman [4]; 2. 35M – Matt Sherrell [7]; 3. 73T – Trey Marcham [6]; 4. 9U – Doug McCune [1]; 5. 5C – Colten Cottle [5]; 6. 21T – Ty Hulsey [2]; 7. 3 – Dustin Weland [3]
D Feature #1 (10 Laps, first two finishers transferred): 1. 21T – Ty Hulsey [1]; 2. 0G – Glenn Styres [8]; 3. 10 – George White [4]; 4. 32A – Garrett Aitken [9]; 5. 9H – Holly Porter [3]; 6. 37T – Tim Kent [6]; 7. 56Z – Mindy McCord [11]; 8. 19N – Nick O’Neal [2]; 9. (DNF) 26 – Dustin Golobic [10]; 10. (DNF) 7W – Kory Schudy [7]; DNS P40 – Aaron Dromgoole
D Feature #2 (10 Laps, first two finishers transferred): 1. 05 – Brad Loyet [8]; 2. 14T – Tony Rossi [4]; 3. 76J – David Jones [2]; 4. 5BB – Bobby Brewer [10]; 5. 3 – Dustin Weland [6]; 6. 30T – Larry Bratti [1]; 7. 0K – Don O’Keefe Jr [7]; 8. 926 – Morgan Frewaldt [3]; 9. (DNF) 59 – Richard Harvey Jr [5]; 10. (DNF) 0B – A.J. Johnson [9]
C Feature #1 (12 Laps, first four finishers transferred): 1. 35F – Michael Faccinto [1]; 2. 11A – Andrew Felker [3]; 3. 2 – Ryan Hall [4]; 4. 96 – Cody Brewer [10]; 5. 3T – Tim Barber [2]; 6. 5C – Colten Cottle [8]; 7. 0G – Glenn Styres [14]; 8. 2S – Travis Scott [7]; 9. 9U – Doug McCune [6]; 10. 46 – Kenney Johnson [11]; 11. 98 – Jarid Blondel [9]; 12. (DNF) 21T – Ty Hulsey [13]; 13. (DNF) 77X – Katlynn Leer [5]; 14. (DNF) 44J – Jared Sewell [12]
C Feature #2 (12 Laps, first four finishers transferred): 1. 23 – Jimmy Light [1]; 2. 05 – Brad Loyet [13]; 3. 3FF – Mason Zeigler [8]; 4. 99 – Kevin Chaffee [6]; 5. 81 – Jerry Hammock [12]; 6. 14T – Tony Rossi [14]; 7. 12K – Zac Taylor [3]; 8. 4M – J.J. Ercse [2]; 9. 5J – Jeff Crook [5]; 10. 17KT – Joe Janowski [9]; 11. 0Z – Joe Rinne [11]; 12. 7SS – Wade Seiler [7]; 13. (DNF) 2D – Steve Davis [4]; 14. (DNF) 3M – Brent Rees [10]
Qualifying Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 39B – Spencer Bayston [4]; 2. 57B – Chad Boespflug [1]; 3. 8J – Jonathan Beason [6]; 4. 17 – Joey Saldana [10]; 5. 22E – Cameron Hagin [9]; 6. 4H – Tom Harris [7]; 7. 55B – Alex Bowman [5]; 8. 88T – Tyler Nelson [2]; 9. 7RS – Merril Lamb [3]; 10. (DNF) 5$ – Danny Smith [8]
Qualifying Race #2 (10 Laps): 1. 7H – Darren Hagen [2]; 2. 77B – Alex Bright [4]; 3. 5D – Zach Daum [6]; 4. 99P – Dillon Welch [1]; 5. 0T – Tyler Brehm [3]; 6. 18 – Tony Bruce Jr [10]; 7. 55 – Nick Knepper [9]; 8. 91A – Chris Andrews [8]; 9. 45X – C.J. Johnson [7]; 10. (DNF) 11C – Chett Gehrke [5]
Qualifying Race #3 (10 Laps): 1. 71K – Kyle Larson [6]; 2. 44X – Wesley Smith [5]; 3. 78 – Nick Wean [1]; 4. 14W – Matt Westfall [3]; 5. 73T – Trey Marcham [2]; 6. 17J – Chase Johnson [4]; 7. 53H – Austin Archdale [8]; 8. 17E – Blake Edwards [10]; 9. 3N – Jake Neuman [7]; 10. 35X – Zach Hampton [9]
B Feature #1 (15 Laps, first four finishers transferred): 1. 99P – Dillon Welch [1]; 2. 11A – Andrew Felker [14]; 3. 0S – Dylan Westbrook [2]; 4. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr [5]; 5. 91A – Chris Andrews [8]; 6. 00 – Chase Briscoe [11]; 7. 55B – Alex Bowman [3]; 8. 3N – Jake Neuman [10]; 9. 96 – Cody Brewer [16]; 10. 4H – Tom Harris [4]; 11. 88T – Tyler Nelson [7]; 12. 35F – Michael Faccinto [13]; 13. 7RS – Merril Lamb [9]; 14. 35X – Zach Hampton [12]; 15. (DNF) 53H – Austin Archdale [6]; 16. (DNF) 2 – Ryan Hall [15]
B – Feature #2 (15 Laps, first four finishers transferred): 1. 18 – Tony Bruce Jr [2]; 2. 0T – Tyler Brehm [1]; 3. 55 – Nick Knepper [5]; 4. 17J – Chase Johnson [4]; 5. 73T – Trey Marcham [3]; 6. 93 – Dustin Morgan [6]; 7. 11C – Chett Gehrke [8]; 8. 23 – Jimmy Light [13]; 9. 05 – Brad Loyet [14]; 10. 3C – Raven Culp [12]; 11. 6C – Jeff Flesher [7]; 12. 99 – Kevin Chaffee [16]; 13. 3FF – Mason Zeigler [15]; 14. 5$ – Danny Smith [11]; 15. 17E – Blake Edwards [10]; 16. 45X – C.J. Johnson [9]
A – Feature (25 Laps): 1. 77B – Alex Bright [8]; 2. 17 – Joey Saldana [11]; 3. 5D – Zach Daum [5]; 4. 8J – Jonathan Beason [2]; 5. 51J – R.J. Johnson [16]; 6. 57B – Chad Boespflug [12]; 7. 35M – Matt Sherrell [3]; 8. 11A – Andrew Felker [19]; 9. 71K – Kyle Larson [1]; 10. 99P – Dillon Welch [17]; 11. 14W – Matt Westfall [14]; 12. 18 – Tony Bruce Jr [18]; 13. 17J – Chase Johnson [24]; 14. 39S – Kevin Thomas Jr [7]; 15. 39B – Spencer Bayston [4]; 16. 78 – Nick Wean [13]; 17. 0S – Dylan Westbrook [21]; 18. 55 – Nick Knepper [22]; 19. 0T – Tyler Brehm [20]; 20. 1PW – Paul White [10]; 21. (DNF) 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr [23]; 22. (DNF) 7H – Darren Hagen [9]; 23. (DNF) 22E – Cameron Hagin [15]; 24. (DNF) 44X – Wesley Smith [6]