From Tim Tuttle
Tulsa, OK — (January 15, 2014)—Former POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget champions Brad Loyet and Brad Kuhn had top-10 finishes in the A main of Wednesday’s qualifying races for the prestigious 28th Chili Bowl Nationals at the Tulsa Expo Center.
Loyet, the only driver with three (2007, ’10, ’11) POWRi Midget titles, was fifth and Kuhn, the 2006 and 2009 series winner, was seventh in the 25-lap feature on the quarter-mile track. With the top-three finishers, Caleb Armstrong, Sammy Swindell and Chris Windom, advancing to the A main in Saturday’s 55-lap grand finale in the Super Bowl of midget racing, Loyet and Kuhn had to settle for starting spots in the B main.
“I’m comfortable with that,” Loyet said. “We can race for it from there.”
The 26-year-old Loyet, POWRi’s all-time midget feature race winner with 33, ran third for most of the A main and fell back following a restart with four laps to go.
“I was in a transfer spot (for Saturday’s A main) with four to go,” Loyet said. “Everybody was out for blood on the restart. The car in second checked up and I got shuffled back. I had to start doing sliders to try to get back up.”
The Chili Bowl is a cameo appearance for Loyet of Sunset Hills, Mo., in a midget. He races regularly in the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series national division and plans on running 20 races in the STP World of Outlaws Sprint Cars this year.
Kuhn of Avon, Ind., has 22 career POWRi midget victories, tied with Bryan Clauson for second on the all-time list. He’s announced the Chili Bowl will be the final event of his racing career.
“I like my chances (to win the A main Saturday),” Kuhn said. “If we can get the brakes fixed and the motor to run, we can be as good as anybody.”
Kuhn spent the last 15 laps fighting brake problems.
“We had brake problems all night,” Kuhn said. “It was killing the motor. The car was good enough for the lock-in (A main Saturday). We looked solid. But we had to be towed off the racetrack because of the brake problems. We’ll be in the fourth row of the B.”
Shane Cockrum of Benton, Ill., who won a POWRi Midget race last season and is a part-time driver in the series, finished 12th in the A main Wednesday. Chili Bowl rookie Parker Price-Miller, POWRi’s Rookie of the Year at age 15 last year, finished 14th and POWRi veteran Tim Siner of Dupo, Ill., was 15th.
Price-Miller won his heat and finished second in his qualifier to start sixth in the A main.
“We were passing for fourth and got together with somebody,” Price-Miller said. “We fell back to 16th. Everybody keeps telling us how good we’ve done for our rookie year, but I’m not happy. I thought we had a top-five going in the A main.”
Price-Miller, who has joined Toyota for this season, will start in the C main on Saturday.
“I feel like I’m going to have to drive the wheels off the car to transfer to the B,” Price-Miller said. “I don’t’ want to go home.”
Making the A main is an accomplishment on any of the four qualifying nights for the Chili Bowl—70 cars raced in the heats Wednesday—but Siner didn’t consider that a success.
“I’ve been here too many times for that,” he said. “I’d consider a top-10 in the A main a success. But starting the back of the C main here (on Saturday) is better than the A main anywhere else.
“I was on the pole for the heat race and finished second and didn’t get any passing points. I had to start at the back of the qualifier and the track was still decent. I finished sixth in my qualifier and fourth in the B main. A late caution saved us in the B main and that got us to the main.”
POWRi Midget regular Colten Cottle of Kansas, Ill., reached the A main for the first time Wednesday. The 17-year-old finished 19th in the 24-car field. Cottle finished second in his heat, seventh in his qualifier, fourth in the B main and started last in the A main
“I was pretty happy with second in the heat and not so much after being seventh in the qualifier,” Cottle said. “We started fifth and finished fourth in the B. I took it easy at the start of the A main, but went a lap down.”
Cottle will start in the D main Saturday.
“It’s better than the E main,” he said. “I need to get up on the wheel and drive.”
Former POWRi regular Nick Knepper of Belleville, Ill., was running fifth in the A main when his engine failed, relegating him to 21st. POWRi drivers Seth Motsinger of Salem, Ind. And David Camfield III of Decatur, Ill., failed to advance to the A main and will have an even longer journey through Saturday’s races to reach the A main.
The Chili Bowl qualifying continues tonight and Friday.