From Bryan Hulbert
Tulsa, OK — (January 14, 2015) — River Spirit Qualifying Night of the 29th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire saw Keith Kunz Motorsports taking their second win in as many nights as California’s Rico Abreu stormed to his first career Preliminary Night victory.
Asked about his mindset in the late stages of the race, Abreu replied, “Don’t crash. You get those lapped cars running side-by-side in front of you then all you worry about is the guy behind you running you down.”
Gridding the field sixth, Abreu shot to fourth on the opening lap as Chris Windom took off with the race lead. Caution on Lap 5, the restart saw the 2014 USAC National Midget Champion set sights on Trey Marcham and Blake Hahn. Racing for runner-up, Abreu advanced by the pair for second with a low line pass on the front straight-a-way on the eighth round.
Taking the Toyota No. 97 to the cushion, Abreu was followed by Hahn as the pair closed on Windom. Swapping the silver position following a restart on Lap 9, the race for second kept pace with the leader, with Abreu working the cushion around Chris Windom on Lap 15.
Setting a torrid pace around the Tulsa Expo Raceway, Abreu worked traffic by Lap 20. Giving up little ground to the race behind him, the California shoe crossed 2.875 seconds ahead of Chris Windom.
Abreu capped his victory with a Polish Victory Lap in honor of Donnie Ray Crawford.
“There’s a young man that was really close to him and he said if I won tonight, I should do it. I didn’t really think about it until after the checkered. It’s pretty special just to bring back those memories.”
Racing hard with Blake Hahn in the final laps, Arizona’s J.J. Yeley was wheel-to-wheel with the No. 8j for almost the entire final lap, edging Hahn in the final two turns for the final transfer into Saturday’s feature event.
“You have to run hard no matter what when you’re here. The race track got really treacherous and you had to be smooth. I think he [Blake] was trying to regain maybe the spot he had given up there, and obviously when you are coming down to the last couple of laps, you are going to do everything you can to get in that top-three,” commented Yeley of his final lap battle with Blake Hahn.
Completing the top-five, Sammy Swindell was quite the show having to advance position 45 times through the night’s D, C, B, and A-Features after losing the Muffler on the J.C.T. No. 1 during his Heat Race.
Battling in the top three early on, Trey Marcham settled for sixth with Casey Shuman crossing seventh. From 23rd, Colby Copeland snagged eighth with Tyler Thomas ninth. Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon completed the top-ten.
Wednesday’s Qualifying Night saw 83 drivers drawing in with 11 going over to bring the week’s flip count to 21. All drivers have been able to walk away.
The 29th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals presented by General Tire continues with John Christner Trucking Qualifying Night on Thursday, January 15 at the River Spirit Expo Center. Hot Laps are slated to begin at 4:45 P.M. with racing at 5:45 P.M. (CT).
For more information on the Chili Bowl Nationals, log onto http://www.chilibowl.com
Results:
Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire
Tulsa Expo Raceway – Tulsa, Okla.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
River Spirit Casino Qualifying Night
Car Count: 83
Budweiser Heat Races: Top 40 in passing points advance to Qualifiers.
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 91T-Tyler Thomas[1]; 2. 55D-Nick Drake[2]; 3. 19J-Jonathan Cornell[7]; 4. 7JR-Robert Black[3]; 5. 88J-Jace VanderWeerd[8]; 6. 3FF-Jake Blackhurst[6]; 7. 62-Jacob Davis[4]; 8. (DNF) 7M-Kevin Ramey[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 4F-Chad Frewaldt[1]; 2. 38-Justin Grant[3]; 3. 35T-Tyler Robbins[6]; 4. 56J-Isaac Schreurs[2]; 5. 44-Don Droud Jr[5]; 6. 05T-Gary Taylor[8]; 7. 7J-Shawn Jackson[7]; 8. (DNF) 85-Matt Johnson[4]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 2K-Kyle Jones[1]; 2. 82-Eric Johnson[2]; 3. 62T-Taylor Simas[8]; 4. 7CG-Logan Jarrett[4]; 5. 88W-Chad Wheeler[7]; 6. (DNF) 35Z-Zach Hampton[6]; 7. (DNF) 68S-Matt Land[5]; 8. 1-Sammy Swindell[3]….(Swindell DQ’d for losing a Muffler during competition)
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 92-Brenden Bright[4]; 2. 23A-Hannah Adair[1]; 3. 8-Alex Sewell[6]; 4. 4K-Josh Lakatos[7]; 5. 19L-Landon Hurst[8]; 6. 14W-Matt Westfall[5]; 7. 45K-Chase Allen[2]; 8. (DNF) 5A-Ashley Hazelton[3]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 37X-Tim Kent[1]; 2. 91-Jeff Stasa[3]; 3. 70K-Kevin Olson[2]; 4. 1T-Tony Roney[8]; 5. 11D-Dustin Hapka[4]; 6. 43-Logan Arnold[6]; 7. 7S-Pat Schudy[7]; 8. 51M-Michael Curtis[5]
Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 10C-Dalton Camfield[1]; 2. 17C-Casey Shuman[4]; 3. 18P-Payton Pierce[3]; 4. 75X-Travis Berryhill[6]; 5. 77-John Klabunde[5]; 6. 35W-Nate Wait[2]; 7. 55S-Jerry McGehee[8]; 8. D6-Dakota Gains[7]
Heat 7 (8 Laps): 1. 5E-James Edens[1]; 2. 8K-Blake Hahn[4]; 3. 9E-Brody Roa[6]; 4. 7T-Tanner Berryhill[5]; 5. 51X-Colby Copeland[7]; 6. 20X-Jimmy Harris[2]; 7. 7F-Claud Estes III[3]
Heat 8 (8 Laps): 1. 63K-Chris Windom[6]; 2. 12-Chris Sheil[1]; 3. 17D-Alex DeCamp[4]; 4. 4M-Ty Hulsey[3]; 5. (DNF) 16C-David Camfield Jr[5]; 6. (DNF) 55-Nick Knepper[7]; 7. (DNF) 2X-Charlie McDonald[2]
Heat 9 (8 Laps): 1. 66-Shane Cockrum[1]; 2. 9P-Parker Price-Miller[5]; 3. 13SR-John Ricketts[4]; 4. 14D-David McIntosh[7]; 5. 27RW-Kyle O’Gara[3]; 6. 5T-Tom Everhart[6]; 7. (DNF) 32-Cale Thomas[2]
Heat 10 (8 Laps): 1. 1ST-J.J. Yeley[1]; 2. 11W-Brady Bacon[3]; 3. 7B-Austin Brown[6]; 4. 7AB-Amber Balcaen[2]; 5. 33H-Cameron Hagin[4]; 6. 8M-Kade Morton[7]; 7. 15-Tim Siner[5]
Heat 11 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Rico Abreu[1]; 2. 73T-Trey Marcham[2]; 3. 68W-Jake Swanson[7]; 4. 15W-Brandon Waelti[5]; 5. 4C-Chadd Howell[6]; 6. 25D-Dylan Petersen[4]; 7. (DNF) 14R-Jody Rosenboom[3]
D-Features: Top 2 advance to corresponding C-Feature.
D Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 7M-Kevin Ramey[8]; 2. 15-Tim Siner[4]; 3. 85-Matt Johnson[9]; 4. 7S-Pat Schudy[3]; 5. 25D-Dylan Petersen[1]; 6. 7F-Claud Estes III[5]; 7. 20X-Jimmy Harris[2]; 8. (DNF) 5A-Ashley Hazelton[10]; 9. (DNF) 45K-Chase Allen[6]; DNS 32-Cale Thomas
D Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 1-Sammy Swindell[9]; 2. 35W-Nate Wait[1]; 3. 68S-Matt Land[3]; 4. D6-Dakota Gains[7]; 5. 14R-Jody Rosenboom[5]; 6. 51M-Michael Curtis[8]; 7. (DNF) 7J-Shawn Jackson[2]; 8. (DNF) 62-Jacob Davis[4]; 9. (DNF) 2X-Charlie McDonald[6]
C-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding B-Feature.
C Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 51X-Colby Copeland[2]; 2. 15W-Brandon Waelti[1]; 3. 7M-Kevin Ramey[13]; 4. 7JR-Robert Black[3]; 5. 14W-Matt Westfall[12]; 6. 3FF-Jake Blackhurst[10]; 7. 15-Tim Siner[14]; 8. 8M-Kade Morton[9]; 9. 4C-Chadd Howell[4]; 10. 7AB-Amber Balcaen[5]; 11. 43-Logan Arnold[11]; 12. (DNF) 44-Don Droud Jr[6]; 13. (DNF) 33H-Cameron Hagin[8]; 14. (DNF) 16C-David Camfield Jr[7]
C Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 05T-Gary Taylor[5]; 2. 1-Sammy Swindell[13]; 3. 88W-Chad Wheeler[1]; 4. 4M-Ty Hulsey[3]; 5. 27RW-Kyle O’Gara[9]; 6. 11D-Dustin Hapka[7]; 7. 77-John Klabunde[6]; 8. 35W-Nate Wait[14]; 9. 7CG-Logan Jarrett[2]; 10. 55-Nick Knepper[8]; 11. 56J-Isaac Schreurs[4]; 12. 55S-Jerry McGehee[12]; 13. 5T-Tom Everhart[11]; 14. (DNF) 35Z-Zach Hampton[10]
Qualifiers: Top 16 in combined passing points advance to the A-Feature.
Qualifier 1 (10 Laps): 1. 97-Rico Abreu[1]; 2. 91T-Tyler Thomas[3]; 3. 63K-Chris Windom[6]; 4. 11W-Brady Bacon[7]; 5. 10C-Dalton Camfield[2]; 6. 19J-Jonathan Cornell[5]; 7. 19L-Landon Hurst[10]; 8. 17D-Alex DeCamp[9]; 9. 82-Eric Johnson[8]; 10. (DNF) 35T-Tyler Robbins[4]
Qualifier 2 (10 Laps): 1. 1T-Tony Roney[1]; 2. 73T-Trey Marcham[8]; 3. 68W-Jake Swanson[5]; 4. 5E-James Edens[2]; 5. 8-Alex Sewell[4]; 6. 92-Brenden Bright[6]; 7. 4K-Josh Lakatos[7]; 8. 18P-Payton Pierce[10]; 9. 13SR-John Ricketts[9]; 10. (DNF) 4F-Chad Frewaldt[3]
Qualifier 3 (10 Laps): 1. 38-Justin Grant[1]; 2. 66-Shane Cockrum[2]; 3. 17C-Casey Shuman[5]; 4. 75X-Travis Berryhill[9]; 5. 62T-Taylor Simas[6]; 6. 9E-Brody Roa[4]; 7. 2K-Kyle Jones[3]; 8. 14D-David McIntosh[7]; 9. 70K-Kevin Olson[10]; 10. 23A-Hannah Adair[8]
Qualifier 4 (10 Laps): 1. 1ST-J.J. Yeley[2]; 2. 8K-Blake Hahn[5]; 3. 7B-Austin Brown[4]; 4. 37X-Tim Kent[3]; 5. 88J-Jace VanderWeerd[9]; 6. 12-Chris Sheil[8]; 7. 55D-Nick Drake[7]; 8. 91-Jeff Stasa[1]; 9. (DNF) 9P-Parker Price-Miller[6]; 10. (DNF) 7T-Tanner Berryhill[10]
B-Features: Top 4 advance to the A-Feature.
B Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 88J-Jace VanderWeerd[1]; 2. 5E-James Edens[2]; 3. 19L-Landon Hurst[5]; 4. 51X-Colby Copeland[13]; 5. 12-Chris Sheil[4]; 6. 91-Jeff Stasa[9]; 7. 15W-Brandon Waelti[14]; 8. 7M-Kevin Ramey[15]; 9. 9P-Parker Price-Miller[7]; 10. 19J-Jonathan Cornell[3]; 11. 2K-Kyle Jones[6]; 12. 23A-Hannah Adair[12]; 13. 13SR-John Ricketts[10]; 14. 7JR-Robert Black[16]; 15. (DNF) 18P-Payton Pierce[8]; 16. (DNF) 35T-Tyler Robbins[11]
B Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 1-Sammy Swindell[14]; 2. 55D-Nick Drake[6]; 3. 37X-Tim Kent[1]; 4. 9E-Brody Roa[4]; 5. 05T-Gary Taylor[13]; 6. 7T-Tanner Berryhill[12]; 7. 10C-Dalton Camfield[3]; 8. 17D-Alex DeCamp[7]; 9. 88W-Chad Wheeler[15]; 10. 4M-Ty Hulsey[16]; 11. 14D-David McIntosh[8]; 12. 4K-Josh Lakatos[5]; 13. 4F-Chad Frewaldt[11]; 14. 82-Eric Johnson[9]; 15. 70K-Kevin Olson[10]; 16. (DNF) 8-Alex Sewell[2]
A-Feature: Top 3 advance to Saturday’s A-Feature.
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 97-Rico Abreu[6]; 2. 63K-Chris Windom[1]; 3. 1ST-J.J. Yeley[4]; 4. 8K-Blake Hahn[3]; 5. 1-Sammy Swindell[18]; 6. 73T-Trey Marcham[2]; 7. 17C-Casey Shuman[8]; 8. 51X-Colby Copeland[23]; 9. 91T-Tyler Thomas[9]; 10. 11W-Brady Bacon[13]; 11. 92-Brenden Bright[16]; 12. 68W-Jake Swanson[5]; 13. 5E-James Edens[19]; 14. 1T-Tony Roney[7]; 15. 88J-Jace VanderWeerd[17]; 16. 9E-Brody Roa[24]; 17. 38-Justin Grant[10]; 18. 19L-Landon Hurst[21]; 19. 37X-Tim Kent[22]; 20. 66-Shane Cockrum[11]; 21. 55D-Nick Drake[20]; 22. 7B-Austin Brown[14]; 23. (DNF) 75X-Travis Berryhill[12]; 24. (DNF) 62T-Taylor Simas[15]
Lap Leader(s): Chris Windom 1-14; Rico Abreu 15-25;