By T.J. Buffenbarger
(January 15, 2025) — Due to day job responsibilities the Wednesday preview for the 39th Chili Bowl Nationals is going to be brief. After two nights of wild racing that saw the win come down to the final circuit, I would say the chances of late race heroics on Wednesday seem likely.
Drivers I feel are likely to lock into Saturday’s finale include….
Corey Day has a level of talent that nothing he does ends up surprising me. Day won his preliminary feature in 2024 and seems to have good chemistry with Willie Kahne spinning the wrenches when the duo goes midget racing. Day in my mind is the odds-on favorite to win on Wednesday.
Daison Pursley has been very fast in every race car he strapped into last season. Pursley is very quick around the Tulsa Expo Center and will be determined to improve on his fourth place run in the preliminary feature last year.
Jake Swanson locked into the finale through his preliminary in 2024 and is teamed up again with Alex Bowman Racing, who has had fast race cars all week that have only resulted in bent up race cars. Swanson will be a strong candidate to turn things around for ABR at the 2025 Chili Bowl
Keep an eye on…
Emerson Axsom had a tremendous 2024 season traveling the country picking and choosing winged sprint car races to compete in. Axsom locked in through his preliminary night in 2023 and finished in the top five on his preliminary night in 2024. Axsom is paired again with Keith Kunz Motorsports and would not surprise me if he locked into Saturday’s program.
Mitchel Moles has only one preliminary feature under his belt at the Chili Bowl Nationals with a seventh-place finish, but his aggressive style could pay dividends on Wednesday and is worth keeping an eye on. Reinbold-Underwood has had fast cars in the Expo this week and there will be no doubt that Moles will be up on the wheel.
Other competitors worth noting include…
• Five time Chili Bowl Nationals champion Sammy Swindell will look to right his luck in Tulsa and lock into the finale through the preliminary feature for the first time since 2013. Swindell has not made a preliminary feature at the Chili Bowl since 2020.
• USAC National Sprint Car Series standout Kyle Cummins.
• USAC Triple Crown winner and NASCAR driver JJ Yeley.
• Sports Car and Indycar driver Katherine Legge driving for Abacus Racing.
• Former preliminary night winner Alex Bright in a Mike and Brian Dunlap entry.
• Winged sprint car driver and Oklahoma resident Blake Hahn, who is always fast in the Expo.
• The “Flying Fossil,” Danny Wood
• Late Model driver Gordy Grundaker.
• USAC Silver Crown Series star Kody Swanson driving for legendary sports car engineer Dan Binks.
• Colby Copeland, one of the top sprint car drivers on the West Coast.