By T.J. Buffenbarger
(January 16, 2026) — After a feature event Friday night at the Chili Bowl Nationals that made me struggle to find adjectives to describe how good the racing was, I could probably write 3,000 words on various takeaways from a thrilling night it was from start to finish. With an early morning start to features tomorrow though, here are some brief takeaways from the Friday night program.
• While most of the conversation about potential winners on Saturday night has centered around Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell, based on what I witnessed on Friday Logan Seavey might have the best car for the 55-lap distance on Saturday night at the Chili Bowl Nationals.
Seavey emphasized the point after the race on Friday that his Swindell Speedlabs entry with Kevin Swindell manning the wrenches drives so well he can pick and choose when to be aggressive, which is a luxury most don’t have while circling the Tulsa Expo Raceway.
Even when under fire and losing the lead, Seavey remained cool and knew which in car adjustments to make to bring his car back to the front, doing so on the most technical racetrack we have seen this week.
I feel there is a high probability that in the closing laps of Saturday’s 55 -lap finale in Tulsa, the track conditions will closely resemble what we witnessed on Friday night in the main event and was unlikely any other conditions we have seen the rest of the week.
While Larson and Bell will receive most of the attention tomorrow, I feel Seavey based on Friday night’s performance is the favorite going into the finale.
• Wout Hoffmans caught a bit of criticism at times for his aggressive driving during the Tulsa Shootout, but on Friday night at the Chili Bowl I felt Hoffman put in superb effort with a fourth place run in the main event.
If someone even a year ago said we would have a young man from the Netherlands score a top five at the Chili Bowl, I would have thought they had gone mad. Hoffmans was right in the middle of the most intense race for the front positions we have seen all week in Tulsa and didn’t flinch while chaos ensued around him.
I’m excited to see how Hoffmans handles the pressure of being in a B-Main during the Saturday night finale and seeing if he builds upon Friday’s performance to make his way into main event on Saturday.
• I wrote about Daryn Pittman during the Knoxville Nationals on how impressed I am at his speed without competing on a regular basis anymore. I almost expect to see high level performances out of Pittman in a winged sprint car just because he has maintained Outlaw level speed without being in the car on a regular basis.
Even though he has USAC National Midget Car Series feature win to his credit and has run well at the Chili Bowl, Pittman still doesn’t have a ton of midget racing experience, yet that speed still seems to translate.
I’m not sure if I fully appreciated how talented Pittman was throughout his driving career. Even though I’ve always regarded him as being very, very good, this part-time chapter in Pittman’s career has shown some remarkable performances through his mid-40’s.
In an era where we see drivers start racing in more a more serious, competitive fashion at a younger age than ever and step away from the sport sooner, I hope fans appreciate the level Pittman continues to perform at even though he’s not hustling a race car around a dirt track every weekend anymore.