2001 Chili Bowl Midget Nationals

[KC]

This weekend in Tulsa, Oklahoma the biggest midget race short of the Knoxville Midget Nationals was held for the 15th time. Emmit Hahn and company brought in 8000 cubic yards of dirt and built a 1/6th mile dirt oval in the lower level of the 10 acre International Petroleum Expostion building at the Tulsa State Fairgrounds again. For his efforts, 187 of the best midget, sprint car, late model, NASCAR, Busch Grand national and IRL drivers in America came to do battle for the honor of being Chili Bowl Champion.

All of the oval racing series in America were well represented. Drivers came from 25 different states in the US, driving 26 different chassis and 18 different motors. Danny Lasoski and Sammy Swindell from the World of Outlaws. Donnie Beechler from the Indy Racing League. Jay Drake and J.J. Yeley from the midget ranks. Tony Stewart from NASCAR. Jason Lefler from the Busch Grand National series.

In the end, Jay Drake, 2000 National Midget Driver of the Year came through to take the feature win driving for Kunze Motorsport. He called it the single greatest win of his career, especially to beat Danny Lasoski and Sammy Swindell, two of the most experienced racers in the field.

Jay Drake and Tony Stewart posted the fastest times on the track at 11.12 seconds at an average speed of 67 mile sper hour. That is pretty amazing when that is all done inside a building.

Final results...

A Feature (50 laps)

1. #67, Jay Drake, Val Verde, CA
2. #20D, Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO;
3. #1, Sammy Swindell, Cordova, TN;
4. #31X, Aaron Fike, Galesburg, IL;
5. #71R, Keith Rauch, Edgewater, CO;
6. #20, Paul McMahan, Bristol, IN;
7. #11, Kevin Doty, Milan, IL;
8. #84, Ted Hines, Indianapolis, IN;
9. #54, Matt Westfall, Ludlow Falls, OH;
10. #86, Shane Cottle, Oakland, IL;
11. #55K, Steve Knepper, Belleville, IL;
12. #6X, Randy Koch, Oregon, WI;
13. #71W, Wayne Chinn, Tipp City, OH;
14. #16, Chad Farmer, Colorado Springs, CO;
15. #94, Michael Lang, Indianapolis, IN;
16. #77, Travis Miniea, Sharon, PA;
17. #16R, Barry Reed, Mooresville, IN;
18. #1S, J. J. Yeley, Phoenix, AZ;
19. #2B, Donnie Beechler, Sherman, IL;
20. #66, Tony Elliot, Kokomo, IN;
21. #87, Rich Camfield, Decatur, IL;
22. #5K, Kasey Kahne, Enumclaw, WA;
23. #V4, Jerry Coons, Jr., Tuscon, AZ;
24. #29, Dave Darland, Indianapolis, IN;
25. #47, Jason Leffler, Long Beach, CA

Some drivers of note, Paul McMahan took sixth in his first ever Chili Bowl Nationals. Travis Miniea, age 14, finished 16th in his first ever midget race on dirt. He normally races midgets on pavement. Kevin Doty drove from 16th place to 7th and competed in his 12th A-feature at the Chili Bowl Nationals.

Previous champion Cory Kruseman was unable to attend as he is racing sprint cars in New Zealand.

Here are some pics from the 2000 race. I willpost some pics from this year shortly.

The Tulsa Expo Speedway


Gary Wright after Qualifier
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