How the Chili Bowl Ruined Racing (In the Best Possible Way)

By ALLYSE WOLFINGER

I’m not a flyer. In fact, I despise it. But when I was presented with the opportunity to attend the Chili Bowl this past January, I jumped at the opportunity. It’s always been a “bucket list” race for me. And while I didn’t get to stay for the A Main Saturday night as I had our track awards banquet to get home for, it was far and away the greatest racing experience I will ever get the chance to attend.

There’s a reason 300 plus teams sign in for a chance to make the 22 car A Main field. There’s a reason fans plan an entire vacation around attending the week work of events. There’s a reason this one night is circled on your DVR wish list if you can’t make the actual race. It really is one of the only racing events during the year that lives up to its hype in every aspect from atmosphere, to the top drivers signing in to race, to the track prep, to the winner hoisting the coveted Golden Driller trophy.

And for all those reasons, it made it hard for me to want to go to the Atlantic City Indoor races this past weekend. While I know it’s not fair to compare one to the other, as its comparing apples to oranges, I still did. I’ve been going to the Atlantic City races for the last four years. It’s a race in January so I’m going to take advantage of getting to see some racing in the dead of winter. I now just have something to compare it to and that would be the Holy Grail of indoor racing.

I ended up skipping Friday night’s event knowing Saturday is the race that counts and I’ve been traveling a lot lately and wanted the comfort of my own bed. Saturday’s race was interesting as for the first time in the event’s history the parking garage underneath Boardwalk Hall was at a reasonable temperature for January. That wrecked havoc on the racing surface and you could tell. This is no fault of the event staff, as they were doing their best to keep the surface sticky with the soda syrup mixture they use. But after having to use the substance to clean up oil and water after a car wet the entire track during TQ Midget heat two, you could tell the grip just wasn’t what it needed to be.

The racing was a lot of what you expect to see at these events, single lane racing with drivers using their front bumpers to spin the car in front of them out to get ahead. This is where I give huge props to Andy Jankowiak who tried using the topside of the track for several laps but to no avail. I also give props to winner Anthony Sesely. It’s easy to say he started on the pole so of course he won, but he earned that win. He had to fight off numerous challenges from several different second place runners and he did lap after lap.

I know I was spoiled getting the chance to see even a fraction of the Chili Bowl events in person. But there is definitely a difference between the Northeast’s indoor racing the Midwest’s. Besides the obvious difference that one is run on dirt and the other asphalt, the other big difference is the amount of track drivers can use. In Tulsa the drivers used ever bit of the track including the warning track of the turns to make moves or saves. Those saves were some of the most impressive you will come across like Tim McCreadie doing two full 360’s going into turn four running third, not hitting a single car, and continuing on to qualify start through to that night’s feature.

That’s the kind of insane driving skills put on display on the norm at the Chili Bowl. That’s why it’s completely ruined racing for me it the best possible way. I now have seen some of the best driving talent in racing today compete in one of the most prestigious events. It’s going to be very hard for me not to compare every racing experience to that one because that’s how much of an impact one event has made on me.