The 38th Chili Bowl Midget Nationals will start with 373 drivers racing throughout the week but will end with 24 taking the green flag for the 55-lap feature.
How do they get there?
To make the main event on Saturday night, drivers will have to finish inside the top two from each A-Main during their respective qualifying nights. Everyone entered into the Chili Bowl will race on one of five nights throughout the week.
Their goal is to finish inside the top-two or get as close as possible to have a realistic chance to race for the Golden Driller trophy on Saturday.
For those who do automatically transfer into the main event, by finishing first or second on their qualifying nights, they are also entered into the pole dash races that take place on Saturday in the build-up to the final features.
Preliminary night winners will redraw for positions one through five with the second-place finishers of the preliminary features redrawing for positions six to 10.
Each pole dash will feature four drivers with the bottom two finishers eliminated and slotted throughout the top-10.
More simply stated, the first pole dash will be the drivers who drew 7-to-10 lined up in that order with the top two advancing into the second pole dash. Those two drivers will line up behind the drivers who drew 5 and 6 with the top-two drivers again moving on to face the drivers who drew 3 and 4. The top two will again advance to those who drew 1 and 2 with that race determining the first two rows in the main event.
As for everyone else, the higher that driver finishes on their qualifying night, the fewer numbers he or she will be subject to race through on Saturday to get to the main event. Each pass on the track is a difference of whole features so the drama is palpable every time drivers take the green flag.
The starting lineup for each qualifying night feature is determined by a process that includes heat races and passing points. Each night has a C-Main, B-Main and A-Main that slots the field into their respective starting points for Saturday.
As an example of how consequential every position is, Buddy Kofoid was poised to once again win the Tuesday night prelim last year and would have automatically clinched a top-five starting position as a result. He crashed out of the lead five laps into the Tuesday feature.
Instead of automatically locking into the feature, he had to start racing from an E feature and could only make it to a C feature by the end of his night. One mistake or misfortune early in the week could ruin an entire season that builds to Tulsa.
Here is where a prelim finish slots a driver for Saturday:
- A 1-2: A Main
- A 3-8: B Main
- A 9-14: C Main
- A 15-20: D Main
- A 21-25: E Main
- B 5: E Main
- B 6-8: F Main
- B 9-10: G Main
- B 11-12: H Main
- … and so forth
With all that in mind, the qualifying night rosters can be found below.
Monday
Derek Sheaffer
Broc Elliott
Paul White
Dave Axton
Nick Hoffman
AJ Hopkins
Jim Vanzant
Kayla Roell
Chase Briscoe
Danny Frye III
Bill Rose
Ricky Lewis
Michelle Decker
Blake Green
Kris Carroll
Alex Sewell
Cooper Williams
Colin Deming
Bryant Bell
Emilio Hoover
Brian Schwabauer
Travis Jenkins
TJ Smith
Carter Chevalier
Dennie Gieber
Sam Hafertepe Jr
Kyle Jones
Kevin Newton
Devin Camfield
Jake Scott
Shane Golobic
Billy Rayburn
Cole Bodine
Dylan Archer
Noah Gass
Weston Gorham
John Murdie
Devon Dobie
Jacob Denney
Taylor Reimer
Keith Rauch
Cody Leonard
Larry Bratti
Trey Marcham
Gary Taylor
Stanley Kreisel
Mike Bitner
Logan Prickett
Howard Moore
Kevin Battefeld
Jerry Brey
Kevin Brewer
Daniel Adler
Joe B. Miller
Gage Green
Trevor Cline
Mitchell Davis
Michael Pickens
Cannon McIntosh
Shon Deskins
Mario Clouser
Bret Klabunde
D.J. Estes
Jerry Coons Jr
Lee Nardelli
Austin Torgerson
Chris Windom
Slater Helt
Kyle Bellm
Tanner Carrick
Scott Evans
Tuesday
Tommy Colburn
Brayton Lynch
Caden McCreary
Justin Zimmerman
Jeb Sessums
Jake Neuman
Cody Jessop
Cole Garner
Colin White
Anthony Esberg
Scout Spraggins
Cap Henry
Jake Andreotti
Thomas Meseraull
Chase McDermand
Brendon Wiseley
Brock Berreth
Parker Price Miller
KJ Snow
Timmy Thrash
Blake Bower
Ryker Pace
Darin Naida
Clinton Boyles
Jori Hughes
A.J. Bender
Elijah Gile
Joseph Wray IV
Kyle Strickler
Andy Pake
Tony Helton
Jack Berger
Riley Kreisel
Carson Perkins
John Sarna
Kameron Key
Troy Betts
Jack France
Brant O’Banion
Billy VanInwegen Jr
Corbin Rueschenberg
Jake Bubak
Brandon Mattox
Hank Davis
Kyle Beilman
Colton Hardy
Robbie Price
Zach Daum
George Loux
Nick Drake
Kevin Thomas Jr
Landon Brooks
David Gravel
Landon Britt
Mariah Ede
Michael Kofoid
Robert Bell
Logan Calderwood
John Klabunde
Clint Woolbright
David Camfield Sr
Tanner Holmes
Kinzer Edwards
Joey Amantea
Kevin Bayer
Josh Most
Cody Brewer
Xavier Doney
Claud Estes
Steve Glover
Chad Winfrey
Wednesday
Colby Stubblefield
Sammy Swindell
Trey Osborne
Briggs Danner
Tanner Berryhill
Casey Friedrichsen
Kyle Cummins
Brandon Waelti
Chelby Hinton
Chad Frewaldt
Caleb Padgett
Devin Simmons
Michael Stewart
Michael Faccinto
Isaac Chapple
Darren Kauffman
Shawn Jackson
Jarrad Warhurst
Mike Hess
Chance Morton
Jace McIntosh
Brody Wake
Jonathan Beason
Jeff Schindler
Kevin Cook
Ben Worth
Brandon Dean
David Camfield Jr
Wyatt Rotz
Kurt Stellhorn
Mitchel Moles
C.J. Sarna
Chase Young
Zach Hampton
Gage Laney
Steven Shebester
Kyle Simon
Preston Lattomus
Tristan Lee
Steve Buckwalter
Alex Bright
Colby Copeland
RJ Corson
AJ Hernandez
Corey Day
Branigan Roark
Caleb Stelzig
Wout Hoffmans
Dillon Welch
Blake Hahn
Sean Robbins
Jake Swanson
Tyler Courtney
Garet Williamson
Brent Crews
Chance Crum
Cade Cowles
Jade Avedisian
Kale Drake
Paul May
David Gasper
Daniel Whitley
Keith Martin
Colten Cottle
Dekota Gay
Rylan Gray
Daison Pursley
Danny Wood
Logan Mitchell
Robert Carson
Johnny Brown Jr
Bradley Fezard
Charlie Louden
Thursday
Ryder Laplante
Spencer Bayston
Ashton Torgerson
Matt Sherrell
Whit Gastineau
Matt Rossi
Zach Blurton
Shayle Bade
Cole Schroeder
Parker Jones
Karter Sarff
Gavan Boschele
Austin Nigh
Cody Beard
Landon Crawley
JD Black
Dylan Menz
Kade Morton
Scott Lawrence
Kyle Spence
Michael Hubert
Dalton Camfield
Lane Goodman
Trevor Serbus
Mike Woodruff
Cameron Hagin
Jeffrey Newell
Caden Sarale
J.J. Yeley
Andrew Deal
Josh Baughman
Cody Trammell
Ryan Bickett
Ethan Mitchell
Ricky Thornton Jr
Noah Harris
Brady Bacon
Sean McClelland
Corey Brink
A.J. Johnson
Rodney Westhafer
Jacob Harris
Frank Beck III
Joe Perry
Tim Buckwalter
Brian Harvey
Chase Johnson
Miles Doherty
Casey Shuman
Tyler Robbins
Isaiah Vasquez
Max Adams
Brad Wyatt
Ray Stevison
Christopher Townsend
Kenney Johnson
Brad Mosen
Joe Walker
Matt Westfall
Chance Hull
Johnny Kent
C.J. Leary
Daniel Robinson
Emerson Axsom
Tim Kent
Taylor Ferns
Tom Dunkel
Bryan Stanfill
Joey Wirth
Josh Hanna
Will Armitage
Jesse Love
Ryan Bernal
Tanner Thorson
Jeff Stasa
Kaylee Bryson
Joe Boyles
Ryan Padgett
Friday
Johnny Murdock
Glenn Styres
Tyler Harris
Jamie Speers
Henry Chambers
Terry Nichols
Justin Grant
Marc Dailey
Adam Bolyard
Casey Hicks
Josh Hodge
Shane Cottle
Josh Bilicki
Kolton Gariss
Stuart Snyder
Kurt Blackaby
Kyle Steffens
Hunter Schuerenberg
Andrew Felker
Donovan Peterson
Jody Rosenboom
Nathan Smith
Santino Ferrucci
Harli White
Tim McCreadie
Hayden Reinbold
Pierce Urbanosky
Brett Becker
Tadd Holliman
Daryn Pittman
Justin Bates
Gage Rucker
Don Droud Jr
Glenn James Bratti
Steve Gresham
Ace McCarthy
Kory Schudy
Chase Stockon
Rece Wommack
Joey Klemish
Kevin Reed
Jason McDougal
Logan Seavey
Steven Snyder Jr
Chris Cochran
Adam Andretti
Wesley Smith
Jace Park
Tyler Edwards
Earl McDoulett Jr
Cale Coons
Frankie Guerrini
Harry Elzo
Ryan Timms
Ronnie Gardner
Kyler Johnson
Sam Johnson
Luke Hall
John Egan
Jack Wagner
Robbie Smith
Josh Hawkins
Bryant Wiedeman
Chris Roseland
Chris Andrews
Gavin Miller
Tom Harris
Cam Schafer
Chase Osterhoff
The entire event airs exclusively on FloRacing this year.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.