The Chili Bowl Midget Nationals formally begins each year with a press conference that features event promoter Emmett Hahn, several racers and a group of dignitaries from the City of Tulsa who host the event at what is now called the SageNet Center.
Officials from both the city and the event say that the Chili Bowl provides a direct economic impact of roughly $20 million and an indirect impact of almost $40 million.
How does mayor G.T. Bynum feel about the event?
“Just tremendous gratitude,” Bynum said. “There’s the economic impact we mentioned earlier, 40 million, which is tremendous. Every major city in the country would want to have this event in their city. It’s a point of pride for us within the city, year in and year out, that we are the host city for the Chili Bowl.
It’s also important for me, when you see the families that come back here, year after year, fans and competitors, they don’t just compete and leave for their hotel. They experience the city throughout the week and it’s a point of pride for us that this event continues to choose Tulsa.”
The Chili Bowl and Tulsa have a contract with each other that runs through 2034.
Hahn, who co-founded the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals with Lanny Edwards in 1987, also founded and built nearby Creek County Speedway two years earlier. He was also a decorated Sprint Car and Midget racer in his own right.
He opened the press conference by referencing recent comments by motorsports legend Tony Stewart, who cited the Midget at the Tulsa Expo Center as his favorite car and track combination to race, in a career that has spanned virtually every type of discipline.
“I called Tony and told him the check was in the mail,” he said with a laugh.
Ashton Torgerson incident
Hahn was asked about the incident last year involving Ashton Torgerson, who was dislodged from the car as it flipped down the backstretch, but ultimately escaped major injuries. He returned to the building last week and won a race in the Tulsa Shootout and is amongst those chasing a Golden Driller trophy again this year.
The promoter said he has spoken to Simpson Race Parts about the incident and fully believes Torgerson was ejected from the car due to an error strapping him in before the race that night. The Torgersons have said they have recreated the incident to see what failed but the tests were not totally conclusive.
Hahn didn’t mince words.
“If you’re a racer who can’t secure their belts, you shouldn’t be here.”
He was also asked about safety response time and Hahn says they have some of the best medical response crew in the region. Four-time race winner Kevin Swindell, who also won the race last year as a team owner for Logan Seavey, endorsed the crew.
“This is one of the safest places you can race,” Swindell said. “In terms of how quickly they get to you, and the care they provide you, I have the most confidence in this crew.”
Chili Bowl’s TV Future
With Lucas Oil moving on as title sponsor of the event, and NOS Energy Drink coming on board as presenting sponsor, the main event is also no longer airing live on MAVTV.
That channel is owned by Lucas Lubricants and was part of the title sponsorship agreement.
The entire event now airs exclusively on the FloRacing streaming platform. While an event representative says they have been blown away by the growth of both the Chili Bowl and Tulsa Shootout on FloRacing, Hahn has said all year they are pursuing a television partner to take the Saturday night main events slot.
Hahn expects those races to land on FOX Sports in some way at some point due to the partnership FloRacing has with FOX.
“If you look at the past year, they had the (DIRT) Kyle Larson (documentary) and it was on FOX Sports a day or so later,” Hahn said. “So, I could see within a year or two that Saturday at Chili Bowl would air on FOX Sports as well.”
Saturday late start times
It’s become well documented, and a point of contention to hardcore and casual fans alike, the inconvenience that started the 55-lap main event after midnight every year continues to generation.
To ensure the best possible race, a complete track overall takes place between the B feature and the A feature.
The entire alphabet soup of racing takes place on Saturday from 10 am to the evening hours and the track needs the tilling and moisture to offset the amount of rubber laid down onto the surface throughout the day.
Hahn says they have removed some pre-race elements from Saturday but said the long day and night is just a byproduct of racing and eliminating over 370 cars throughout the day.
“We start at 10 in the morning and there’s just not a lot we can do,” Hahn said. “Last year, we had a lot of hoopla before the feature on Saturday, awards presentation and we’ve moved that to earlier in the week.”
Purse increase
The 38th Chili Bowl Midget Nationals features the largest purse increase in event history.
The main event has doubled in payout from $10,000 to $20,0000. The main event will also pay $2,000 to start. It pays $150 per lap to lead and $50 a lap to run second. The winner could potentially walk away with $28,250.
Hahn has faced criticism from numerous racers over the years, especially Kyle Larson, who hasn’t raced the event since 2022 with the purse as a major factor.
For what it’s worth, Hahn said Larson had nothing to do with the decision and said so without the 2021 Cup Series champion’s name being mentioned.
“Kyle Larson had nothing to do with it either,” he said.
“We added about $35,000 to the overall purse this year and about $55,000 this year. There isn’t many Midget races that pay $20,000 to win.
“I’ve heard people on podcasts or whatnot say, ‘you have to spend all week there and what not,’ and I would have liked to be there to say you could qualify on Friday and race on Saturday and have a two day show, but I kept my mouth shut.”
Swindell says it’s welcome as an owner but that isn’t the only way to measure value at the Chili Bowl.
“We basically launched a business around this event last year,” he said of his Victory Fuel energy drink brand. “With merchandise and social media, there are a lot of ways to create value in racing the Chili Bowl beyond the purse.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.