Ultimately, the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals main event on Saturday has been shortened from 55 laps to 40 so the track can be optimized for the most action possible but there are multiple other narratives that weave through this decision as well.
For starters, the race last season was one groove and fast for the first 20 laps and one groove locked down at the end. That left about 20 laps of truly raceable action.
The groundskeeper, Brad ‘Gravel’ Chandler believes he can prep the surface for prolonged action but needed a shorter feature to get there and thus the decision was made in the weeks preceding the event.
“You’ve got either 15 on the front or 15 on the back where no one is really racing for position,” Chandler said. “We moved it back to 40 so they can race the whole time so we don’t have the wear on the racetrack, avoid the 15 lap bore fest, and everyone is going to be racing.
“That will help us with the tire because we realized we were getting rubber in some strange places so moving it back will alleviate some of the wear in those spots too.”
The two-time reigning and defending Chili Bowl winner wishes the race hadn’t been shortened. Logan Seavey feels like the longer race benefits him more.
“So, like I understand why they did it but I feel like any race that is longer suits me better,” Seavey said. “I feel like I get better as a race goes on and I don’t have to rush anything but I totally understand.
“In the grand scheme of things, last year was a disaster. We had five unbelievable prelim nights. The track got better and better each night, then we get to the night that everyone is here for and the feature sucked. It was the worst-case scenario for them, right? They had the best track all week that you could ever ask for but no one cared because Saturday sucked.”
And that’s coming from the guy that won.
Seavey said that he supports whatever direction fans push Chandler and promoter Emmett Hahn towards because they are the reason that everyone races in Tulsa every January.
His team owner, four-time race winner Kevin Swindell, echoed that sentiment.
“I probably lead 55 as a preference, because it’s always been 50-plus for me,” Swindell said. “I always felt like you kind of raced to lap 25 and then raced it out. This probably lights it up from Lap One but it just depends on how the race track is from the green flag.
“It would be a shame if we run 25 laps in the mud and then it comes in really quick, and you get no race. They did a great job at the Shootout so hopefully the track is really good.”
There’s another factors to this, however and that centers around inspection, which is now headed up by Cody Cordell. At the Shootout, Cordell aggressively sent tire samples to the lab and disqualified several teams. This is also the second year of a new safety policy that has chassis under scrutiny.
Enter 2022 winner Tanner Thorson.
“This is the slickest this race track has been in a long time and I think that’s because of Cody Cordell doing his job and showing people that he’s actually going to tech,” Thorson said. “He’s showed everyone that he’s going to keep the tire dope out. All the teams you see that don’t usually roll in on new tires have new tires on.
“The track is definitely a different kind of dirt than we’ve seen in a long time.”
So what does Thorson want to see in terms of race length?
“Tire doped up? 40 laps because it rubbers up so bad,” he said. “If they cut the tire dope back, 55 laps is fine. We ran a lot of laps in practice and the track never rubbered up. The track started to take rubber at the start of the shootout and then they popping tires and the track never took rubber again. Gravel and Steve and all those guys in the infield will have a lot easier job if this holds.
“I’ve had a high standard for those guys over the past few years, given them a lot of crap, and I’ll take back a little of it because they’re doing a good job now that I realize how much tire dope is out here the past three to four years. So now I feel bad for talking that crap. They’re doing a good job.”
Team owner Chad Boat echoed what Thorson said.
“The track crew has been knocking it out of the park all month and I think they’ve got some other things under control now with the rules now,” Bell said. “That’s really going to help the track conditions moving forward and it’s going to make for a great show.”
We’re talking about Thorson was talking about, right?
“Yeah, they’re doing a great job, Cody and his crew, Shootout was a great event and I feel like keeping everyone in check and keeping it a level playing field,” Boat added. “This keeps the focus on the drivers being the show and it’s just up to us to prepare great cars the right drivers go out and win the race.
“I think this year is going to be one of the best weeks, hands down.”
Christopher Bell is open to going back to 55 but only if the track responds to all these changes.
“It’s going to be solely up to Gravel’s discretion what he feels comfortable with when it comes down to track preparation,” Bell said. “What we’re trying to avoid is having useless racing. The 55-lapper has always had the period, where it’s either the beginning of the race or the end of the race where you get in line and follow each other.
“Now, the prelims have been complete barnburners and the 25 to 30 lap number seems like a pretty good threshold. So if the track seems like it’s going to hold up come Lap 40, maybe Gravel will be comfortable upping that number. I would be on board with it but the biggest thing is making sure we have quality shows and we haven’t had that after the prelim nights the past couple of years.”
Chandler says he is open to going back to 55 based on what happens this year.
“Yeah, we’ll have to see what comes out of this week,” Chandler said. “We want to make it a good race and a good show. But yeah, we would be open to whatever next year if this year goes well.”