Dirt-track legends among talented Chili Bowl drivers

TULSA, Okla. -- Don't blame regular attendees of the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals for feeling a bit spoiled. After all, each January they have come to expect the very best dirt-track drivers in America taking to the tight quarter-mile oval inside the Tulsa QuikTrip Center for one of the most-talked-about events of every motorsports season.

This year's Chili Bowl, with qualifications running all this week culminating with a climactic Saturday night final televised live via pay-per-view, will be no different. What two-time winner and NASCAR champion Tony Stewart calls a racing "all-star game" has again drawn the cream of the dirt-track crop to Oklahoma with a record 286 posted entries.

Stewart himself professes to being amazed by the depth of talent he faces when he competes at the Chili Bowl. "This is the only place that you can take the best Midget drivers from USAC and Badger [Midget Auto Racing Association], and guys in the Rocky Mountain Midget Association, guys from USAC Sprint Cars and Silver Crown Cars and the World of Outlaws, all the best in dirt open-wheel racing," Stewart said.

"Those drivers are all at one place for the weekend, and when you've got [all those] guys competing for just the 24 starting spots in the A-Main, you have some of the best racing that you're going see all year all in one week at the Chili Bowl."

Stewart isn't exaggerating about the talent level. The entry list is essentially broken into thirds for three nights of "qualifying" programs, each featuring a series of heat races, dash-type events and preliminary features. As is customary at the Chili Bowl, each of these preliminary nights will contain a cluster of names which at any other event would have promoters smiling and race fans grinning in delight.

Bryan Clauson, who will drive in the Nationwide Series in 2008, was one of four drivers to advance from Wednesday's qualifying. (read more)

Stewart and J.J. Yeley each took to the track Thursday night, and both failed to make the A-Main. The former Cup teammates will need to advance from Saturday's B-Main events in order to participate in the feature race. (read more)

Kasey Kahne, like Stewart a USAC grad, will headline the Friday field. Other featured drivers include USAC multi-division champion Dave Darland, Indianapolis 500 veteran P.J. Jones, Busch Series contender and former USAC champ Jason Leffler, winged Sprint Car star Terry McCarl, California Sprint Car hero Damion Gardner, WoO winner Jason Myers, former USAC Midget champ and current NASCAR shoe Bobby East, Gillett Evernham Motorsports development driver Kevin Swindell, and one of the Chili Bowl's most popular drivers each January, two-time winner Cory Kruseman.

Come the final event, the best of that bunch will be slugging it out in the prestigious A-Main, and one very lucky racer will be standing tall as a Chili Bowl champion.

The Chili Bowl semifinals will be streamed on NASCAR.COM at 10:30 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 11.

Chili Bowl on HBO

HBO Pay-Per-View presents the live, with no commercials, television broadcast of the 2008 Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday (Jan. 12). The HBO Pay-Per-View telecast has a suggested retail price of $24.95, and will be available to all cable and satellite homes throughout the U.S. and Canada. Order directly from your digital cable or satellite TV system or contact your provider's customer service for details. A subscription to HBO is not required. Visit http://www.hbo.com/events/chili/.