Nothing stood in the way of Logan Seavey earning his second consecutive Chili Bowl Nationals victory inside the Tulsa Expo Center on Saturday night.
After feeling under the weather all week and narrowly advancing into the Pole Shuffle through his A-feature on Friday evening, Seavey was calm and composed in Saturday’s main event. He took control early from the outside pole and led almost every lap.
Seavey was not going to let an illness deter him from winning another Chili Bowl. When it came time to race, he replicated the efficiency that earned him his first Golden Driller in 2023.
“It’s the Chili Bowl, and you have to do what you can to perform,” Seavey said. “I can’t say enough for what these guys do for me by giving me cars that can come here and win the biggest race of the year. I felt a lot better [on Saturday] after getting a little bit of sleep and was finally able to put some food down.
“I knew all I needed was to get some food in me, and I felt great all day.”
The only challenge Seavey faced in this year’s Chili Bowl finale came from pole-sitter Buddy Kofoid, who traded the lead with Seavey several times during the opening laps.
Just as Kofoid was about to take the lead, an early caution reverted the running order back to the last completed lap, relegating Kofoid to second behind Seavey. As the track rubbered in, Kofoid was unable to mount another charge for the lead and settled for a runner-up finish in his fifth Chili Bowl attempt.
There were several aspects about the caution that confused Kofoid, from how he was scored to a transponder issue that required repairs. Despite the frustration, Kofoid took solace in his overall performance knowing he is getting closer to his first Golden Driller.
“I guess it just wasn’t meant to be,” Kofoid said. “My car felt good having to back down to [Seavey’s] pace and being in his dirty air, if you will. Our car got through the cushion better than him, but there’s such a fine line of hitting it perfect.
“Logan is one of the best and one of my best friends. I’m happy to see this for him, but it’s still bittersweet.”
For Seavey, who has one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2018, he joins an elite list of drivers who have multiple Chili Bowl victories. That group includes current NASCAR Cup Series competitors Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell, along with three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart.
With his victory, Logan Seavey joins an elite list of drivers who have won multiple Chili Bowls. (Photo: Nick Oxford/NASCAR)
Seavey is now halfway to the Chili Bowl win total accumulated by his co-owner Kevin Swindell, who won the prestigious dirt midget car event four times from 2010-13. The camaraderie Seavey shares with Swindell was crucial toward him pushing through his illness and delivering another Chili Bowl triumph for the iconic No. 39.
“[Kevin and I] have only ran [the Chili Bowl] a couple of times and won every time we’ve been over here,” Seavey said. “That’s why he built this car, to come here and win this race. To be the one doing it for him is so much fun. He always has my back and we’re always on the same page. I could not be happier right now.
“This is the biggest race of my life, and to now win it twice is unbelievable.”
Of the NASCAR regulars that entered the 2024 Chili Bowl, the only one to advance to the A-Main was Chase Briscoe, the first time he had done so since 2017. Despite this, Briscoe was unable to keep pace with the leaders and finished 21st.
Larson and 2023 Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were both surprise entrants for the Chili Bowl and arrived at the Tulsa Expo Center in the middle of the week. Stenhouse’s run ended in the first C-Main on Saturday. Larson withdrew after crashing in his A-feature on Thursday.
Jesse Love, J.J. Yeley and Josh Bilicki also made attempts at the Golden Driller during the long, hectic week in Tulsa. Love made it to the second E-Main while Yeley and Bilicki were eliminated in the F-Main and N-Main, respectively.
Kaulig Racing announced its spotter lineup for its 2024 NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series teams on Friday.
Coleman Pressley, who won the 2022 Cup Series championship with Team Penske driver Joey Logano, will reunite with AJ Allmendinger and spot for the No. 16 Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series. Pressley, who will continue his Sunday duties with Logano, has spotted for the No. 22 car since August 2021 and has visited Victory Lane five times with Logano, including after winning the Cup title race in 2022 at Phoenix. Pressley was the eyes in the sky for Allmendinger and the No. 47 Chevrolet at JTG Daugherty Racing from 2015-18. A former racer himself, Pressley moved to Team Penske in 2019 as the spotter for 2012 champion Brad Keselowski and later moved over to Logano and the No. 22 in August 2021.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>We’ve locked in our eyes in the sky. <a href=”https://t.co/ADqvUj8D0q”>pic.twitter.com/ADqvUj8D0q</a></p>— Kaulig Racing (@KauligRacing) <a href=”https://twitter.com/KauligRacing/status/1745913543319302171?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>January 12, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
Kaulig also named Frank Deiny Jr. to handle double duty in the team’s announcement. Deiny, who formerly spotted for Allmendinger, will spot for Xfinity Series rookie and Chicago Street Course Cup Series winner Shane van Gisbergen in the No. 97 Chevrolet, as well as Daniel Hemric’s No. 31 Chevy in the Cup Series.
Additionally, Joe White will handle spotting duties for Josh Williams as he pilots the No. 11 Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series, Williams’ first season with the team. White will also be in the spotters’ stand for the No. 16 Cup Series car throughout 2024, which Allmendinger will pilot in the Daytona 500 and select other Cup races this season. White previousspotted for Chase Briscoe at Stewart-Haas Racing in 2021.
Kyle Larson’s return to the Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Thursday night did not go as planned.
The driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series hoped to punch his ticket to Saturday’s championship feature. Instead, he flipped twice in the No. 98 midget car fielded by Keith Kunz Motorsports, with his second flip — during Thursday’s preliminary feature — ending his hopes of qualifying for Saturday’s Chili Bowl finale.
Larson opened the night with a difficult performance in his heat race, where he started fifth. He first narrowly avoided a flipping car down the backstretch early in the race. Unfortunately, that was where Larson’s luck ended.
When the race resumed, Larson went to work trying to pass Chili Bowl rookie Christopher Townsend, but the two made contact in Turns 1-2, and they both flipped.
Larson was able to continue and finish the race fifth, but that result wasn’t good enough to secure Larson a spot in a qualifier.
(Photo: Noah Watts/FloRacing)
Instead, Larson was relegated to the front row of a C Main, which he promptly won to advance to a B Main. He then drove from 13th to second in the B Main, which earned him the 20th starting position in the 30-lap preliminary feature.
“It’s hard. When you’re in traffic you can’t really like air it out, and your car doesn’t operate right,” Larson told FloRacing after his runner-up finish in the B Main. “We’ll do what we can and try to make the most of the night.”
Progress was slow for Larson during the 30-lap feature. He was only able to move up five positions by the halfway point to 15th, and he was 13th with 10 laps left.
With six laps left, Larson had moved up to 11th and was challenging for 10th when everything fell apart. Coming out of Turn 4 Larson clipped the outside wall with his right-rear tire, which sent his car into a spin and subsequent flip down the frontstretch.
Larson was uninjured in his second incident of the evening, but that crash and subsequent last-place finish ended any hope he had of qualifying for the 55-lap championship feature Saturday night.
With his Chili Bowl adventure now over, Larson will return to Vado, New Mexico to continue competing in the Wild West Shootout dirt super late model event Friday through Sunday at Vado Speedway Park. In three starts so far during the Wild West Shootout, Larson has finished fifth, fourth and 24th.
Connor Zilisch, a rising racing talent at 17 years old, has signed a multi-year agreement with Trackhouse Racing, the team announced Thursday.
Zilisch has extensive racing experience in Trans Am and karting and now begins the path toward stock-car racing development. As part of the agreement, Zilisch’s development program will include select CARS Tour, ARCA Menards Series, Trans Am and IMSA races as well as NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series starts in 2024 and 2025, according to the press release.
“This is a dream come true,” Zilisch said in the release. “I can’t thank Justin (Marks, team founder and owner) and everyone at Trackhouse Racing enough for giving me this opportunity. It has been a pleasure to spend the last two years racing with Chevrolet and I am thrilled to extend that relationship. I have a lot to learn, but I don’t think there is a better place for me to learn than with Trackhouse Racing.”
Road courses are where Zilisch has typically shined, thanks in part to 10 years spent karting, including a European stint at just 11 years old, according to the release. That expertise at a young age propelled him to the top prize of the Mazda MX-5 Cup scholarship in 2021, winning 2022 Rookie of the Year honors along with a runner-up showing in standings before winning four races a season ago.
The Mooresville, North Carolina native made his ARCA debut at Watkins Glen International in 2023, starting second and leading 34 of 42 laps before eventual series champion Jesse Love passed Zilisch for the lead in the final corner in wet conditions.
“I have watched Connor grow from a youngster racing go-karts at the Trackhouse Motorplex to an up-close seat as he beat all of us in the Trans-Am race at VIR (Virginia International Raceway) a few months ago,” Marks said in the release. “This kid is an amazing talent who we wanted to be a part of the Trackhouse family. We are going to go slow with Connor and make sure he’s fully prepared as he advances in what we believe will be a long racing career.”
Zilisch’s season is slated to get underway on Jan. 26 with the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. In Trans Am action, Zilisch won five of 13 starts in TA2. The dominant performance he had at VIR against Marks and others marked Zilisch the youngest driver to win a Trans Am race in his first start in the class as well as the first to win races in two different classes in the same weekend.
Additionally, Zilisch was victorious in the CARS Pro Late Model Tour race at Ace Speedway back in May while driving for Rackley W.A.R. Racing. Marks, along with former NASCAR Cup Series stars Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick, co-owns the CARS Tour.
See when points will be paid out to the top 10 for each race of the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series slates below. The lap number listed indicates the lap number on which the stage ends.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 11, 2024) —The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series will see significant changes to both its 18-event schedule and race formats for 2024, NASCAR and iRacing announced today.
With new tracks, new race formats for short tracks and road courses and regular season stages with cash and points bonuses, the new campaign is set to be one of the most unique and innovative in series history. Races will also start an hour earlier than previous seasons, going green at 8 p.m. ET.
“The eNASCAR Coca-Cola Series has been at the forefront of sim racing innovation for the past 15 years. With NASCAR and iRacing’s continued dedication, we’re injecting fresh excitement and innovation into the series,” said Ray Smith, NASCAR director of gaming and esports. “The 2024 schedule updates, new race formats and improved league infrastructure demonstrate our unwavering commitment to offering the pinnacle of sim racing experiences.”
The 2024 campaign will be broken up into three distinct regular season stages, followed by the traditional four-race playoffs. The top point scorer in each regular season stage will receive a $3,000 bonus and five additional bonus points for the playoffs. As in past seasons, 10 drivers qualify for the playoffs by either winning a race or scoring the most points in the regular season, and four of those drivers will qualify for a shot at the championship in the season finale.
While Stage 1 of the regular season starts with the traditional opener at Daytona International Speedway, the other two stages will kick off with the series debuts of Brands Hatch Circuit and Iowa Speedway in April and June, respectively.
Road-course races like Brands Hatch will feature a new sprint and feature race format, while short tracks like Iowa will start with a pair of heat races to set the grid for the feature. The preseason Clash on Jan. 30 will implement the heat formula, too, as it returns to Daytona for the first time since 2021.
The playoffs will kick off Aug. 13 at Michigan International Speedway, followed by visits to Texas Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway to set the Championship 4 for the Oct. 1 series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Other highlights include the return of fixed setup races to the schedule for 2024, with Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 12, Talladega Superspeedway on April 30, and the Chicago Street Course on July 2 serving as the three selections. In these three races, all drivers will run the same vehicle setup, placing a premium on driver skill and adaptability to an equal playing field. Darlington Raceway will serve as the annual Throwback race once again on May 28.
“The 2024 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series calendar will be one of the most innovative seasons in series history,” said iRacing President Tony Gardner. “We’ve introduced new tracks, race formats, regular season bonuses and much more to breathe fresh air into our longest-tenured professional esports series. These changes, along with many new faces coming in, should inject some fresh excitement into what has already been a terrific series for more than a decade. We can’t wait to drop the green flag on the new season!”
Full 2024 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Schedule:
Round
Stage
Date
Track
Notes
--
--
Jan. 30
Daytona International Speedway (Clash exhibition)
Fixed setup, heats
1
1
Feb. 13
Daytona International Speedway
2
1
Feb. 27
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
3
1
March 12
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Fixed setup
4
1
March 26
Richmond Raceway
Heats
5
2
April 9
Brands Hatch Circuit
Sprint/feature
6
2
April 23
Dover Motor Speedway
7
2
April 30
Talladega Superspeedway
Fixed setup
8
2
May 14
Charlotte Motor Speedway
9
2
May 28
Darlington Raceway
10
3
June 11
Iowa Speedway
Heats
11
3
June 25
Nashville Superspeedway
12
3
July 2
Chicago Street Course
Fixed setup/sprint feature
13
3
July 16
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
14
3
July 30
Pocono Raceway
15
--
Aug. 13
Michigan International Speedway
Playoff race
16
--
Aug. 27
Texas Motor Speedway
Playoff race
17
--
Sept. 10
Phoenix Raceway
Playoff race
18
--
Oct. 1
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Championship race
Coca-Cola iRacing Series broadcasts will stream live on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on eNASCAR.com/live and across iRacing social media channels. For more information on the eNASCARCoca-Cola iRacing Series, visit eNASCAR.com or iRacing.com/eNASCAR. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit iRacing.com.
Legacy Motor Club announced Thursday morning a multi-year agreement with Dollar Tree, Inc. for all three of its NASCAR Cup Series entries.
Dollar Tree and Family Dollar will be on track in all 38 races of the 2024 NASCAR season, seeing select races with full-time competitors in No. 42 driver John Hunter Nemechek and No. 43 driver Erik Jones. Both brands will also adorn the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE of NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson at Dover Motor Speedway (April 28), Kansas Speedway (Sept. 29) and Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Oct. 20). The sponsorship spans both of the marquee brands, creating significant visibility with customers and associates in the company’s 16,000-plus stores.
“What an exciting time for Legacy M.C. to team up with Dollar Tree and Family Dollar,” said Johnson in a team release. “We look forward to creating extensive visibility for these two iconic and beloved brands where we have so many fans in common.”
Both Dollar Tree and Family Dollar will be present on the team’s cars for the preseason The Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 4.
“We are thrilled to sponsor Legacy Motor Club and spotlight our brands to fans of the exhilarating and high-octane sport of NASCAR,” said Rick McNeely, chief merchandising officer for Dollar Tree. “Watching Dollar Tree and Family Dollar take off into one of the most-watched sports in the country is a great start to the year.”
Family Dollar’s Chief Merchandising Officer Larry Gatta added, “We have an incredible opportunity to reach our existing customers, and with this sponsorship an even greater platform to attract new shoppers to Dollar Tree and Family Dollar — which is exciting for our vendor partners and associates.”
Chili Bowl results are rolling in on a nightly basis now that the 2024 edition of the Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma are underway.
The Chili Bowl preliminary night action began Monday and runs through Friday before Saturday’s championship day, complete with the annual alphabet soup and the title-awarding A-Main. Chili Bowl results throughout the week will set the stage for Saturday’s marathon of midget car racing.
Each preliminary night at the Chili Bowl features heat races, qualifiers, C-Features, B-Features and an A-Feature.
As for the Saturday night main event, the top two finishers in each preliminary night A-Feature lock into the big race. The lineup for the top 10 cars in the A-Feature will be determined through the Chili Bowl Pole Dash. The five A-Feature winners will draw 1-5, followed by the five drivers who finished second drawing 6-10 to seed the Pole Dash.
Seven drivers will advance from each B main to the A for a total of 24 cars with provisionals set aside for the defending Chili Bowl champion and previous year’s Race of Champions winner should he or she not transfer.
Below are the complete 2024 Chili Bowl results from the SageNet Center in Tulsa.
LOS ANGELES (Jan. 10, 2023) – NASCAR announced today that world-renowned stand-up comedian, actor, and producer Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias will serve as the Grand Marshal for the NASCAR Mexico Seres’ inaugural King Taco La Batalla en El Coliseo on Sunday, Feb. 4, the precursor to NASCAR’s third-annual Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum. His command will follow the performance of the Mexican national anthem by Mariachi Rams, the first Mariachi band of an NFL team with the Los Angeles Rams.
“Who better to kickstart this historic event than an amazing comic like Gabriel Iglesias,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s Senior Vice President, Racing Development and Strategy. “With his illustrious TV and stand-up catalog combined with his Southern California upbringing and Mexican heritage, we couldn’t be more excited to have Gabriel give the command to start engines to begin a day of racing at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.”
Raised in Long Beach, Calif., Iglesias has become one of the most successful stand-up comedians in the world. He recently became the second-highest grossing touring comedian and is one of the most watched comedians on YouTube with over 1.1 billion views and over 25 million fans on social media. Iglesias’ other distinct honors consist of being included in the Hollywood Reporter’s “Top 40 Comedy Players” issue, serving on the cover of Variety’s comedy issue, and being one of the few comics to ever headline and sell-out Madison Square Garden in New York, Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and The Sydney Opera House in Australia. He was also to first comedian to perform at and sell out Dodger Stadium in 2022 to a crowd of 55,000 people. Iglesias is currently on his world “Don’t Worry, Be Fluffy Comedy Tour” and will perform a special Valentine’s Day show on Feb. 14 at the Kia Forum.
On TV, Iglesias is the star and executive producer of the Netflix original comedy series, Mr. Iglesias, which is currently streaming three seasons. He also costars Tim Allen and Eric Stonestreet in The Santa Clauses, which premiered last fall.
Iglesias is no stranger to the world of NASCAR. He’s attended several races in the past, including bringing his series “Fluffy Breaks Even” to the Daytona 500, serving as the honorary pace car driver at Sonoma Raceway, and frequently catching races at California Speedway. Now, he gets the opportunity to give the first command to “start your engines!” for the 2024 NASCAR season at the Coliseum.
On Sunday, Feb. 4, racing begins on the Coliseum’s temporary, quarter-mile asphalt track at 1:30 p.m. PT with the NASCAR Mexico Series’ King Taco La Batalla en El Coliseo followed by the NASCAR Cup Series’ Busch Light Clash at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET.
The third-annual Busch Light Clash is the NASCAR Cup Series’ season-opening exhibition featuring the sport’s top stars. NASCAR on FOX will once again carry the broadcast for the Busch Light Clash while the NASCAR Mexico Series Race will be on FS1, Fox Deportes, Fox Sports 3 in Mexico, and available regionally on Claro Sports and the D Motors channel on DirecTV.
A single ticket purchased is good for both races, and fans are encouraged to get their tickets now while supplies last by visiting www.nascarclash.com.
Defending Daytona 500 champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has joined fellow NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson as a surprise entrant for the 2024 Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Stenhouse announced Wednesday that he will race inside the SageNet Center for the first time since 2022. The driver of the No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series will compete in Friday’s preliminary night on the quarter-mile dirt oval known as Tulsa Expo Raceway as he looks to qualify for the championship feature on Saturday.
It all happened thanks to a text message exchange between Larson and Stenhouse. Larson told him to reach out to team owner Keith Kunz, whom Larson will drive for Thursday. After that, everything fell into place for Stenhouse to drive the Keith Kunz Motorsports-Curb-Agajanian/NOS Energy No. 71R.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. competes in the feature race during the 2022 Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire at Tulsa Expo Raceway in Tulsa, Oklahoma on January 14, 2022. (Photo: Nick Oxford/NASCAR)
“I was texting with [Kyle] Larson, telling him, the same time you were trying to get your deal together, I was trying to get a deal together, and he said to call Keith [Kunz], which I’ve run for him one other time at the Chili Bowl, and I didn’t really perform the way I wanted to, so I wasn’t sure if he would let me back in one of his cars, but I shot him a text, and he said, let me get on that, so here we are,” Stenhouse explained. “Obviously, Keith has the best cars out there, and they show every night, so I’m looking forward to getting back in a Midget at the Expo to see what we can do.”
Stenhouse has competed at the Chili Bowl Nationals 16 times in the last 20 years, making the championship feature eight times. His best performance came in 2021, when he finished seventh in the Saturday night finale.
“Really looking forward to getting back to Chili Bowl,” Stenhouse said. “Obviously, took last year off and I missed it. I was sitting on the couch watching this week, and my wife looked at me and said, I can tell you really want to go; just go.”
All 2024 Chili Bowl racing action, including Stenhouse’s preliminary night on Friday, can be seen live on FloRacing, the streaming home of all NASCAR Roots racing.
