TULSA, Okla. – Reigning NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series champion Logan Seavey knows one thing for sure entering General Tire Championship Day for the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals: he’s guaranteed a spot on the front row.
Seavey drew the No. 1 pill during Friday night’s random draw to determine the seeding for Saturday’s Pizza Express Pole Shuffle. As such, he’ll race in the final two-driver pairing during the event and can start no worse than second in the night’s 55-lap championship A main.
“That’s good news, definitely. Track position never hurts,” Seavey noted. “It’s a long race, though, and a lot of things can happen, so we just have to stay calm, control what we can control and see what happens for 55 laps. I’m excited, though. It should be a really fun time.”
The pill draw was conducted in the infield following the conclusion of Friday night’s 25-lap Vacuworx Qualifying Night preliminary feature. Justin Grant won the event for the third year in a row.
Saturday’s pole shuffle will utilize a ‘King of the Hill’ style format, with two cars taking to the indoor bullring at a time and racing for two laps. The higher-seeded driver in each pair has lane choice and the winner advances on to the next pair.
As drivers are eliminated, they fall into their starting spots among the first five rows of the grid.
The sequence continues until all but one driver is eliminated, and the last man standing will earn the pole position for the Chili Bowl’s iconic 55-lap feature event.
Kyle Larson was last year’s winner of the pole shuffle and drew the No. 3 seed for this year’s edition. He earned the pole for the 2018 Chili Bowl as the No. 2 seed, defeating Rico Abreu and eventual winner Christopher Bell to earn the top starting spot on the grid.
This year’s pole shuffle features only 10 drivers, down from the 12 that have taken part in previous years due to the addition of a fifth preliminary night.
Tenth-seeded David Gravel will kick off the proceedings, racing against Shane Golobic in the first pairing.
Other notables include seventh-seeded Tanner Thorson, fifth-seeded Abreu, third-seeded Larson and second-seeded Bell.
The pole shuffle will take place at 5 p.m. CT, the final action on-track before opening ceremonies.
SEEDING: Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals; Pizza Express Pole Shuffle; Draw held Jan. 18, 2019
- Logan Seavey
- Christopher Bell
- Kyle Larson
- Justin Grant
- Rico Abreu
- Brady Bacon
- Tanner Thorson
- Zach Daum
- Shane Golobic
- David Gravel
