Tadd Holliman and Gavin Stout kicked off their “runs through the alphabet” in style by winning their O-Features, with Holliman missing the transfer in the N-Feature by one position after charging from the rear.
Tulsa Shootout champion Joe B. Miller and Marcus Thomas claimed victory in the N-Features, with Miller meeting the same fate in his M-Feature as Holliman, missing the transfer on by one spot. Matt Streeter and dirt late model star Jonathan Davenport took the M-Feature victories.
Austen Figueroa and Tyler Nelson grabbed the checkers in the two L-Features, with Logan Jarrett and Levi Curry winning the K-Features. Kyle Jones ran through three races, from the L to the J, before he was eliminated from contention.
Chuck McGillivray and Maria Cofer stormed to J-Feature wins, while Kevin Olson and Daniel Robinson split the I-Feature checkers. They were followed in victory lane by Ryan Bernal and Josh Baughman, who each took a win in their respective H-Features.
Chris Andrews and Ryan Bernal were winners in the G-Features, with Chad Boespflug and Chance Morton scoring in the pair of F-Features. Josh Lakatos and micro sprint warrior Frank Flud shared the glory in the night’s E-Features as big names like Johnny Herrera, Chad Boespflug, Logan Seavey and Chris Urish were bounced from contention in that pair of races.
Thomas Meseraull wired the first of two D-Features, and Sam Hafertepe Jr. passed Holly Shelton to take the second D-Feature victory before the action moved over to MAVTV for the live television broadcast.
Jac Haudenschild passed polesitter Parker Price-Miller just before halfway en route to the win in the first 15-lap C-Feature, while Tanner Thorson topped the field in the second C-Feature, leading the group of drivers that tagged the tail of the two B-Features.
In the first of those 20-lap “last chance” contests, Shane Golobic led all 20 laps to take the win, despite a late-race challenge by Jerry Coons Jr. That event also saw eight-time World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series champion and Chili Bowl rookie Donny Schatz nearly transfer into the main event, missing out on his first A-Feature start by one position after being overhauled by Meseraull on the final restart.
The second B-main saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. out front for all 20 laps, leading the second set of six transfers into the championship bout. The first big incident in that event came on lap nine, when Dave Darland threw a slide job on Sammy Swindell that turned Swindell around and took him seemingly out of contention.
That dash to the A-Feature saw Swindell pull a slider that took out himself, Darland, Spencer Bayston and Steven Shebester, but allowed Justin Peck to sneak through on the top line just before the track was blocked. From there, Peck held off a huge run by Alex Bright on a green-white-checkered finish to make his first Chili Bowl finale.
Rico Abreu received the “Defending Champion’s Provisional” after he was involved in a crash and failed to transfer out of the first F-Feature, becoming the 25th and final starter for the 55-lap main event.
An event-record 365 drivers competed in this year’s Chili Bowl Nationals, surpassing last year’s mark of 335 and reaffirming the Chili Bowl’s status as the biggest open-wheel midget event in the world.
The 32nd annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals will be held Jan. 9-13, 2018. For more information, visit www.chilibowl.com.
Full results from championship night can be viewed on the next page…
