Driver Killed At Chili Bowl
Jan 14, 2012 We are very sad to report to you from the Chili-Bowl, that the dirt world has lost one of the good guys today. Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, driver Donnie Ray.
For other uses, see Chili Bowl disambiguation.
Tony Stewart racing at the 2008 Chili Bowl
The Chili Bowl Midget Nationals is an indoor midget car racing event. It takes place at the Tulsa Expo Center in January, two weeks after Christmas. 1 NASCAR calls it the biggest Midget race of the year. 2 It is nicknamed the Super Bowl of midget racing. 3
Contents
1 History
2 Event
3 Facility
4 Drivers
4.1 List of A-Main Winners
5 References
6 External links
History edit
The inaugural Chili Bowl is organized by Lanny Edwards and partner Emmett Hahn 4 It was named after a local company who sponsored the first event. 4 The race has been hosted at the Tulsa Expo Center since it was founded in 1987. 1 The 1994 event featured a three-wide battle for the lead between Jones brothers, P. J. and Page and eventual winner Andy Hillenburg from nearby Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
Event edit
The inaugural 1987 event consisted of 52 midgets competing in the 2-day event. 5 The event now consists of four days of qualifiers for the Saturday night A-main event. 6 One quarter of the drivers compete in each qualifying night s event, attempting to qualify for the A-main. 6 Each qualifying night has heat races, dash-type events, and a 25 lap feature. 6 7 Drivers who finish poorly in their heat event in their qualifying night start deep in final night qualifying events and have to finish high in many events to make the A-main field. A driver who started in the lowest J event would have to finish high in I, H, G, F, E, D, C, and B events to reach the A-main. The Top 4 finishers in the qualifying night s feature event plus the top 4 finishers the two Saturday night B-main events progress into the 24 car feature field. 7
The cable channel Speed Channel has televised the event in the United States. 8 The 2008 Saturday night main event was televised on HBO On Demand. 2 It featured a record 286 entries. 6 The National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame uses the event to induct its next class of members.
Facility edit
Home of the Chili Bowl, the Tulsa Expo Center
The event is held at the Tulsa Expo Center now called the River Spirit Expo, the home of The Golden Driller. It accommodates hundreds of race cars, bleachers for 15,000 fans, 9 and a trade show, all under one roof. 10
The clay which once covered the adjacent fairgrounds is used for the event. The quarter mile indoor track is not affected by adverse weather or drying from the wind or sun. 9
Drivers edit
Drivers in other series who come from a midget car background frequently race in the event. The 2007 competitors included NASCAR drivers Tony Stewart, Justin Allgaier, J. J. Yeley, A. J. Fike, Josh Wise, Kasey Kahne, and Jason Leffler, World of Outlaws sprint car drivers Terry McCarl, Tim McCreadie, Danny Lasoski, and Sammy Swindell, NHRA drag racing champions Cruz Pedregon and Gary Scelzi, 11 IndyCar drivers A. J. Foyt IV, Tom Bigelow and Billy Boat, and numerous USAC racers. 12 Drivers in 2008 came from 29 American states, Canada, and Australia. 9
NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, a two-time winner of the event, said,
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. 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. 6
USAC Triple Crown winner Dave Darland said, You ve got guys from all over the world. New Zealand, Australia, NASCAR, NHRA, Indy Cars -- you know, there s just all sorts of different competition there, all sots of different levels of drivers. 4
List of A-Main Winners edit
2005 winner Tracy Hines
1987 winner Rich Vogler
The A-Main feature is a 55 lap event the A-main was previously a 50 lap event but was changed in 2012, in honor of fallen driver Donnie Ray Crawford. Drivers with multiple wins include five-time winner Sammy Swindell, Sammy s son Kevin Swindell with four wins, and two-time winners Dan Boorse, Tony Stewart, Cory Kruseman and Rico Abreu. 1 The winning driver wins a trophy dubbed the Golden Driller after the 76-foot 23 m statue outside the building. 4
2016 Rico Abreu
2015 Rico Abreu 13
2014 Bryan Clauson
2013 Kevin Swindell
2012 Kevin Swindell
2011 Kevin Swindell
2010 Kevin Swindell
2009 Sammy Swindell
2008 Damion Gardner 1
2007 Tony Stewart
2006 Tim McCreadie
2005 Tracy Hines
2004 Cory Kruseman
2003 Dan Boorse
2002 Tony Stewart
2001 Jay Drake
2000 Cory Kruseman
1999 Dan Boorse
1998 Sammy Swindell
1997 Billy Boat
1996 Sammy Swindell
1995 Donnie Beechler
1994 Andy Hillenburg
1993 Dave Blaney
1992 Sammy Swindell
1991 Lealand McSpadden
1990 Jon Heydenreich
1989 Sammy Swindell
1988 Scott Hatton
1987 Rich Vogler
References edit
a b c d Chili Bowl Midget National. SCRA Fan. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
a b Tony Stewart Racing ready to defend Chili Bowl title. NASCAR. 2008-01-11. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
Leffler hopes experience equals Chili Bowl victory. NASCAR. 2007-01-02. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
a b c d Chili Bowl has different meanings, same prestige. NASCAR. 2008-01-07. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
Wheatley, Lonnie 2008-12-08. 20th Annual Chili Bowl Entries Unveiled.. Speedway Star.com. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
a b c d e Dirt-track legends among talented Chili Bowl drivers. NASCAR. 2008-01-11. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
a b Stewart still fighting for berth in Chili Bowl main. NASCAR. 2008-01-11. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. Speed TV channel. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
a b c Miller, Tim 2008-01-10. Chili Bowl flavour catches hold, even Down Under. The Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved 2008-10-16. dead link
Klein, John January 18, 2010. Chili Bowl a big boon for Tulsa. Tulsa World. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
Chili Bowl often becomes a David vs. Goliath storyline. NASCAR. 2008-01-08. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
21st Annual O Reilly Chili Bowl Midget Nationals Saturday Lineups. Racing West.com. 2007-01-13. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
Hembree, Mike January 18, 2015. Rico Abreu wins Chili Bowl with bold pass. USA Today. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
External links edit
Chili Bowl Nationals
Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php.title Chili_Bowl_ race oldid 700366208
Categories: American open wheel series racesMidget car racing.
January 16, 2016 For the second time in as many years, the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire was ruled Driver.
The Chili Bowl Midget Nationals is an indoor midget car racing event. One quarter of the drivers compete in each qualifying night s event.
Race car driver Donnie Ray Crawford III pictured was killed Saturday morning by his grandfather, Daniel Garcia, who also died in the shooting at the family s home.
News. Chili Bowl Time in Tulsa. VIROC III includes a total of 16 past Chili Bowl champions drivers and car owners and standouts in a special feature race.
Jan 16, 2015 Tony Stewart returns to Chili Bowl as track in Upstate New York struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. Stewart sat driver s seat with Tony Stewart.
Wagoner County authorities say two men are dead and a woman was wounded in a shooting near Broken Arrow.
FOX23 has learned that 24-year-old Donnie Ray Crawford III and his grandfather, 74-year-old Daniel Garcia, are both dead.
Wagoner County Sheriff Bob Colbert says the shooting happened around nine Saturday morning. Colbert says Garcia went into Crawford s room with a handgun and started shooting. Jodi Crawford, Garcia s daughter and Crawford s mother, and Donnie Ray Crawford II, Crawford s father, both went into the room to try to stop the shooting.
It was during this time that Garcia was shot. Jodi Crawford was transported to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the hip but the injury wasn t believed to be serious. Donnie Crawford II was not seriously injured.
Donnie Ray Crawford III is a racer competing in the Chili Bowl and the family is a well-known racing family in Tulsa. Drivers and fans at the Chili Bowl are already honoring Crawford. Drivers will be honoring Crawford before Saturday night s featured race.
Drivers raced 55 laps, instead of 50, to honor him. 55 is Crawford s sprint car number.
