TULSA, Okla. — Four Chili Bowl Nationals winners are among the 363 drivers entered in the 38th running of the prestigious event that begins Jan. 8 at Tulsa Expo Raceway inside the SageNet Center.
Defending race winner Logan Seavey leads the group and he will defend his title aboard Kevin Swindell’s familiar No. 39 entry which he wheeled to an attention-grabbing victory in last year’s event. Seavey went on to win the USAC national midget title, driving for Abacus Racing.
Tanner Thorson, who won the Chili Bowl in 2022 with Reinbold Underwood, will wheel his own No. 88 midget, while five-time Chili Bowl winner Sammy Swindell guides his familiar No. 1 entry.
Finally, Tim McCreadie, who won the Chili Bowl in 2006, will drive for Hayward Motorsports.
Recent winners Kyle Larson, Rico Abreu and Christopher Bell are not entered in this year’s event.
• Two-time USAC national midget champion Buddy Kofoid will continue to chase his first Chili Bowl Nationals victory by returning to the stacked Keith Kunz Motorsports operation, which will field 13 cars in Tulsa.
The other KKM drivers for the Chili Bowl are Gavan Boschele, Taylor Reimer, Ryan Timms, Brent Crews, Emerson Axsom, Jade Avedisian, Mariah Ede, Kale Drake, Cannon McIntosh, Gavin Miller, Tom Harris and Tanner Carrick.
• In addition to entries for Sammy Swindell and Seavey, Kaylee Bryson will guide a third Swindell Motorsports with Bertrand Motorsports entry. Bryson was the first female driver to make the Chili Bowl main event in 2022 and has qualified for the feature in consecutive years.
• Abacus Racing, which claimed the 2023 USAC midget championship with Logan Seavey at the controls, will field a trio of Chili Bowl entries with World of Outlaws veteran David Gravel, two-time All Star sprint car champion Tyler Courtney and New Zealand midget master Michael Pickens at the controls.
• NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Briscoe returns to his dirt-track roots behind the wheel of one of two Chase Briscoe Racing entries. Dirt late model and modified standout Kyle Strickler will wheel the second Briscoe entry.
• While he will not compete in the Chili Bowl, Cup Series driver Alex Bowman will field a three-car midget team with veteran drivers C.J. Leary, Kevin Thomas Jr. and Jake Swanson in the seats.