TULSA, Okla. — Jade Avedisian made history in her first attempt at running the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals.
Avedisian became only the second female (Kaylee Bryson) to qualify for the Chili Bowl main event and in doing so, was also named rookie of the year. More than 80 rookies participated in this year’s Chili Bowl and Avedisian was the only one to qualify for the main event.
Avedisian, who finished 18th in the feature, was also named the inaugural recipient of the Fuzzy Hahn Highest Finishing Female Award. The award is named for longtime Chili Bowl matriarch Fuzzy Hahn, who died in 2021.
“Overall, it was pretty good. At one point, I was running eighth or ninth and was running really well. Then under a caution I had my right rear go down and it took about five laps to build the pressure back up,” Avedisian said. “At that point, I was already caught in the back. Honestly, I don’t know what happened there. I can’t thank everyone at CB Industries enough for working their tails off, as well as every at Toyota Racing and all of our great sponsors. This wouldn’t be possible without them. It’s grateful to receive a trophy honoring someone like Fuzzy Hahn and I’m excited to receive it. We’ll try again next year.”
• Kaylee Bryson, who was the first female to start the Chili Bowl feature in 2022, made her second consecutive feature on Saturday. With Avedisian also in the main event, it was the first time two woman drivers were in the main event.
Meanwhile, Mariah Ede won the first D-feature, Gray Leadbetter topped the first K-feature and Kayla Roell claimed the second M-feature.
Taylor Reimer finished 15th in the first B main.
• The 37th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire saw 365 drivers officially draw in. During the Saturday Alphabet Soup, Oklahoma’s Kris Carroll set an event record by running through seven events.
He started in the N-Feature and continued to transfer until his afternoon ended in an H-feature.
• Cannon McIntosh led the middle stages of Saturday night’s main event and finished third aboard his Dave Mac Dalby Motorsports No. 08. It was the third top-five Chili Bowl finish in four years for the 20-year-old driver. He was the highest-finishing Toyota driver on Saturday.
“It’s frustrating to finish third after leading 10 laps there. Logan (Seavey) made some great adjustments,” McIntosh said. “When I got to traffic, I felt like I was in a good rhythm. Then I started to feel my tires start to fade. I should have dialed the shocks out quicker and pounded the top out earlier. Late in the race I was able to start to get back to them. I tried to maximize everything I could. I think I just made a couple of mistakes in the middle of the race.”
• The 2024 Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire, is scheduled for Jan. 8-13, 2024, at the Tulsa Expo Raceway.
• The inaugural Chili Bowl 50/50 Charity Raffle totaled $103,449 on Saturday night. The winner will receive $51,724.50, with an equal amount going to the DRC Legacy Foundation and Counseling and Recovery Services of Oklahoma.
• Ashton Torgerson, who was thrown from his car during a frightening accident on Tuesday night during the Chili Bowl, returned to Tulsa Expo Raceway on Saturday as a spectator.
The 16-year-old racer spent three nights in the hospital and was released on Friday evening.
• Chili Bowl winner Logan Seavey won his heat, qualifier, preliminary feature, the pole shuffle and the 55-lap main event for a perfect week aboard Kevin Swindell’s No. 39 entry. He also became the first Chili Bowl winner from the pole in 11 years.
Seavey was the 23rd different driver to win the Chili Bowl.
• Daison Pursley qualified for his first Chili Bowl main event, transferring through the C and B mains.
• Sixteen different teams were represented in the 24-car Chili Bowl starting field.