TULSA, Okla. – The Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals is the biggest midget car racing event in the world and this year it has drawn nearly 400 entries, which have been spread across five qualifying nights that begin Monday evening.
Those qualifying nights each send two drivers to Saturday’s 55-lap Chili Bowl finale, with the rest of the field set via what is called the alphabet soup features for those who were unable to qualify via their respective qualifying night events.
However, the Chili Bowl format is much more complicated than that and includes passing points, nightly qualifiers and a pole shuffle to determine the pole sitter for the Chili Bowl finale.
Below is the full format for the 2022 edition of the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals.
Qualifying Nights (Mon, Tues, Wed, Thur, Fri)
Heat Races
Drivers draw for heat racing starting position at 2 p.m. at chalkboard each day
The driver who draws lowest number will start on the pole of Heat 1, second lowest number on the pole of Heat 2, etc.
Number of heats decided by number of cars – 7-10 cars per heat race (8 Laps)
Advancement from heat race to features is based upon passing points earned in heat race and qualifying races. Passing points are based upon car starting position when the yellow light goes out prior to the initial start of the heat or qualifying race.
C Mains/Qualifying Races/B Mains/A Main
The 40 drivers earning the most passing points advance to Four “A” Qualifying Races; drivers in passing points positions 41-68 will go to two C Main races. The two C Main races will have 16 cars 12 laps in length.
The top four cars in each C Main race will advance to the back of the B Main races, going 15 laps. (Top four from first C Main to back of first B Main, top four from second C Main to back of second B main)
The lineup of each “A” Qualifying race will include an inversion of six cars. The top 24 cars in passing points will make the inversion. (The top point driver will start on row 3 of the first qualifying race, the No. 2 driver on row 3 of the second qualifying race, etc.)
The four qualifying races will have 10 cars each with the top 16 in combined passing points from the heats and Qualifying races advancing to the A Main.
The balance of the cars (24) from the “A” qualifying races will advance to two 16 car B Mains. The top four in each B Main will advance to the A Main, going 30 laps.
There will be 24 drivers in each Preliminary Night A Feature
The top two drivers in the Preliminary A qualify for Saturday’s A Main.
Saturday Night Features
A Feature
The lineup for the top 10 cars in the A feature will be determined through the Pizza Express Chili Bowl Pole Dash.
The five A feature winners will draw 1-5, followed by the five drivers who finished second drawing 6-10 to seed the Pole Dash.
Pole Dash Procedure
Each of the races will have four cars and be four laps.
Preliminary Night Winners will draw for positions 1st – 5th, Runner up will draw 6th – 10th
First Race will be drivers who draw 7th – 10th, lined up in that order. Top 2 will advance.
Second Race, front row will be drivers who draw 5th & 6th, with the two drivers moving on from the first race in Row 2 (Winner inside, 2nd outside).
Third Race front row will be drivers who draw 3rd & 4th, with the two drivers moving on from the second race in Row 2 (Winner inside, 2nd outside).
Fourth Race front row will be drivers who draw 1st & 2nd, with the two drivers moving on from the third race in Row 2 (Winner inside, 2nd outside).
Winner of the fourth race will earn the pole in Saturday’s A-Feature.
NOTE: All positions in races other than Saturday’s A Main will line up upon original draw of the winners prior to the pole dash. Example – If the Friday winner draws number 1, the Wednesday winner draws number 2, Tuesday winner draws number 3, Thursday winner draws number 4,, and the Monday winner draws number 5, all positions in all races will be based on Friday first, Wednesday second, Tuesday third, Thursday fourth, and Monday fifth.
Seven drivers will advance from each B main to the A for a total of 24 cars with Provisionals set aside for the defending Chili Bowl Champion and previous year’s VIROC winner should they not transfer.
B Mains (20 Laps)
* There will be two B mains, with 20 drivers in each B main.
* Drivers finishing in their Preliminary A feature in position 3-8 will qualify for the B mains
* Five drivers will advance from each C main to the B mains (1st C to 1st B, 2nd C to 2nd B)
C Mains (15 Laps)
* There will be two C Mains, with 20 drivers in each C
* Drivers finishing in their Preliminary A feature positions 9-14 will qualify for the C mains
* Five drivers will advance from each D main to the C Mains
D Mains (15 Laps)
* There will be two D mains, with 20 drivers in each D
* Drivers finishing in their Preliminary A feature positions 15-20 will qualify for the D mains
* Five drivers will advance from each E main to the D mains
E Mains (15 Laps)
* There will be two E mains, with 20 drivers in each E
* Drivers finishing in their Preliminary night A features 21-24 and B features 5th will qualify for the E mains
* Five drivers will advance from each F main to the E mains
F Mains (15 Laps)
* There will be two F mains, with 20 drivers in each F
* Drivers finishing in their Preliminary night B features in positions 6-8 will qualify for the F mains
* Five drivers will advance from each G main to the F mains
G Mains (10 Laps)
* There will be two G mains, with 16 drivers in each G
* Drivers finishing in their Preliminary night B features in positions 9-10 will qualify for the G mains
* Five drivers will advance from each H main to the G mains
H Mains (10 Laps)
* There will be two H mains, with 16 drivers in each H
* Drivers finishing in their Preliminary night B features in positions 11-12 will qualify for the H mains
* Six drivers will advance from each I main to the H mains
I Mains (10 Laps)
* There will be two I mains, with 16 drivers in each I
* Drivers finishing in their Preliminary night B features in positions 13-14 will qualify for the I mains
* Six drivers will advance from each J main to the I mains
J Mains (10 Laps)
* There will be two J mains, with 16 drivers in each J
* Drivers finishing in their Preliminary night B features in positions 15-16 will qualify for the I mains
* Six drivers will advance from each K main to the I mains
K Mains (10 Laps)
* There will be two K mains, with 16 drivers in each K
* Drivers finishing in their Preliminary night C features in positions 5-6 will qualify for the K mains
* Six drivers will advance from each L main to the L mains
L Mains (10 Laps)
* There will be two L Mains, with 16 drivers in each L
* Drivers finishing in their Preliminary night C feature in position 7-8 will qualify for the L Mains
* Six drivers will advance from each M main to the L mains
M Mains (10 Laps)
* There will be two M Mains, with 16 drivers in each M
* Drivers finishing in C feature positions 9-10 will qualify for the M Mains
* Six drivers will advance from each N main to the M mains
N Mains (10 Laps)
* There will be two N Mains, with 16 drivers in each N
* Drivers finishing in C feature positions 11-12 will qualify for the N Mains
* Six drivers will advance from each O main to the N mains
O Mains (10 Laps)
* There will be two O Mains, with number of cars TBA
* Drivers finishing in C feature positions 13 on back will qualify for the O Main.