1/18/2019
Chili Bowl Nationals
Justin Grant Unstoppable In Third Consecutive Vacuworx Qualifying Night Win
(Image Credit: Richard Bales)
Bryan Hulbert – TULSA, Okla. (January 18, 2019) Wheeling his NOS Energy Drink No. 4a to the pole of Friday’s Vacuworx Qualifying Night, Justin Grant set a feverish pace for 25 non-stop laps to garner his third career preliminary night win in as many years at the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire.
“This one was a lot of work. You know I’ve been really fortunate to win some decent races and most of them have been showing up and walking in at three o’clock in the afternoon with my helmet bag and jumping in the car and just doing that and going home. This one’s been … it started with a truck, trailer, and a credit card. And a lot of 12-, 14-hour days leading up to this, a ton of work. It just very validating that we could pull off a win. Those guys believed in me probably more than I did myself. But it’s like a bit of a weight lifted off … I can do that part of it too. Hopefully, we can keep it up,” commented Grant of his victory for RAMS Racing.
Grant’s fourth chance at the Golden Driller on Saturday night, the California native jumped to an early advantage, but that gap was short lived as Tanner Thorson began closing just as traffic came into play on Lap 12
Using slower cars as picks while trying to navigate heavy slower traffic, the pair ducked high and low and low at both ends of the Tulsa Expo Raceway. Setting up to challenge on Lap 18, Thorson would come up short as Justin worked a lapped car in the equation. With the slower machine cleared, Thorson again set up the attack as Grant slid off the bottom of the track with five to go. Able to slam the door into the first turn, Grant was able to edge out the win by 0.168 seconds
The first-second place finish for Tanner Thorson all week, the 2019 VIROC winner will make his fifth start on Saturday night with hopes of besting his fourth-place finish of the past two years. Recovering from a spin in his Qualifier that set the No. 84x up eighth in the lineup, Chad Boat raced the final podium stop as the leaders came to the white flag. Fourth went to Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. with Tucker Klaasmeyer in fifth
Alex Schutte with Daryn Pittman in tow brought along Dave Darland in eighth. Problems in his Heat Race, Spencer Bayston changed from the C-Feature to finish ninth. The night’s Hard Charger, the Indiana racer advanced 15 spots in the A-Feature and 34 positions overall. Grady Chandler made up the top 10.
Through Friday night, the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire saw 350 drivers of the 362 entries received take part in Preliminary Night competition. The Chili Bowl Flip Count stands at 49 with all drivers able to walk away.
With Saturday at the 33rd annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire is now set, the Pizza Express Pole Shuffle will determine the starting spots for the Top 10 drivers. Logan Seavey drew the No. 1 for Saturday’s dash which takes place after twin D-Features. Saturday’s “Alphabet Soup” will begin with Double O-Features.
Saturday, January 19, 2019 opens at 8:00 A.M. with Hot Laps on track at 9:30 A.M. The first race is slated to hit the track at 10:00 A.M. Opening Ceremonies for the day’s final events, which include C, B, and A-Feature action, is scheduled for 6:00 P.M. (CT).
For continued updates on the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire, fans can follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with @CBNationals. All official press, updates, and results on the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire can be found online at http://www.chilibowl.com.
Results:
Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire
Tulsa Expo Raceway - Tulsa, Okla.
Friday, January 18, 2019
Vacuworx Qualifying Night
Car Count: 72
Event Count: 350
Heat Races: Top 40 in passing points advance to Qualifiers.
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Daryn Pittman, [1]; 2. 2G-Steve Buckwalter, [3]; 3. 1P-Terry Nichols, [2]; 4. 7CG-Jimmy Light, [4]; 5. 19M-Ethan Mitchell, [6]; 6. 55K-Nick Knepper, [9]; 7. 0-Johnny Murdock, [8]; 8. (DNF) 101-Chuck McGillivray, [7]; 9. (DNF) 21W-Waylon Weaver, [5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 17S-Ricky Stenhouse Jr, [8]; 2. 95-Chris Andrews, [6]; 3. 11P-Laydon Pearson, [5]; 4. 21R-Stevie Sussex, [2]; 5. 19U-Pierce Urbanosky, [3]; 6. (DNF) 99G-Skylar Gee, [4]; 7. (DNF) 19T-Kevin Thomas Jr, [7]; 8. (DNF) 14C-Danny Clark, [1]; (DNS) 8JR-A.J. Johnson,
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 84X-Chad Boat, [8]; 2. 47M-Austin Liggett, [3]; 3. 31K-Kyle Beilman, [2]; 4. 88N-D.J. Netto, [7]; 5. 59E-Dex Eaton, [4]; 6. (DNF) 37M-Matt Mitchell, [6]; 7. (DNF) 68S-Logan Scherb, [1]; 8. (DNF) 45L-Carson Short, [5]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 5G-Grady Chandler, [1]; 2. 36-Dave Darland, [3]; 3. 73X-Shane Cottle, [5]; 4. 80-Josh Hawkins, [2]; 5. 10W-George White, [4]; 6. 10V-Landon Hurst, [6]; 7. 926-Morgan Frewaldt, [7]; (DNS) 27A-A.J. Burns,
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 9D-Sean Dodenhoff, [2]; 2. 86-Mark Lowrey, [1]; 3. 78X-Ray Allen Kulhanek, [3]; 4. 67Z-Kasey Kahne, [4]; 5. 57B-Chase Jones, [6]; 6. 18K-Mike Mehl, [5]; 7. 23M-David Budres, [7]; 8. (DNF) 97K-Spencer Bayston, [8]
Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer, [6]; 2. 41H-Howard Moore, [1]; 3. 99W-Korey Weyant, [4]; 4. 1S-A.J. Flick, [2]; 5. 11G-Mike Goodman, [8]; 6. 28M-Ace McCarthy, [7]; 7. 20-Tadd Holliman, [3]; 8. 87C-Danny Smith, [5]
Heat 7 (8 Laps): 1. 17R-Alex Schutte, [3]; 2. 4A-Justin Grant, [8]; 3. 15X-Lance Bennett, [2]; 4. 10B-Kyle Bellm, [7]; 5. 83B-J.B. Gilbert, [6]; 6. 22A-Andy Malpocker, [4]; 7. 93M-Scottie McDonald, [1]; 8. 1X-Cody Lampe, [5]
Heat 8 (8 Laps): 1. 54L-Luke Icke, [4]; 2. 2A-Brent Beauchamp, [7]; 3. 05-Brad Loyet, [6]; 4. 118-Scott Evans, [2]; 5. 5S-Kyle Steffens, [5]; 6. 95T-Brandon (Buddy) Tubbs II, [8]; 7. (DNF) 7D-Michelle Decker, [3]; 8. (DNF) 14H-AJ Hopkins, [1]
Heat 9 (8 Laps): 1. 3C-Tanner Thorson, [4]; 2. 4J-Tim Crawley, [1]; 3. 51J-Hunter Schuerenberg, [8]; 4. 21H-Ty Hulsey, [2]; 5. 23L-Lee Lengel, [5]; 6. 68B-Blain Petersen, [6]; 7. 72X-Chris Tarrant, [3]; 8. (DNF) 71G-Damion Gardner, [7]
C-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding B-Feature.
C Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 28M-Ace McCarthy, [4]; 2. 37M-Matt Mitchell, [5]; 3. 22A-Andy Malpocker, [8]; 4. 21H-Ty Hulsey, [1]; 5. 45L-Carson Short, [14]; 6. 68S-Logan Scherb, [13]; 7. 59E-Dex Eaton, [3]; 8. 0-Johnny Murdock, [7]; 9. 101-Chuck McGillivray, [12]; 10. (DNF) 68B-Blain Petersen, [6]; 11. (DNF) 5S-Kyle Steffens, [2]; 12. (DNF) 72X-Chris Tarrant, [11]; 13. (DNF) 926-Morgan Frewaldt, [9]; 14. (DNF) 20-Tadd Holliman, [10]; 15. (DNF) 14H-AJ Hopkins, [15]; (DNS) 1X-Cody Lampe, ; (DNS) 8JR-A.J. Johnson,
C Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 19T-Kevin Thomas Jr, [8]; 2. 97K-Spencer Bayston, [11]; 3. 95T-Brandon (Buddy) Tubbs II, [1]; 4. 10V-Landon Hurst, [5]; 5. 23L-Lee Lengel, [2]; 6. 10W-George White, [3]; 7. 19U-Pierce Urbanosky, [4]; 8. 7D-Michelle Decker, [10]; 9. 71G-Damion Gardner, [12]; 10. 99G-Skylar Gee, [7]; 11. 93M-Scottie McDonald, [13]; 12. 14C-Danny Clark, [15]; 13. 87C-Danny Smith, [14]; 14. 18K-Mike Mehl, [6]; 15. 21W-Waylon Weaver, [16]; 16. 23M-David Budres, [9]; 17. (DNF) 27A-A.J. Burns, [17]
Qualifiers: Top 16 in combined passing points advance to the A-Feature.
Qualifier 1 (10 Laps): 1. 36-Dave Darland, [2]; 2. 21-Daryn Pittman, [3]; 3. 17S-Ricky Stenhouse Jr, [6]; 4. 10B-Kyle Bellm, [1]; 5. 21R-Stevie Sussex, [10]; 6. 99W-Korey Weyant, [7]; 7. 51J-Hunter Schuerenberg, [4]; 8. 67Z-Kasey Kahne, [9]; 9. (DNF) 2A-Brent Beauchamp, [5]; 10. (DNF) 31K-Kyle Beilman, [8]
Qualifier 2 (10 Laps): 1. 17R-Alex Schutte, [4]; 2. 5G-Grady Chandler, [3]; 3. 54L-Luke Icke, [5]; 4. 19M-Ethan Mitchell, [9]; 5. 11P-Laydon Pearson, [2]; 6. 84X-Chad Boat, [6]; 7. 86-Mark Lowrey, [1]; 8. (DNF) 11G-Mike Goodman, [7]; 9. (DNF) 15X-Lance Bennett, [8]; 10. (DNF) 80-Josh Hawkins, [10]
Qualifier 3 (10 Laps): 1. 3C-Tanner Thorson, [5]; 2. 2G-Steve Buckwalter, [3]; 3. 9D-Sean Dodenhoff, [4]; 4. 73X-Shane Cottle, [2]; 5. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer, [6]; 6. 41H-Howard Moore, [1]; 7. 57B-Chase Jones, [9]; 8. 1S-A.J. Flick, [10]; 9. (DNF) 78X-Ray Allen Kulhanek, [7]; 10. (DNF) 55K-Nick Knepper, [8]
Qualifier 4 (10 Laps): 1. 4A-Justin Grant, [6]; 2. 88N-D.J. Netto, [2]; 3. 47M-Austin Liggett, [3]; 4. 95-Chris Andrews, [5]; 5. 05-Brad Loyet, [4]; 6. 1P-Terry Nichols, [7]; 7. 4J-Tim Crawley, [1]; 8. 83B-J.B. Gilbert, [9]; 9. 7CG-Jimmy Light, [8]; 10. (DNF) 118-Scott Evans, [10]
B-Features: Top 4 advance to the A-Feature.
B Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 51J-Hunter Schuerenberg, [3]; 2. 05-Brad Loyet, [2]; 3. 99W-Korey Weyant, [4]; 4. 1P-Terry Nichols, [5]; 5. 37M-Matt Mitchell, [14]; 6. 11G-Mike Goodman, [8]; 7. 22A-Andy Malpocker, [15]; 8. 21H-Ty Hulsey, [16]; 9. 31K-Kyle Beilman, [11]; 10. 4J-Tim Crawley, [7]; 11. (DNF) 80-Josh Hawkins, [12]; 12. (DNF) 83B-J.B. Gilbert, [9]; 13. (DNF) 21R-Stevie Sussex, [1]; 14. (DNF) 78X-Ray Allen Kulhanek, [10]; 15. (DNF) 57B-Chase Jones, [6]; 16. (DNF) 28M-Ace McCarthy, [13]
B Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 10B-Kyle Bellm, [2]; 2. 73X-Shane Cottle, [1]; 3. 19T-Kevin Thomas Jr, [13]; 4. 97K-Spencer Bayston, [14]; 5. 41H-Howard Moore, [5]; 6. 67Z-Kasey Kahne, [8]; 7. 11P-Laydon Pearson, [3]; 8. 10V-Landon Hurst, [16]; 9. 7CG-Jimmy Light, [10]; 10. 15X-Lance Bennett, [9]; 11. (DNF) 95T-Brandon (Buddy) Tubbs II, [15]; 12. (DNF) 86-Mark Lowrey, [6]; 13. (DNF) 1S-A.J. Flick, [7]; (DNS) 2A-Brent Beauchamp, ; (DNS) 55K-Nick Knepper, ; (DNS) 118-Scott Evans,
A-Feature: Top 2 advance to Saturday's A-Feature.
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 4A-Justin Grant, [1]; 2. 3C-Tanner Thorson, [3]; 3. 84X-Chad Boat, [8]; 4. 17S-Ricky Stenhouse Jr, [2]; 5. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer, [7]; 6. 17R-Alex Schutte, [4]; 7. 21-Daryn Pittman, [9]; 8. 36-Dave Darland, [6]; 9. 97K-Spencer Bayston, [24]; 10. 5G-Grady Chandler, [10]; 11. 9D-Sean Dodenhoff, [13]; 12. 54L-Luke Icke, [5]; 13. 88N-D.J. Netto, [14]; 14. 19T-Kevin Thomas Jr, [22]; 15. 95-Chris Andrews, [11]; 16. 51J-Hunter Schuerenberg, [17]; 17. 47M-Austin Liggett, [15]; 18. 19M-Ethan Mitchell, [16]; 19. 2G-Steve Buckwalter, [12]; 20. 73X-Shane Cottle, [20]; 21. 99W-Korey Weyant, [21]; 22. 1P-Terry Nichols, [23]; 23. 10B-Kyle Bellm, [18]; 24. 05-Brad Loyet, [19]
Lap Leader(s): Justin Grant 1-25
Hard Charger: Spencer Bayston +15
Submitted By: Bryan Hulbert
