Christopher Bell triumphed in Thursday night action at the Chili Bowl (Dave Biro/DB3 Imaging/Chili Bowl Photo)
Bryan Hulbert - TULSA, Okla. (January 17, 2019) Surviving a myriad of cautions in Thursday John Christner Trucking Qualifying Night, along with a late race challenge from Shane Golobic and C.J. Leary, two-time defending Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire Champion, Christopher Bell locked his iRacing No. 71w into his seventh Saturday A-Feature in as many years.
Asked about the last few laps, Bell stated, "It was a lot busier than what I wanted them to be. Shane (Golobic) definitely made a race out of it and I hope the last four laps were a good show. It was a lot of fun ... well it was fun because I won but if I hadn't won it wouldn't have been much fun."
Bell's fifth career Preliminary Night win, the final four laps turned into a shootout between the Oklahoma native, Shane Golobic, and C.J. Leary. Taking his Keith Kunz Motorsports mount on two wheels on the final restart, the misstep was enough to allow the Elk Grove Ford No. 17c a run to the inside line going into the third and fourth turn. Sliding across Bell's nose, Christopher turned down the track to retake the point.
Challenging again, this time Bell and Golobic found themselves under fire with the Valvoline No. 55v of C.J. Leary nearly going to the point. Unable to hold, Leary battled close with Shane Golobic but neither were able to build the run needed to keep pace as Bell took the checkered flag 0.555 seconds to the good.
"Shane was able to sneak underneath me in three. It got so slick off two and then all the way really until you got to pretty much four you were just kind of sitting there waiting on it and I knew that opening up my entry like that I was very vulnerable," commented Bell.
"I kept hitting the bottom off (turn) two on the restarts and going straight to the top, so I didn't really want to change what I was doing. I went down there, and I don't know if my tire was low or I got too much berm but I biked up and it allowed him to stay with me a little bit better and pull the trigger on me."
Shane Golobic's seventh ticket to the A-Feature since 2010, the California shoe was able to pull away from Leary by just under a half second. Finishing fourth was Danny Stratton with Josh Most making the very best of restarts and attrition to pick up 17 positions to pick up Hard Charger honors. Advancing 12 positions, Austin Brown crossed sixth.
Nearly clearing the turn one fence in his Heat Race, 2005 Chili Bowl Champion, Tracy Hines, was relegated to the 11th starting spot in the second C-Feature. Charging through the C and B-Features, the Wilke-Pak No. 11 advanced position 36 times to finish seventh. Tiptoeing his way through the field, Casey Shuman made up six positions with Kyle Cummins rebounding from a late race caution to finish ninth. Despite fighting mechanical issues throughout the A-Feature, cautions brought Andrew Felker back into the mix for a top ten finish.
Four nights down with two to go, the 33rd annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire has had 276 drivers have check-in so far with 73 taking part in Thursday's John Christner Trucking Qualifying Night. Currently, the Chili Bowl Flip Count stands at 41. All drivers have been able to walk away.
The 33rd Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire continues Friday, January 18, 2019, with Vacuworx Qualifying Night. A roster of 75 drivers is expected to be on hand for the final prelim night. The River Spirit Expo Center will open at 9:00 A.M. with Pit Pass sales starting at 11:00 A.M. Hot Laps will get underway at 4:00 P.M. with racing at 5:00 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.
Thursday, January 17, 2019
John Christner Trucking Qualifying Night
Car Count: 73
Event Count: 276
Heat Races: Top 40 in passing points advance to Qualifiers.
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 39-Ryan Bernal, [1]; 2. 97A-Austin O'Dell, [6]; 3. 7MF-Chance Morton, [8]; 4. 23-Bryan Salisbury, [7]; 5. 7JR-JD Black, [2]; 6. 10K-Marvin Mitchell, [3]; 7. (DNF) 13-Steve Davis, [4]; 8. (DNF) 84S-Shaun Shapel, [5]; 9. (DNF) 35L-Cody Ledger, [9]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 71R-Chase Johnson, [1]; 2. 72K-Sam Johnson, [3]; 3. 1A-Justin Allgaier, [5]; 4. 15D-Andrew Deal, [6]; 5. 22B-Troy Betts, [8]; 6. 17M-Brett Ireland, [7]; 7. (DNF) 49F-Taylor Forbes, [4]; 8. (DNF) 98-Ryan Padgett, [2]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 32D-Casey Shuman, [1]; 2. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [4]; 3. 68-Robby Josett, [5]; 4. 71X-McKenna Haase, [7]; 5. 51-R.J. Johnson, [8]; 6. 321-Chad Winfrey, [6]; 7. (DNF) 71T-Zac Taylor, [3]; 8. (DNF) 24F-Hunter Fischer, [2]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 71W-Christopher Bell, [4]; 2. 17H-Sheldon Haudenschild, [2]; 3. 92M-Josh Most, [6]; 4. 81B-Seth Bergman, [5]; 5. 4T-AJ Valim, [1]; 6. 22M-Mike Hess, [7]; 7. 46L-L.J. Lombardo, [8]; 8. (DNF) 19W-Jake Morgan, [3]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 55V-C.J. Leary, [1]; 2. 7S-Pat Schudy, [2]; 3. 91K-Kevin Bayer, [8]; 4. 2D-Matt Sherrell, [3]; 5. (DNF) 11X-Donovan Peterson, [6]; 6. (DNF) 73B-Cole Macedo, [7]; 7. (DNF) 71B-Robert Bell, [4]; 8. (DNF) 23S-Kyle Simon, [5]
Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 2C-Seth Carlson, [2]; 2. 45J-Jack Dover, [5]; 3. 11A-Andrew Felker, [4]; 4. 5R-Ryan Foster, [3]; 5. 10C-Dalton Camfield, [7]; 6. 72-Craig Oakes, [1]; 7. 9S-Rick Shuman, [6]; (DNS) 6-Bill Rose,
Heat 7 (8 Laps): 1. 51B-Joe B. Miller, [1]; 2. 25-Jerry Coons Jr, [2]; 3. 7R-Thomas Meseraull, [3]; 4. 7-Shannon McQueen, [8]; 5. 17A-Austin Brown, [7]; 6. 49X-Justin Fifield, [5]; 7. 222-A.J. Gilbert, [6]; 8. (DNF) 15G-Gavin Stout, [4]
Heat 8 (8 Laps): 1. 1G-Kyle Cummins, [2]; 2. 2T-Kaleb Currie, [1]; 3. 47X-Danny Stratton, [8]; 4. 21K-Josh Lakatos, [4]; 5. 67F-Kyle O'Gara, [5]; 6. 91B-Bret Barney, [6]; 7. 103-Broc Hunnell, [7]; 8. (DNF) 7CH-Chris (Critter) Malone, [3]
Heat 9 (8 Laps): 1. 83-Karsyn Elledge, [2]; 2. 17C-Shane Golobic, [5]; 3. 17B-Ryan Bickett, [6]; 4. 56X-Mark Chisholm, [3]; 5. 73-Dylan Ito, [7]; 6. 57-Maria Cofer, [1]; 7. 11-Tracy Hines, [4]; (DNS) 21D-Justin Dickerson,
C-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding B-Feature.
C Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 22M-Mike Hess, [3]; 2. 22B-Troy Betts, [1]; 3. 67F-Kyle O'Gara, [2]; 4. 19W-Jake Morgan, [13]; 5. 49X-Justin Fifield, [6]; 6. 9S-Rick Shuman, [9]; 7. 15G-Gavin Stout, [12]; 8. 10K-Marvin Mitchell, [7]; 9. 4T-AJ Valim, [4]; 10. 71T-Zac Taylor, [11]; 11. 91B-Bret Barney, [5]; 12. (DNF) 13-Steve Davis, [10]; 13. (DNF) 72-Craig Oakes, [8]; 14. (DNF) 98-Ryan Padgett, [15]; (DNS) 71B-Robert Bell, ; (DNS) 23S-Kyle Simon, ; (DNS) 21D-Justin Dickerson,
C Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 57-Maria Cofer, [8]; 2. 11-Tracy Hines, [11]; 3. 321-Chad Winfrey, [4]; 4. 11X-Donovan Peterson, [1]; 5. 103-Broc Hunnell, [7]; 6. 7JR-JD Black, [3]; 7. 24F-Hunter Fischer, [15]; 8. 35L-Cody Ledger, [13]; 9. 7CH-Chris (Critter) Malone, [14]; 10. 222-A.J. Gilbert, [9]; 11. (DNF) 46L-L.J. Lombardo, [6]; 12. (DNF) 17M-Brett Ireland, [2]; 13. (DNF) 84S-Shaun Shapel, [12]; 14. (DNF) 49F-Taylor Forbes, [10]; (DNS) 73B-Cole Macedo, ; (DNS) 6-Bill Rose,
Qualifiers: Top 16 in combined passing points advance to the A-Feature.
Qualifier 1 (10 Laps): 1. 55V-C.J. Leary, [2]; 2. 1A-Justin Allgaier, [1]; 3. 71W-Christopher Bell, [6]; 4. 11A-Andrew Felker, [8]; 5. 1G-Kyle Cummins, [4]; 6. 17H-Sheldon Haudenschild, [7]; 7. 81B-Seth Bergman, [9]; 8. 17B-Ryan Bickett, [3]; 9. 45J-Jack Dover, [5]; 10. 21K-Josh Lakatos, [10]
Qualifier 2 (10 Laps): 1. 39-Ryan Bernal, [3]; 2. 17C-Shane Golobic, [5]; 3. 51B-Joe B. Miller, [2]; 4. 2D-Matt Sherrell, [10]; 5. 97A-Austin O'Dell, [6]; 6. 10C-Dalton Camfield, [9]; 7. 7S-Pat Schudy, [7]; 8. (DNF) 68-Robby Josett, [1]; 9. (DNF) 83-Karsyn Elledge, [4]; 10. (DNF) 51-R.J. Johnson, [8]
Qualifier 3 (10 Laps): 1. 25-Jerry Coons Jr, [7]; 2. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [4]; 3. 71R-Chase Johnson, [3]; 4. 7R-Thomas Meseraull, [8]; 5. 7-Shannon McQueen, [2]; 6. 91K-Kevin Bayer, [5]; 7. 17A-Austin Brown, [9]; 8. 7MF-Chance Morton, [6]; 9. 5R-Ryan Foster, [10]; 10. 23-Bryan Salisbury, [1]
Qualifier 4 (10 Laps): 1. 47X-Danny Stratton, [6]; 2. 2T-Kaleb Currie, [7]; 3. 32D-Casey Shuman, [3]; 4. 71X-McKenna Haase, [1]; 5. 15D-Andrew Deal, [8]; 6. 2C-Seth Carlson, [5]; 7. 73-Dylan Ito, [9]; 8. 56X-Mark Chisholm, [10]; 9. (DNF) 72K-Sam Johnson, [2]; 10. (DNF) 92M-Josh Most, [4]
B-Features: Top 4 advance to the A-Feature.
B Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 1G-Kyle Cummins, [1]; 2. 91K-Kevin Bayer, [2]; 3. 2C-Seth Carlson, [3]; 4. 19W-Jake Morgan, [16]; 5. 17B-Ryan Bickett, [8]; 6. 72K-Sam Johnson, [10]; 7. 22M-Mike Hess, [13]; 8. 5R-Ryan Foster, [11]; 9. 22B-Troy Betts, [14]; 10. 56X-Mark Chisholm, [9]; 11. 73-Dylan Ito, [7]; 12. 17H-Sheldon Haudenschild, [4]; 13. 7S-Pat Schudy, [6]; 14. (DNF) 67F-Kyle O'Gara, [15]; 15. (DNF) 7MF-Chance Morton, [5]; 16. (DNF) 23-Bryan Salisbury, [12]
B Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 17A-Austin Brown, [6]; 2. 15D-Andrew Deal, [1]; 3. 92M-Josh Most, [10]; 4. 11-Tracy Hines, [14]; 5. 51-R.J. Johnson, [11]; 6. 68-Robby Josett, [9]; 7. 45J-Jack Dover, [7]; 8. 81B-Seth Bergman, [5]; 9. 321-Chad Winfrey, [15]; 10. 21K-Josh Lakatos, [12]; 11. 83-Karsyn Elledge, [8]; 12. 71X-McKenna Haase, [2]; 13. (DNF) 57-Maria Cofer, [13]; 14. (DNF) 11X-Donovan Peterson, [16]; 15. (DNF) 7-Shannon McQueen, [3]; 16. (DNF) 10C-Dalton Camfield, [4]
A-Feature: Top 2 advance to Saturday's A-Feature.
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 71W-Christopher Bell, [3]; 2. 17C-Shane Golobic, [4]; 3. 55V-C.J. Leary, [8]; 4. 47X-Danny Stratton, [1]; 5. 92M-Josh Most, [22]; 6. 17A-Austin Brown, [18]; 7. 11-Tracy Hines, [24]; 8. 32D-Casey Shuman, [14]; 9. 1G-Kyle Cummins, [17]; 10. 11A-Andrew Felker, [9]; 11. 97A-Austin O'Dell, [10]; 12. 2C-Seth Carlson, [21]; 13. 1A-Justin Allgaier, [11]; 14. 71R-Chase Johnson, [13]; 15. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [7]; 16. (DNF) 39-Ryan Bernal, [5]; 17. (DNF) 25-Jerry Coons Jr, [2]; 18. (DNF) 2D-Matt Sherrell, [12]; 19. (DNF) 7R-Thomas Meseraull, [15]; 20. (DNF) 19W-Jake Morgan, [23]; 21. (DNF) 15D-Andrew Deal, [20]; 22. (DNF) 91K-Kevin Bayer, [19]; 23. (DNF) 2T-Kaleb Currie, [6]; 24. (DNF) 51B-Joe B. Miller, [16]
Lap Leader(s): Jerry Coons, Jr. 2; Shane Golobic 23; Christopher Bell 1, 3-22, 24-25;
Hard Charger: Josh Most +17