By Robert Haugh
With 270 entries,
it’s no wonder that the 27th Annual Chili Bowl Midget Nationals is
the Super Bowl of Midget racing. Attracting the best Midget racers from throughout
the U.S. and beyond, as well as a myriad of racing stars from an array of
series including three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion and two-time Chili Bowl
winner Tony Stewart.
Joining Stewart from the NASCAR ranks will be many, including Washington native
Kasey Kahne,
Californians Brad Sweet,
Cole Whitt and Jason
Leffler, Arizona’s J.J.
Yeley and Midwestern Dirt
tracker, turned NASCAR star Justin Allgaier.
Hoping to bring
the coveted Golden Driller home are an array of West Coast Midget champions, feature
winners, veterans, young guns and car owners, many representing the Bay Cities
Racing Association, USAC-Western States Midgets, Washington Midget Racing
Association and Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association.
In all, over 85
drivers and teams from the West Coast will be gunning for the coveted Golden
Driller trophy awarded on Saturday, January 12th in Tulsa, Oklahoma
at the Qwik Trip Center. Of the West Coast entries, over 40 are representing
California, 10 from Arizona, seven from Colorado, three from Washington and a
lone entry from Idaho.
With so many
championships, feature wins and accolades amidst the field, we will start with
recent West Coast Midget champions: 2012 USAC-National midget champion and 2012
Chili Bowl A-main qualifier Darren Hagen (Riverside, CA) in the RFMS Racing #3 Spike/Esslinger,
2012 USAC-Western States Midget champion Shannon McQueen (Tehachapi, CA) in the McQueen Racing #7
Spike/Esslinger by Duane McQueen, former USAC-Western States and VRA Midget
champion Cory Kruseman of
Ventura, CA (two-time Chili Bowl champion, 2004, 2000) aboard the Kruseman
Motorsports #21k Lucas Oil Spike/Esslinger, 2012 USAC-Western States Midgets
Dirt champion and 2009 BCRA champion David Prickett (Fresno, CA) piloting the Neverlift
Motorsports #015 Spike/Chevy, multiple-time Chili Bowl A-main qualifier and
NASCAR veteran Jason Leffler (Long Beach) aboard the Three Wide Life #56 Beast/Esslinger,
California native and multiple-time Sprint and Midget winner and 2012 Indy 500
starter Bryan Clauson in
the CTR-Curb-Agajanian #39b Spike/Esslinger, 2004 BCRA champion and multi-time
feature winner Thomas Meseraull (Waveland, IN via San Jose, CA) wheeling the Ecker-Reisdorf #57
Spike/Fontana, 2012 Chili bowl third-place finisher and 2010 King of the
West Sprint Car champion Kyle
Larson (Elk Grove, CA)
aboard the Keith Kunz Motorsports #71 Bullet/Speedway Toyota, 2012 Chili bowl
fifth-place finisher Danny Stratton (Riverside, CA) aboard the Hans Lein #2s Spike/Esslinger, former
Chili Bowl winner and former USAC/CRA champion Damion Gardner (Concord, CA) in the multiple-time Chili
Bowl car owner champion Andy Bondio’s #47 Bondio/Barnes Chevy, 1999 BCRA champion Matt Streeter (Galt, CA) in his #14jr S&S Automotive-T&T Trucking-ART
Enterprises Spike/S&S, multiple-time Silver Crown and Sprint Car champion Bud
Kaeding (Campbell, CA)
aboard the Loyet Motorsports #05k Spike/Esslinger, multiple-time open wheel
champion and last year’s Chili bowl A-main hard charger Jerry Coons, Jr. (Tuscon, AZ) in the Dooling Machine #63
Spike/Esslinger, five-time USAC/CRA champion Mike Spencer (Temecula, CA) in the Proflyer
Enterprises #51s Spike/Proflyer, former USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car champion
and 2012 Chili Bowl rookie-of-the-year (only rookie to make the A-main) Richard
VanderWeerd (Visalia, CA)
in Mike Sala’s #19s Spike/Sala Chevy, two-time Chili Bowl A-main qualifier and
multiple-time Midget and Sprint Car winner Shane Golobic (Fremont, CA) aboard the retro Wilke-Pak
#11 Stealth/Toyota, former USAC-Western States Midget champion Alex Schutte (Rohnert Park, CA) aboard Sean
Dodenhoff’s #9e EMC/Fontana, Indiana’s Brad Kuhn in mason Cooke’s #10
Beast/Fontana and multiple-time Midget victor Ronnie Gardner (Corona) in the Six 8 Motorsports #68
Stewart/Esslinger.
Schutte worked an early alphabet soup run in the
2012 Chili Bowl, having transferred from H Main 2 all the way up to E-Main 2
before suffering from engine woes.
Former Chili Bowl
winner Tim McCreadie will
join forces with Andy Bondio in a quest for another Golden driller in Bondio’s
#47x Bondio/Barnes. A Late Model veteran, McCreadie shocked the Midget world
when he claimed the Chili Bowl title in 2006.
Joining the
McQueen Racing stable will be Guthrie, Oklahoma’s Michelle Decker aboard Shannon McQueen’s #7d Spike/Esslinger
by Duane McQueen and Oklahoma’s Trey Marcham, a Chili Bowl rookie aboard McQueen’s #7w Spike/Esslinger by
Duane McQueen.
Joining the
Neverlift Motorsports team will be Lake Havasu City, Arizona’s Connor Kassik, the 2011 USAC-Western States Rookie-of-the-Year
piloting the Neverlift Motorsports #115 Spike/Chevy and Tulsa’s Jesse Frazier
in the Neverlift Motorsports #151 Spike/Chevy. The Neverlift
Motorsports/Western Performance Parts team sports military-themed paint schemes
in honor of the armed forces. Army veteran Joey Fabozzi also boasts a U.S. Army scheme in his #84
Fabozzi Metal Works Spike/Esslinger.
The Josh Ford
Racing/King Racing Products team field a four-car team, with Chili Bowl
sophomore Ryan Bernal
(Hollister, CA) in the #73 Ellis/Bob Wirth Fontana, Oklahoma’s Tyler Edwards in the #72 Spike/Bob Wirth Fontana,
Sprint Car veteran Tyler Walker (Hermoso Beach, CA) in the #73f Spike/Bob Wirth Chevy and Greg
Edenholm (Malibu, CA) in
the #73x Ellis/Esslinger.
Joining the
potent Kruseman stable are veteran West Coast Midget campaigner Rick Hendrix (Palmdale, CA) in Kruseman’s #38k
Spike/Esslinger and Auckland, New Zealand’s Trevor Cooper in the #89k Spike/Mopar and Justin
Hendricks in the #28k
Spike/Esslinger.
Additional
California entries include, Travis Berryhill (American Canyon) aboard the Manic Racing
#11b Stealth/Fontana, Sean Dodenhoff (Bakersfield) aboard his #9d Spike/Fontana, Cameron Beard (Atwater) aboard Dave LaMott’s #0g
HotHead Engine Heaters/Special Things Sheet Metal/Power Up Concrete Pumping
Stealth/Honda, Bobby Michonowicz (Lomita) in the #49jr Ron Bach Spike/Esslinger, 17-year-old Tyler
Reddick (Corning) in the
2B Racing #2b Beast/Gaerte, Jace VanderWeerd (Visalia) in Ron Vanderweerd’s #8v
Spike/Stanton Mopar, Rico Abreu (Rutherford) in the Keith Kunz Motorsports #67 Bullet/Speedway
Toyota, Tanner Swanson
(Kingsburg) in the Ted Finkenbinder #3f Bullet/Chevrolet, Troy Rutherford (Ojai) in Calvin Martens’ #11r
TCR/Esslinger, Nic Faas
(Huntington Beach, CA) in the ABC Motorsports #12f Spike/Esslinger, Cole
Wood in Matt Wood’s #17w
Elk Grove Ford Spike/Esslinger, Matt Mitchell (Yorba Linda) in Mike Sala’s #19w
Stealth/Sala Chevrolet, P.J. Jones (Torrance) in the RFMS Racing #98 Spike/Esslinger, former World
of Outlaws Sprint Car ace Jason Meyers (Clovis) in the Keith Kunz #71k Bullet/Speedway Toyota and
Dennis Howell (Rancho
Palos Verdes) in the #62 Stealth/Salsa Chevrolet.
Arizona entries
include Rick Shuman
(Gilbert) in Lisa Baxter’s #22az Cobra/Fontana, Casey Shuman (Rattlesnake Bend) in Hans Lein’s #2h
Spike/Esslinger, Chad Boat (Phoenix) in John Lawson’s #15x Lawson Rock & Oil
Spike/Esslinger, R.J. Johnson (Phoenix) aboard Bobby Martin’s #51j Spike/Fontana, Stevie
Sussex III (Laveen) in
the Sussex Motorsports #1az XXX/Pink Ford, Josh Pelkey (Peoria) in the ABC Motorsports #12jr
Spike/Esslinger, Matt Lundy (Phoenix) in the Bobby Martin #51x Ellis/Proflyer, Coons and
Kassik.
Colorado entries
include Levi Roberts
(Broomfield) in David Roberts’ Spike/Esslinger, Michael Heberling (Centennial) aboard the Heberling
Stealth/Hybrid GM, Steve Newman (Steamboat Springs) in the Mountain High #11xc BRE/BRE Ford, George Schubert (Calhan) in the Schubert Racing #44g
Spike/Pontiac, Clint Schubert (Calhan) in the Schubert Racing #44 Spike/Fontana, Mike Boesel (Bennett) in the Mike Boesel Motorsports
#77 Stealth/Esslinger and Dustin Weiland (Parker) in the #88 Buzzard/Fontana.
Washington
entries include Gary Taylor (Snohomish) aboard the Loyet Motorsports #05t Spike/Esslinger, Trey
Starks (Puyallup) in Jim
ferns’ #55s Spike/Mopar and Chili Bowl rookie Jayme Barnes (Everett) in the 2b Racing #3b
Beast/Esslinger.
Joe Ramaker (Boise) is the lone Idaho entry in the
Jody Rosenboom DRC/Fontana.
Enid, Oklahoma’s Kip
Hughes will be aboard
veteran Chili Bowl car owner Cliff Blackwell’s (Mountain View, CA) #27c
Stealth/Gaerte while Las Cruces, New Mexico’s Johnny Scott will make his Chili Bowl debut in
Blackwell’s #27c Stealth/Yates Ford.
West Coast
rookie Chili Bowl entrants include Mountain View, CA’s John Golobic making his first-ever Midget start aboard
Dog Bock’s #26x Golobic Construction-Pinder’s Welding Supply-Astro Titanium
Spike/Esslinger, Tim Barber (Fairfield, CA) aboard Chuck Cline’s Bullet/Chevrolet, D.J.
Netto (Hanford, CA)
aboard Frank Netto’s #7n Stealth/Chevrolet, Joe Stornetta (Napa, CA) in the
Team RayPro #33r Spike/Mopar, Jayme Barnes (Everett, WA) in the 2b Racing #3b
Beast/Esslinger, Taylor Simas (Orland, CA) in Doug Bock’s #62s Spike/Esslinger
and Brett Felkins (Lodi, CA) in his #35d Spike/Fontana.
Of the 2013 West
Coast entries, 11 made the 2012 A-main: Larson (third), Stratton (fourth),
Clauson (fifth), Sweet (sixth), Kruseman (seventh), Coons (eighth from 23rd),
Hagen (12th), Shuman (17th), Kaeding (19th),
Richard Vander Weerd (20th) and Abreu (21st).
We have tried to
include every entry, whether owner, driver or team with West Coast ties in this
report, however, we apologize for any errors or omissions from this article, as
there are expected to be over 270 entries in the 27th annual Chili
Bowl. Please make this scribe aware of any such omissions.
The 2013 Chili
Bowl Midget Nationals revs up on Tuesday, January 8 and concludes with
Saturday’s feature races on January 12.
To view the
entire entry list, visit www.chilibowl.com.
For detailed
reports and updates on West Coast Chili Bowl entries, visit www.wowracingnews.com and on
facebook.com/wowracingnews.
Entries by
State (some placed by virtue of car owners)
Colorado
2R Levi
Roberts Broomfield,
CO
David
Roberts Spike/Esslinger
6C Michael
Heberling Centennial,
CO
Heberling
Stealth/Hybrid GM
11XC Steve
Newman Steamboat
Springs, CO
Mountain High BRE/BRE Ford
44G George
Schubert Calhan,
CO
Schubert
Racing Spike/Pontiac
44S Clint
Schubert Calhan,
CO
Schubert
Racing Spike/Fontana
77 Mike
Boesel Bennett,
CO
Mike
Boesel Motorsports Stealth/Esslinger
88 Dustin
Weland Parker,
CO
Buzzard/Fontana
Arizona
1AZ Stevie
Sussex III Laveen,
AZ Sussex
Motorsports XXX/Pink Ford
1ST J.J.
Yeley Charlotte,
NC
McKinnie
Motorsports Hacked/Toyota
2H Casey
Shuman Rattlesnake
Bend, AZ
Hans Lein Spike/Esslinger
12JR Josh
Pelkey Peoria,
AZ
ABC
Motorsports Spike/Esslinger
15X Chad
Boat Phoenix,
AZ
John
Lawson Spike/Esslinger
22AZ Rick
Shuman Gilbert,
AZ
Lisa
Baxter Cobra/Gaerte
51J R.J.
Johnson Phoenix,
AZ
Bobby
Martin Spike/Fontana
51X Matt
Lundy Phoenix,
AZ
Bobby
Martin Ellis/Proflyer
63 Jerry
Coons, Jr. Tucson,
AZ
Dooling
Machine Spike/Esslinger
115 Conner
Kassik Lake
Havasu, AZ
Neverlift
Motorsports Spike/Chevrolet
Washington
3B Jayme
Barnes Everett,
WA
2B
Racing Beast/Esslinger
05T Gary
Taylor Snohomish,
WA
Loyet
Motorsports Spike/Esslinger
55S Trey
Starks Puyallup,
WA
Jim
Ferns Spike/Mopar
Idaho
6R Joe
Ramaker Boise,
ID
Jody
Rosenboom DRC/Fontana
California
0Z Cameron
Beard Atwater,
CA
Dave
LaMott Stealth/Honda
0K Don
O'Keefe Jr Pittsboro,
IN
LOK
Enterprises Spike /Esslinger
2B Tyler
Reddick Corning,
CA
2B
Racing Beast/Gaerte
2S Danny
Stratton Riverside,
CA
Hans
Lein Spike/Esslinger
3 Darren
Hagen Riverside,
CA
RFMS
Racing DCR/Esslinger
3F Tanner
Swanson Kingsburg,
CA
Ted
Finkenbinder Bullet/Chevrolet
3T Tim
Barber Fairfield,
CA
Chuck
Cline Bullet/Chevrolet
05K Bud
Kaeding Campbell,
CA
Loyet
Motorsports Spike/Esslinger
5 Cole
Whitt Alpine,
CA
Wilke-Pak
Stealth/Toyota
7 Shannon
McQueen Bakersfield,
CA
McQueen
Racing Spike/Esslinger
7D Michelle
Decker Guthrie,
OK
McQueen
Racing / Spike / Esslinger
7N D.J.
Netto Hanford,
CA
Frank
Netto Stealth/Chevrolet
7T Trey
Marcham Oklahoma
City, OK
McQueen Racing Spike /Esslinger
8OK TBD
Driver LOK
Enterprises Spike/Esslinger
8V Jace
Vander Weerd Visalia,
CA Ron
Vander Weerd Spike/Stanton Mopar
9D Sean
Dodenhoff Bakersfield,
CA
Dodenhoff
Racing Spike/Fontana
9E Alex
Schutte Rohnert
Park, CA
Sean
Dodenhoff EMC/Fontana
9F Jared
Carpenter Breezy
Point, MN
Sean Dodenhoff Spike/Dart Chevrolet
10 Brad
Kuhn Avon,
IN Mason
Cook Beast/Fontana
11 Shane
Golobic Fremont,
CA
Wilke-Pak
Stealth/Toyota
11R Troy
Rutherford Ojai,
CA
Calvin
Martens TCR/Esslinger
11T Shon
Deskins Calvin
Martens TCR/Esslinger
11X Travis
Berryhill American
Canyon, CA
Manic Racing Stealth/Fontana
12F Nic
Faas Huntington
Beach, CA
ABC Motorsports Spike/Esslinger
14JR Matt
Streeter Galt,
CA
Streeter
Racing Spike/S&S Automotive Chevrolet
015 David
Prickett Fresno,
CA
Neverlift
Motorsports Spike/Chevrolet
17W Cole
Wood Elk
Grove, CA
Matt
Wood Spike/Esslinger
19S Richard
Vanderweerd Visalia,
CA Mike
Sala Spike/Sala Chevy
19W Matt
Mitchell Yorba
Linda, CA
Mike
Sala Stealth/Sala Chevrolet
21K Cory
Kruseman Ventura,
CA
Kruseman
Motorsports Spike/Esslinger
26X John
Golobic Mountain
View, CA Douglas
Bock Spike/Esslinger
27B Johnny
Scott Las
Cruces, NM Cliff
Blackwell Stealth/Yates Ford
27C Kip
Hughes Enid,
OK
Cliff
Blackwell Stealth/Gaerte
28K Justin
Hendricks Kruseman
Spike/Esslinger
33R Joe
Stornetta Napa,
CA Team
Raypro Spike/Mopar
35D Brett
Felkins Lodi,
CA
Felkins
Spike/Fontana
38K Rick
Hendrix Palmdale,
CA
Kruseman
Motorsports Spike/Esslinger
39B Bryan
Clauson Noblesville,
IN
CTR-BCI-Curb
Agajanian Spike/Esslinger
47 Damion
Gardner Concord,
CA
Andy
Bondio Bondio/Barnes
47X Tim
McCreadie Andy
Bondio Bondio/Barnes
49JR Bobby
Michnowicz Lomita,
CA
Ron
Bach Spike/Esslinger
51S Mike
Spencer Temecula,
CA
Proflyer
Enterprises Spike/Proflyer
56P Jason
Leffler Long
Beach, CA 56
Inc. Beast/Esslinger
57 Thomas
Meseraull Waveland,
IN
Ecker-Reisdorf
Spike/Fontana
62 Dennis
Howell Rancho
Palos Verdes, CA
Stealth/Salsa
Chevrolet
62S Taylor
Simas Orland,
CA
Douglas
Bock Spike/Esslinger
67 Rico
Abreu Rutherford,
CA
Keith
Kunz Bullet/Speedway Toyota
67X Brad
Sweet Grass
Valley, CA
Gary
Zarounian Stealth/Toyota
68 Ronnie
Gardner Corona,
CA
Six
8 Motorsports Stewart/Esslinger
71 Kyle
Larson Elk
Grove, CA
Keith
Kunz Bullet/Speedway Toyota
71K Jason
Meyers Clovis,
CA
Keith
Kunz Bullet/Speedway Toyota
72 Tyler
Edwards Salina,
OK
JFM
Inc. Spike/Bob Wirth Fontana
73 Ryan
Bernal Hollister,
CA
JFM
Inc. Ellis/Bob Wirth Fontana
73F Tyler
Walker Hermoso
Beach, CA
JFM Inc. Spike/Bob Wirth Chevy
73X Greg
Edenholm Malibu,
CA
JFM
Inc. Ellis/Esslinger
81 Markus
Niemela Santa
Barbara, CA
Steve Watt Stealth/Sala Chevrolet
84 Joey
Fabozzi Fabozzi
Racing Spike/Esslinger
89K Trevor
Cooper Auckland,
NZ Kruseman
Motorsports Spike/Mopar
98 P.J.
Jones Torrance,
CA
RFMS
Racing Spike/Esslinger
151 Jesse
Frazier Tulsa,
OK
Neverlift
Motorsports Spike/Chevrolet
191 Chase
Barber Brownsburg,
IN
Bret
Barber Beast/Fontana
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