West Coast Has Strong Chili Bowl Ties – Over 50 West Coast Entries Already Entered as Chili Bowl Pre-Entry Deadline Nears
By Robert Haugh
With up to over 250 entries, it’s no wonder that the 26th 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 NASCAR, NHRA, WOO, it’s no surprise that with the pre-entry deadline looming on December 15, there are already over 50 drivers and teams from the West Coast gunning at winning the 26th Annual Chili Bowl Midget Nationals and capturing the coveted Golden Driller trophy awarded on Saturday, January 14th.
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, Washington Midget racing Association, Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association and the Northwest Wingless Tour and NOMA Midgets are already entered in the 26th Annual Chili Bowl.
With so many championships, feature wins and accolades amidst the field, we will start with recent West Coast Midget champions: 2011 USAC-Western States and VRA Midget champion Cory Kruseman (two-time Chili Bowl champion, 2004, 2000) aboard the Kruseman Motorsports #21k Lucas Oil Spike/Esslinger, 2009 BCRA champion and 2011 USAC-Western States Car owner champion David Prickett of Fresno, CA piloting the Neverlift Motorsports #15p Manitowoc-Prickett’s Distributing-Crysalli-Fruitful Juice Spike/Van Dyne Chevy, 2011 BCRA Dirt Midget champion Shannon McQueen of Tehachapi, CA in the McQueen Racing #7 Murf Dogg Racing-R.C. 4 Less-American Waste Control-Simpson Race Products-K&N Filters Spike/Esslinger, 2007 BCRA champion Justin Grant of Ione, CA chauffeuring Larry Gardner’s #35 Stealth/Frampton Gaerte, 7-time BCRA champion “Ageless Wonder” Floyd Alvis manning his Champion Automotive #18 Stealth/Wesmar, 2004 BCRA champion and multi-time feature winner Thomas Meseraull wheeling Mark Bush’s #2T EF-65 Hand Cleaner Spike/Esslinger, former Chili Bowl winner and former USAC/CRA champion Damion Gardner of Concord, CA in the Loyet Motorsports #05g Spike/Esslinger, 1999 BCRA champion Matt Streeter of 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 of Campbell, CA aboard the #2 Keith Kunz Motorsports entry and former NWWT and NOMA Midget champion Time Pyle of Gresham, Oregon in his #71p Spike/Brayton.
Joining the all-female McQueen Racing stable will be Guthrie, Oklahoma’s Michelle Decker aboard Shannon McQueen’s #7d Waurika Truck & Tire-Carter Custom Finishes-Starship Trucking-Simpson Race Products-Quantum Consulting Spike/Esslinger and Lindsay, Oklahoma’s Harli White (16-year-old Chili Bowl rookie) aboard McQueen’s #7w American Waste Control-Waurika Truck & Tire-Quantum Consulting-K&N Filters-Eibach Springs Spike/Esslinger.
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 #15k Crysalli-Manitowoc-Fruitful Juice-Prickett’s Distributing TCR/Chevy and Fresno’s T.J. Smith aboard the #15s Neverlift Motorsports Crysalli-Manitowoc-Fruitful Juice-Prickett’s Distributing Spike/Van Dyne Chevy. Smith is coming off of a stellar Chili Bowl run in a McQueen racing mount in 2011, in which he advanced to B-Main 2.
Alvis’ 2012 Chili Bowl foray will see him team with San Carlos’ Bob Lawlor in Alvis’ #83x B.L. Transport-Champion Automotive-Lindsey Enterprises-F&D Welding Stealth/Gaerte. It will be Lawlor’s first Chili Bowl appearance.
Joining the potent Kruseman stable are Las Vegas’ Patrick Clark in the #17k Kruseman Motorsports Spike/Esslinger, Omaha, Nebraska’s Brian Deegan in the #38k Kruseman Motorsports Spike/Esslinger and the #12k Kruseman Motorsports Spike/Esslinger entry with a driver TBA.
Other top West Coast entrants include two-time A-main qualifier Shane Golobic of Fremont, CA aboard Doug Bock’s #26 Get Som Sports-Bicycles Inc. (Ft. Worth, TX)-Country Builders-Piners Welding Supply & Driveline Service Spike/Esslinger, American Canyon’s Travis Berryhill aboard the Manic Racing #11b Vallejo Coin Exchange-Red Line Oil-Racing 2 Cure-Fairfield Inn & Suites-Advance Racing Stealth/Fontana, current NASCAR Truck series driver Cole Whitt (2011 A-Main eighth place finisher) of Alpine, CA aboard the Dooling Machine Inc. #63 Spike/Esslinger, two-time (2008, 2009) A-Main qualifier Josh Ford of Oxnard, CA in the Keith Ford #73 Spike/Bob Wirth, 2010 A-Main qualifier Kyle Larson of Elk Grove, CA aboard the Keith Kunz Motorsports #67, NASCAR veteran Jason Leffler aboard the Keith Kunz Motorsports #71, Stockton’s Johnathon Henry aboard the Graundstadt Enterprises #88 Ellis/Fontana, Angwin’s Britton Bock in his #67x McNamara Electric-Mike Bock-Driveline Service of Santa Rosa-Pete’s Tractor Service Spike/Esslinger, Washington native Gary Taylor aboard the Loyet Motorsports #05g Spike/Esslinger, Arizona’s Chad Boat aboard Robbie & Gaye Allen’s #12b Spike/Esslinger, Bakersfield’s Sean Dodenhoff aboard his #9d Spike/Fontana, Texas’ Harris Brooks in Dodenhoff’s #9b EMC/Fontana, Rutherford, CA’s Rico Abreu in the Keith Kunz Motorsports #67k, Cole Peard of Quincy, CA in Gordon & Alisa Peard’s #58 F5 Twister, Riverside’s Darren Hagen in the #3 RFMS Racing Spike/Esslinger, Corning, CA’s Tyler Reddick in the 2B Racing #2b Spike/Fontana, Arizona’s Josh Pelkey aboard Robbie & Gaye Allen’s #12jr Spike/Esslinger, Brent Camarillo in Brian Camarillo’s #51 Spike/Ed Pink Chevy, Brian Camarillo in the Bill Camarillo #22 Spike/Fontana, Moorpark, CA’s Kyle Smith in his own #55 Spike/Chevy, Ronnie Gardner in the #71s Keith Ford Spike/Esslinger, Danny Stratton, Arizona’s Terry Goodwin in Misty Goodwin’s #2g Spike/Fontana, Lomita’s Kevin Michonowicz in the #21jr Ron Bach Spike/Gaerte Bobby Michonowicz in the #49jr Ron Bach Spike/Esslinger and Oklahoma’s Ricky Wright aboard the #35w Douglas & Britton Bock Get Som Sports TCR/Esslinger.
Veteran Chili Bowl owner Cliff Blackwell, of Mountain View, CA has three of his #27 Stealth’s entered with drivers TBA. Veteran Car owner Mike Sala has his #19w Stealth/Wirth Chevy entered with a driver TBA.
West Coast rookie Chili Bowl entrants include Ryan Bernal of Hollister aboard the Tom Ford #72 King Racing Products-A&A Precision Machine-Berry Pack-JFM/Bob Wirth, Anaheim’s Jake Swanson aboard the Swanson Motorsports #05h Goodwine Glass-Lucas Oil-Crower Performance Stealth/Honda, Greg Edenholm of Malibu, CA aboard Keith Ford’s #73f Spike/Bob Wirth, Rauma, Finland’s Markus Niemela in the #81 Steve Watt Stealth/Sala Chevy, Arizona’s Mike Lapp in his own #8 Stealth/Chevy II-Fontana, Oregon’s Vinny Villeggiante in his own #6y Spike/Gaerte, Auburn, CA’s Cole Wood aboard Matt Wood’s #17w Spike/Esslinger and Lindsay, Oklahoma’s Harli White in the Shannon McQueen #7w American Waste Control-Waurika Truck & Tire-Quantum Consulting-K&N Filters-Eibach Springs Spike/Esslinger. White made her Midget debut this past October, earning a Top Five finish, and has also competed well in the Tulsa Shootout in a number of race classes. Niemela made his Midget debut at Ventura with three second-place runs. Bernal made waves throughout California showing poise behind-the-wheel of Sprint Cars.
Other expected entries, not yet entered include multiple-time 2011 feature winner Scott Pierovich, Pleasanton’s Pete Davis, the Walker-Racing-Bay Muffler #10 stable, Robby Josett, past BCRA and WMRA feature winner and WMRA champion Evan Margeson, Randi Pankratz, Wink Schweitzer and the ever-popular Swanson brothers, Tanner and Kody from Kingsburg, CA, who have dominated many Midget and Sprint Car events in the past several years.
Of the West Coast entries, Cole Whitt, Damion Gardner, Cory Kruseman, Shane Golobic, Jason Leffler and Thomas Meseraull made the A-Main in 2011, with Whitt finishing eighth. Other West Coast entries making the dual B-Mains last year included Bud Kaeding, Danny Stratton, Robby Josett and T.J. Smith. Washington native Gary Taylor also narrowly missed the A-main on Saturday.
Whitt has competed in the A-man for the past four years, with a high of second in 2010, while Meseraull has competed in the last three A-Mains with a high of 16th in 2009. Golobic has raced in the last two A-Mains with a high of 17th in 2011.
Damion “The Demon” Gardner, who won the Chili Bowl in 2008 is looking for his second podium finish in the A-Main after finishing 14th in 2011, missing the A in 2010 and settling for 19th in 2009.
After making the A-Main in 2008, Bobby Michonowicz will be hoping to make it back into the finale, after having two B-Main runs and a disappointing 2011 C-Main finish after transferring from the D.
Larson claimed tenth in the 2010 Chili Bowl.
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 250 entries in the 26th annual Chili Bowl. Please make this scribe aware of any such omissions.
The 2012 Chili Bowl Midget Nationals revs up on Tuesday, January 10 and concludes with Saturday’s feature races on January 14.
For detailed reports and updates on West Coast Chili Bowl entries, please visit http://wowracingnews.blogspot.com
