Local Drivers Fare Well in 2008 Chili Bowl Nationals

Each January, racers from all over the country, representing many forms of motorsports, converge on Tulsa, Oklahoma for the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals.

The Chili Bowl is by far the biggest racing event on the winter calendar. With most dirt and asphalt tracks in hibernation mode in all but the most temperate of climates, racing indoors is the only viable option. With that in mind, two of dirt track racing's top promoters, Lannie Edwards and Emmett Hahn took a gamble over twenty years ago that has turned into much more than just another Midget race.

This year's entry list was comprised of 285 drivers from 29 states, Canada and Australia. Among these drivers were NASCAR Cup champions, Drag racers, Dirt Late Model and Kart drivers in addition to those who routinely turn laps in open wheel machines. Men and women and drivers of all ages from mid-teens to early seventies filled an impressive list of who's who in motorsports today. Missouri boasted 17 pilots, while 29 Illinois drivers made the trek to the Sooner state.

Many of these drivers run our local tracks as a part of the O'Reilly POWRi Midget Series and a few were able to play the alphabet soup game and work their way up through four grueling nights of qualifying in order to claim a spot in either of the "B" or "A" Main events.

Roughly 14,000 fans make up the crowd of this sold-out-by-May event, and untold numbers of others listen to the races via internet broadcasts or get updates through blogs and forums. In fact, so many people logged onto the Chili Bowl web site this year that the server crashed and was down all day on Saturday. This year, for the first time in history, both C-Mains, both B-Mains and the A-Main were all broadcast via HBO Pay-Per-View on Saturday night. That's how we watched it, and the network did a wonderful job of bringing us all of the racing action, behind-the-scenes interviews and commentary that we were hungry for. The broadcast lasted almost four solid hours, and was well-worth the $25 price tag.

The following is a list of the Missouri and Illinois drivers and how they fared in the 2008 Chili Bowl. Many of these drivers and others will be on hand this Saturday at the DuQuoin Fairgrounds for the first POWRi Indoor Series Midget race of the season. Along with the Midgets will be the POWRi Micro Series. All will race indoors at the DuQuoin Indoor Center. With temperatures outside predicted to be in the twenties this weekend, it's time to warm up to some winter time indoor racing!

Illinois (29) – Joey Moughan (2m), Kevin Olson (4ko), Zach Daum (5d), Patrick Bruns (5x), Austin Brown (7a){Made it to the "B" Main], Dan Mecum (8m), Jay Mounce (12m), Tim Siner (15)[Made it to the "B" Main], Chris Windom (17)[Made it to the "B" Main], Kenny Brown (17b), Levi Jones (20J){Finished 11th in the "A" Main], Lee Beckwith (21s), Derrick Myers (25x), Donnie Lehmann (31), Davey Ray (33), Jeff Davis (d33), Mat Neely (35)[Made it to the "B" Main], Tyler Robbins (35T), Don Hammer (45), Daniel Adler (50), Mike Hess (51), Nick Knepper (55k), Bubba Altig (67a)[Finished 24th in the "A" after a warm-up incident], A.J. Fike (69), David Gough (75x), Kellen Conover (76), Justin Allgaier (86), Dave Camfield, Jr. (86c)[Made it to the "B" Main], Rich Camfield (87c).

Missouri (17) – Jesse Stovall (00s), Hunter Schuerenberg (1h), Tony Roney (1T), Robby Ross (4R), Bill Allen (5a), Joey Montgomery (5c), Brad Loyet (05)[Made it to the "B" Main], Danny Lasoski (05L)[Made it to the "B" Main], Joe Boyles (7b), Doug Frye (7c), Eric Todd (7T), Will Pierce (10T), Steve Stroud (21x), Jesse Hockett (29L)[Finished 12th in the "A" Main event], Joe Walker (37J), Andrew Felker (73F), Todd McVay (89JR).

2008 O'Reilly POWRi National Midget Series Schedule

April 25 – Morgan County Speedway – Jacksonville, IL
April 26 – Macon Speedway – Macon, IL
May 9 – Tri-City Speedway – World of Outlaws – Granite City, IL
May 10 – Tri-State Speedway – Tri-State Challenge – Haubstadt, IN
May 16 – Valley Speedway – Grain Valley, MO
May 17 – Lucas Oil Speedway – Wheatland, MO
June 6 – Morgan County Speedway – MSCS Sprints – Jacksonville, IL
June 7 – Belle-Clair Speedway – IL/MO Speed Week – Belleville, IL
June 11 – I-55 Raceway – NASCAR Night – Pevely, MO
June 13 – Tri-City Speedway – Granite City, IL
June 14 – St. Francois County Speedway – Farmington, MO
June 20 – Knoxville Raceway – Knoxville, IA
June 21 – Knoxville Raceway – Knoxville, IA
June 27 – Paducah International Raceway – MSCS – Paducah, KY
June 28 – Tri-State Speedway – MSCS & KISS – Haubstadt, IN
July 18 – Macon Speedway – Dana Godfrey Memorial – Macon, IL
July 19 – Belle-Clair Speedway – Finley Memorial – Belleville, IL
July 29 – Junction Motor Speedway – Cornhusker Midget Challenge – McCool Junction, NE
July 30 – Junction Motor Speedway – Cornhusker Midget Challenge – McCool Junction, NE
August 1 – Belleville High Banks – Belleville Midget Nationals - Belleville, KS
August 2 – Belleville High Banks – Belleville Midget Nationals - Belleville, KS
August 6 – Belle-Clair Speedway – Arnie Knepper Memorial – Belleville, IL
August 9 – Washington Town and Country Fair – Washington, MO
August 15 – Macon Speedway – Macon, IL
August 29 – Southern Illinois Center – DuQuoin State Fair – DuQuoin, IL
August 30 – Southern Illinois Center – DuQuoin State Fair – DuQuoin, IL
September 12 – Morgan County Speedway – Jacksonville, IL
September 13 – Spoon River Speedway – Tom Knowles Memorial – Canton, IL
September 27 – Macon Speedway – Macon, IL
October 3 – Tri-City Speedway – Bob Wente Classic – Granite City, IL
October 4 – Belle-Clair Speedway – Charlene Meents Memorial – Belleville, IL