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Crawford on Wednesday in Chili Bowl Thriller!
by: Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (January 12, 2011) – The Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals has
been built on a quarter-century of truly indescribable and unforgettable
moments in auto racing history. It’s time to tack on another one.
Wednesday night’s finish in the 25-lap River Spirit Casino Qualifier at the
25th Annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals atop the QuikTrip
Center’s Tulsa Expo Raceway is one of those that will be remembered and
rehashed for generations to come. So, perhaps it’s only fitting that a name
steeped in Tulsa racing history, “Crawford”, take the spotlight in such a
moment.
With Roger Slack’s checkered flag in sight, a three-wide scrum for the lead
off the final corner ensued between Cole Whitt, Damion Gardner and Donnie
Ray Crawford, with Broken Arrow’s Crawford reaching the line to become the
first Chili Bowl preliminary feature event winner to hail from the Sooner
State in event history.
“It still hasn’t sunk in yet, I’m still not sure I won it!” Crawford
exclaimed afterward.
Leading little more than a few feet of the race, the 23-year-old Crawford
took the checkered flag aboard the Mopar-powered Hard Eight Racing Kantor
Oil Company No. 8k Maxim by a narrow margin over 2008 Chili Bowl champion
Gardner, who flipped just across the line to secure runner-up honors.
“Everything fell into place,” Crawford explained. “About lap 20 we lost
brakes and I was sweating bullets every time I saw a caution, I just wanted
that race to get over. The right place at the right time, I guess, is how
you describe that.”
After surrendering the point to Gardner after leading the initial 22
circuits, Whitt’s attempted slider in the final pair of corners fell just
short with tail tank catching Gardner’s front end. Gardner stabbed at the
brakes and dove under Whitt coming off turn four, but an opportunistic
Crawford was there on the low side to take full advantage.
“I wasn’t sure if he was gonna make a run on me but he did, it’s the Chili
Bowl so he was trying to get the victory,” Gardner explained of the slider
from Whitt. “I clipped him a little bit and turned him a little bit. I got
off the brakes to let go of him and I saw the 8 car (Crawford) inside of me
so I just gassed it.”
Suddenly, three cars tried to fill enough space for just two with the finish
line tantalizingly close. The meat of the sandwich between Crawford on the
low side and Whitt up top, Gardner climbed a wheel and cart wheeled to the
finish line as Crawford scrambled away. There was no escaping the fray for
2010 Chili Bowl runner-up Whitt though, who barely limped to the line and
was officially scored in seventh after video review.
“I knew I was gonna ricochet off him a little bit and the 71 (Whitt), it was
kind of like a running back going for the touchdown between two lineman,”
Gardner explained of the frantic finish. “I knew I was probably gonna flip,
but I’ll just land somewhere on the other side. One through three was good
enough.”
The biggest benefactor of the wild finish, aside from the victorious
Crawford, was California native Thomas Meseraull, who snatched the third and
final lock-in position to Saturday night’s 50-lap Chili Bowl championship
main event.
“I’m shocked to be here, it’s kinda bittersweet, the motor didn’t run
right,” Meseraull explained after late engine issues cropped up. “We’re a
little worried, we don’t have a spare motor and hopefully we can get that
all figured out. But it’s pretty awesome to be locked in the feature.”
While front row starters Whitt and Gardner broke away from the field in the
early going along with Bobby East, there were early hints of mayhem with
severe jockeying for position from fourth on back with J.J. Yeley and
Meseraull among those mixing it up the most.
Yeley’s mount soured on a lap eleven restart and third-starter Crawford, who
had drifted back to seventh in the early rounds, finally got the bottom of
the ¼-mile clay oval working to his liking and was back in the picture by
taking fourth from Meseraull on the eleventh lap and then third from East
the next time around.
While Whitt held pole starter Gardner at bay by several car-lengths most of
the way, a slight bobble in turns three and four on the 22nd lap
allowed Gardner to close in. Gardner pounced on the lead in the next
corner, with a final caution involving Matt Sherrell and Johnny Herrera
setting up a green-white-checkered run to the stripe and the spectacular
finish.
With Crawford, the 2007 Chili Bowl Rookie of the Year, taking the checkered
flag before a thunderous crowd of spectators, it was Gardner putting a
second Loyet Motorsports entry into Saturday’s finale after Michael Pickens
finished second in the Tuesday opener. Gardner also matched Pickens effort
of earning the pole position for the feature in the Esslinger-powered Loyet
Landscape Maintenance/Meramec Heights Collision No. 05g Spike.
In the hunt throughout, Meseraull locked into his third consecutive Chili
Bowl finale by taking the show position in Mark Bush’s Esslinger-powered Pro
Shocks/Outlaw Disc Brakes No. 2T Spike.
Tenth-starter Kevin Ramey, who tailed Crawford to the front of the pack on
the low side of the track, slipped past Bobby East on the final lap to take
fourth in Ray Williams’ Esslinger-powered City Vending/EJ’s Towing No. 7m
Spike with East rounding out the top five in the Ford Racing Klatt
Enterprises No. 4e Beast.
Brad Sweet rebounded from a qualifying race miscue to climb from 17th
to sixth in the main event, just edging out Whitt at the stripe as the
caution flew simultaneously with the checkered flag.
With scoring reverted to the previous lap after Whitt due to the yellow
flag, the rest of the top ten included Matt Mitchell, Mike Spencer and Gary
Taylor.
Meseraull, Scotty Weir, Spencer, Gardner, Yeley, Dave Camfield, Jr., Whitt
and East topped heat race action for Wednesday night’s 64-car field, with
East, Robby Josett, Yeley and Whitt winning the qualifying races.
Billy Lawhead and Jimmy Sills won the “C” Mains, with Sweet and T.J. Smith
victorious in “B” Main action.
Eric Sandage’s flip down the frontstretch just two laps into the “A” Main
was the wildest of the night’s flippage, with others turning over including
Jimmy Winkler, Clint Todd, Tanner Swanson and Daniel Adler.
Wednesday Night’s River Spirit Casino Qualifier Results from the 25th
Annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals:
Heat Races (8 Laps – Top 40 in passing points to A Qualifiers; Balance to
twin C Mains)
Heat 1: 1. #2T Thomas Meseraull, San Jose, CA; 2. #7M
Kevin Ramey, Fort Worth, TX; 3. #19TK Tanner Swanson, Kingsburg, CA; 4. #61
Eric Sandage, Alexander, AR; 5. #6A Jason Cox, Park City, IL; 6. #8X Murray
Erickson, Odessa, TX; 7. #25E Courtney Erfurth, Oregon, WI; 8. #23JR J.D.
Black, Grain Valley, MO
Heat 2: 1. #2B Scotty Weir, Marion, IN; 2. #81M Matt
Mitchell, Yorba Linda, CA; 3. #10 Will Pierce, Lees Summit, MO; 4. #05T Gary
Taylor, Snohomish, WA; 5. #11C Chett Gehrke, Broken Arrow, OK; 6. #17T Jimmy
Sills, Elverta, CA; 7. #73X Greg Edenholm, Oxnard, CA DNS -- #911 Mike
Barker, Elgin, OK
Heat 3: 1. #51S Mike Spencer, Temecula, CA; 2. #4 Tony
Elliott, Warsaw, IN; 3. #94AU Brad Cox, Gunnedah, AUS; 4. #00 Pete Davis,
Pleasanton, CA; 5. #35M Matt Sherrell, Owasso, OK; 6. #3J Julee Jamison,
Highlands, CO; 7. #20B Jimmy Owens, Newport, TN; 8. #69M Mark Chisholm,
Cheyenne, WY
Heat 4: 1. #05G Damion Gardner, Concord, CA; 2. #112
Tyler Edwards, Salina, OK; 3. #401 Daniel Adler, Columbia, IL; 4. #83B Bruce
Buckwalter Jr., Royersford, PA; 5. #37T Nick Speidel, Muncie, IN; 6. #57
Kevin Studley, Plainfield, IN; 7. #7H Layne Himebaugh, Collinsville, OK; 8.
#7J Clint Todd, Lynchburg, MO
Heat 5: 1. #1J J.J. Yeley, Phoenix, AZ; 2. #12JR Josh
Pelkey, Peoria, AZ; 3. #15M Jay Drake, Val Verde, CA; 4. #2R Levi Roberts,
Broomfield, CO; 5. #5 Randy Hannagan, San Jose, CA; 6. #67K Dalton
Armstrong, New Castle, IN; 7. #59L Billy Lawhead, Tulsa, OK: 8. #9M Doug
McCune, Colleyville, TX
Heat 6: 1. #86C David Camfield Jr., Decatur, IL; 2. #49X
Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA; 3. #5D Zach Daum, Pocahontas, IL; 4. #7S T.J.
Smith, Fresno, CA; 5. #98G Gavin Galbraith, Washington, MO; 6. #55 Tony
Everhart, El Cajon, CA; 7. #16W Jimmy Winkler, Parkville, MO; 8. #17KX Kyle
Chady, Benton, IL
Heat 7: #71 Cole Whitt, Alpine, CA; 2. #11B Brett
Anderson, Belleville, IL; 3. #02 Robby Josett, Santa Clarita, CA; 4. #89JR
Todd McVay, Grain Valley, MO; 5. #B5 Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, IL; 6.
#82 Eric Johnson, Rockford, IL; 7. #81 Ryan Beechler, McKinney, TX; 8. #12R
Brian Rieck, St. Louis, MO
Heat 8: 1. #4E Bobby East, Brownsburg, IN; 2. #19S
Patrick Stasa, Kingman, KS; 3. #8K Donnie Ray Crawford, Broken Arrow, OK; 4.
#15H Scott Hatton, Roscoe, IL; 5. #45X C.J. Johnson, Quinter, KS; 6. #75H
Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, NM; 7. #31E Evan Sewell, Tulsa, OK; 8. #35T
Tyler Robbins, Collinsville, IL
C Mains (10 Laps – Top 4 in each transfer to back of corresponding B
Main)
C Main 1: 1. #59L Billy Lawhead, Tulsa, OK; 2. #20B Jimmy
Owens, Newport, TN; 3. #7H Layne Himebaugh, Collinsville, OK; 4. #17KX Kyle
Chady, Benton, IL; 5. #67K Dalton Armstrong, New Castle, IN; 6. #9U Doug
McCune, Colleyville, TX; 7. #16W Jimmy Winkler, Parkville, MO; 8. #81 Ryan
Beechler, McKinney, TX; 9. #57 Kevin Studley, Plainfield, IN; 10. #45X C.J.
Johnson, Quinter, KS; 11. #7J Clint Todd, Lynchburg, MO DNS – #55 Tony
Everhart, El Cajon, CA
C Main 2: 1. #17T Jimmy Sills, Elverta, CA; 2. #31E Evan
Sewell, Tulsa, OK; 3. #3J Julee Jamison, Highlands, CO; 4. #82 Eric Johnson,
Rockford, IL; 5. #23JR J.D. Black, Grain Valley, MO; 6. #8X Murray Erickson,
Odessa, TX; 7. #73X Greg Edenholm, Oxnard, CA; 8. #25E Courtney Erfurth,
Oregon, WI; 9. #69M Mark Chisholm, Cheyenne, WY; 10. #35T Tyler Robbins,
Collinsville, IL; 11. #12R Brian Rieck, St. Louis, MO DNS -- #911 Mike
Baker, Elgin, OK
A Qualifiers (10 Laps – Top 16 in combined passing points to A Main; Balance
to twin B Mains)
A Qualifier 1: 1. #4E Bobby East, Brownsburg, IN; 2. #05G
Damion Gardner, Concord, CA; 3. #4 Tony Elliott, Warsaw, IN; 4. #7M Kevin
Ramey, Fort Worth, TX; 5. #7S T.J. Smith, Fresno, CA; 6. #5 Randy Hannagan,
San Jose, CA; 7. #00 Pete Davis, Pleasanton, CA; 8. #89JR Todd McVay, Grain
Valley, MO; 9. #19TK Tanner Swanson, Kingsburg, CA; 10. #401 Daniel Adler,
Columbia, IL
A Qualifier 2: 1. #02 Robby Josett, Santa Clarita, CA; 2.
#51S Mike Spencer, Temecula, CA; 3. #5D Zach Daum, Pocahontas, IL; 4. #12JR
Josh Pelkey, Peoria, AZ; 5. #2B Scotty Weir, Marion, IN; 6. #75H Johnny
Herrera, Albuquerque, NM; 7. #2R Levi Roberts, Broomfield, CO; 8. #49X Brad
Sweet, Grass Valley, CA; 9. #11C Chett Gehrke, Broken Arrow, OK: 10. #10
Will Pierce, Lees Summit, MO
A Qualifier 3: 1. #1J J.J. Yeley, Phoenix, AZ; 2. #11B
Brett Anderson, Belleville, IL; 3. #2T Thomas Meseraull, San Jose, CA; 4.
#35M Matt Sherrell, Owasso, OK: 5. #81M Matt Mitchell, Yorba Linda, CA; 6.
#15M Jay Drake, Val Verde, CA; 7. #15H Scott Hatton, Roscoe, IL; 8. #83B
Bruce Buckwalter Jr., Royersford, PA; 9. #112 Tyler Edwards, Salina, OK; 10.
#6A Jason Cox, Park, City, IL
A Qualifier 4: 1. #71 Cole Whitt, Alpine, CA; 2. #8K
Donnie Ray Crawford, Broken Arrow, OK; 3. #05T Gary Taylor, Snohomish, WA;
4. #19S Patrick Stasa, Kingman, KS; 5. #61 Eric Sandage, Alexander, AR; 6.
#94AU Brad Cox, Gunnedah, AUS; 7. #B5 Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, IL; 8.
#86C David Camfield Jr., Decatur, IL; 9. #98G Gavin Galbraith, Washington,
MO; 10. #37T Nick Speidel, Muncie, IN
B Mains (15 Laps – Top 4 in each transfer to A Main)
B Main 1: 1. #49X Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA; 2. #12JR
Josh Pelkey, Peoria, AZ; 3. #2R Levi Roberts, Broomfield, CO; 4. #5 Randy
Hannagan, San Jose, CA; 5. #112 Tyler Edwards, Salina, OK: 6. #59L Billy
Lawhead, Tulsa, OK; 7. #15M Jay Drake, Val Verde, CA; 8. #20B Jimmy Owens,
Newport, TN; 9. #17KX Kyle Chady, Benton, IL; 10. #19S Patrick Stasa,
Kingman, KS; 11. #94AU Brad Cox, Gunnedah, AUS; 12. #7H Layne Himebaugh,
Collinsville, OK; 13. #98G Gavin Galbraith, Washington, MO; 14. #37T Nick
Speidel, Muncie, IN; 15. #B5 Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, IL; 16. Tanner
Swanson, Kingsburg, CA
B Main 2: 1. #7S T. J. Smith, Fresno, CA; 2. #00 Pete
Davis, Pleasanton, CA; 3. #75H Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, NM; 4. #61 Eric
Sandage, Alexander, AR; 5. #86C David Camfield Jr., Decatur, IL; 6. #15H
Scott Hatton, Roscoe, IL; 7. #10 Will Pierce, Lees Summit, MO; 8. #17T Jimmy
Sills, Elverta, CA; 9. #11C Chett Gehrke, Broken Arrow, OK; 10. #89JR Todd
McVay, Grain Valley, MO; 11. #31E Evan Sewell, Tulsa, OK; 12. #83B Bruce
Buckwalter Jr., Royersford, PA; 13. #82 Eric Johnson, Rockford, IL; 14. #3J
Julee Jamison, Highlands, CO; 15. #6A Jason Cox, Park City, IL; 16. #401
Daniel Adler, Columbia, IL
A Main (25 laps – Top 3 advance to Saturday Night's Main Event)
1. #8K Donnie Ray Crawford, Broken Arrow, OK; 2. #05G Damion
Gardner, Concord, CA; 3. #2T Thomas Meseraull, San Jose, CA; 4. #7M Kevin
Ramey, Fort Worth, TX; 5. #4E Bobby East, Brownsburg, IN; 6. #49X Brad
Sweet, Grass Valley, CA; 7. #71 Cole Whitt, Alpine, CA; 8. #81M Matt
Mitchell, Yorba Linda, CA; 9. #51S Mike Spencer, Temecula, CA; 10. #05T
Gary Taylor, Snohomish, WA; 11. #4 Tony Elliott, Warsaw, IN; 12. #2B Scotty
Weir, Marion, IN; 13. #00 Pete Davis, Pleasanton, CA; 14. #2R Levi Roberts,
Broomfield, CO; 15. #02 Robby Josett, Santa Clarita, CA; 16. #12JR Josh
Pelkey, Peoria, AZ; 17. #7S T.J. Smith, Fresno, CA; 18. #11B Brett Anderson,
Belleville, IL; 19. #5D Zach Daum, Pocahontas, IL; 20. #5 Randy Hannagan,
San Jose, CA; 21. #35M Matt Sherrell, Owasso, OK; 22. #75H Johnny Herrera,
Albuquerque, NM; 23. #1J J.J. Yeley, Phoenix, AZ; 24. #61 Eric Sandage,
Alexander, AR
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