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Larson Kicks off Chili Bowl with
Warren CAT Qualifier Triumph!
Sammy Swindell Wins Race of Champions Again!
by: Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (January 10, 2012) – Coming off a remarkable
breakthrough season in 2011, Kyle Larson added yet another notch to the win
column by topping Tuesday night’s 25-lap Warren CAT Qualifying feature event
to kick off the 26th Annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals at the QuikTrip
Center’s Tulsa Expo Raceway.
The 19-year-old from Elk Grove, CA,
raced by Kevin Ramey for the lead on the high side on the fifth round and
worked traffic flawlessly over the final ten circuits to post the victory in
front of NASCAR Nationwide champion Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and New Zealand’s
Michael Pickens, all of whom locked into Saturday’s 50-lap Chili Bowl
championship feature event.
While youth prevailed in the Qualifying
feature event, veteran shoe Sammy Swindell snared his third Vacuworx
International Race of Champions victory in four years by leading all 20
circuits of the special feature event. While the five-time Chili Bowl
champion was out front all the way, he had to fend off a late bid from his
son Kevin Swindell, two-time and reigning Chili Bowl champion, to secure the
win.
While Larson, who ranked as the nation’s winningest open wheel
driver in 2011 with triumphs across a variety of series, gridded the feature
field outside the second row, it was Ramey and Chili Bowl rookie contender
Matt Ward leading the Warren CAT feature field to the green flag from the
front row.
Ramey gunned into the lead at the drop of the green flag,
with Larson sweeping past Ward on the high side to take second on the third
lap, moments before George White spun in turn three to bring out the first
of three cautions in the initial six circuits.
With Fort Worth,
Texas, shoe Ramey working the low side, Larson stuck to the high side and
charged into the lead entering turn one on the fifth lap. Upon the
completion of the fifth round, Thomas Meseraull caught the berm exiting turn
four and went for a wild ride, with the race’s final caution flying a lap
later when Ronnie Burke, Jr., spun to a stop in turn four.
With
Larson out front in the Keith Kunz Motorsports Speedway Toyota-powered No.
67 Bullet, Ramey tried to mount a charge to regain the lead as action
resumed.
“I could see him on the bottom sometimes in one and two, so
I dropped back down there for a little bit until I felt like it got to
slow,” Larson explained. “I wasn’t sure where Ricky (Stenhouse, Jr.) was,
and I figured Ricky’s the type that would be up top so I had to get back up
there as quick as I could.”
Indeed, Stenhouse, Jr., was into second
by the eighth round, but Larson kept his chasers in the distance. Even when
lapped traffic came into play after 15 laps, Larson’s pace was undeterred.
“Lapped traffic was pretty tough,” Larson commented. “They were all
running the top so we had to throw some sliders at them and luckily they
didn’t race us back too hard.”
Larson raced on to the checkered flag
without challenge, crossing the stripe with a 1.573-second advantage over
Stenhouse, Jr., in the CTR-BCI Esslinger-powered No. 39i Spike.
“I
kinda wanted a caution to get to his back bumper,” Stenhouse, Jr., commented
afterward. “But then I knew Michael (Pickens) would be in third and it would
be a battle, so I was kinda glad we just ran it on out”
After
starting seventh, Pickens battled past Brady Bacon for fourth on the 12th
round and then took third from Ramey the next time around. Pickens kept the
Loyet Motorsports Esslinger-powered Vacuworx International No. 05p Spike in
the show position the rest of the way to lock into his fourth Chili Bowl
finale in as many tries.
“The main thing is to be locked in,” the
accomplished Kiwi shoe explained. “Now we can sit back and relax and don’t
have to tear up any equipment.”
Bacon slipped around Ramey on the
final circuit to snare fourth in the Wilke-Pak Toyota-powered No. 11 Spike,
with Ramey rounding out the top five in the Printplace Motorsports
Fontana-powered No. 7m Spike.
Casey Shuman advanced a half-dozen
positions to claim sixth, while Ward crossed the stripe seventh after being
the only rookie to make Tuesday night’s feature cut.
Andrew Felker
was eighth, with 17th-starter Jerry Coons, Jr., and Darren Hagen completing
the top ten.
After being unable to start his heat race, Jonathan
Beason rallied back with triumphs in both “C” and “B” Main action before
climbing to 12th in the feature event. Jimmy Light worked the alphabet as
well, advancing from “C” Main competition to claim 17th in the “A” Main.
Meseraull, Johnathon Henry, Burke, Jr., Ryan Pace, R.J. Johnson, Ward,
Jody Rosenboom and Justin Grant topped heat race action for Tuesday night’s
66-car field. Cameron Hagin and Beason won the “C” Mains, with Coons, Jr.,
and again Beason atop the “B” Mains.
With a stellar 14-car field
assembled for VIROC IV, the Fourth Annual Vacuworx International Race of
Champions, Sammy Swindell was the last one to draw for position. And, the 13
drivers before him left him the pole position.
That was all Swindell
needed, as he jumped ahead of fellow front row starter Jason Leffler at the
outset and led all the way to take the $2,500 triumph over the field of past
Chili Bowl champions and standouts.
Working forward from fifth
though, Kevin Swindell made it interesting after taking second from Damion
Gardner on the 15th lap. Kevin challenged his father for the point before a
caution flew with five laps to go for a tangle involving Brady Bacon and
Leffler.
Sammy kept the younger Swindell at bay on the restart until
the final lap, when Kevin pulled alongside on the backstretch. Sammy worked
the low side of three and four though to retain command and took the
checkered flag with a car-length advantage over Kevin.
Tracy Hines
claimed the show position in VIROC IV action behind Swindell and Swindell,
with Gardner and Joey Saldana rounding out the top five.
Tuesday’s
Warren CAT Qualifier Results from the 26th Annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl
Nationals:
Heat Races (8 Laps each, Top 40 in passing points to A
Qualifiers; Balance to twin C Mains)
Heat 1: 1. #2T Thomas Meseraull,
San Jose, CA; 2. #2H Casey Shuman, Rattlesnake Bend, AZ; 3. #7X Layne
Himebaugh, Collinsville, OK; 4. #9U Doug McCune, Colleyville, TX; 5. #10W
George White, Fort Worth, TX; 6. #55 Kyle Smith, Moorpark, CA; 7. #23 Tim
Lynch, Columbus, IN; 8. #16 Jimmy Light, Erie, PA; 9. #73S Alex Sewell,
Broken Arrow, OK
Heat 2: 1. #88H Johnathon Henry; 2. #3 Darren Hagen,
Riverside, CA; 3. #27S Andy Shouse, Oklahoma City, OK; 4. #39I Ricky
Stenhouse Jr., Olive Branch, MS; 5. #55F Taylor Ferns, Shelby Township, MI;
6. #67X Britton Bock, Angwin, CA; 7. #23F Jesse Sobbing, Glenwood, IA; 8.
#9B Harris Brooks, Houston, TX; 9. #3H Bubba Hunt, Tulsa, OK
Heat 3:
1. #4B Ronnie Burke, Jr., League City, TX; 2. #9D Sean Dodenhoff,
Bakersfield, CA; 3. #88 Brenden Bright, Collegeville, PA; 4. #49JR Bobby
Michnowicz, Lomita, CA; 5. #12 Chris Gurley, Hebron, IN; 6. #93R Jake
Rosario, Guthrie, OK; 7. #27 Kody Swanson, Kingsburg, CA; 8. #33x Jason
Lair, Del City, OK
Heat 4: 1. #05R Ryan Pace, Brownsburg, IN; 2. #05P
Michael Pickens, Auckland, NZ; 3. #11A Andrew Felker, Carl Junction, MO; 4.
#11 Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK; 5. #10 Will Pierce, Lees Summit, MO; 6.
#17X Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN; 7. #73F Greg Edenholm, Malibu, CA; 8.
#11XC Steve Newman, Steamboat Springs, CO
Heat 5: 1. #51J R.J.
Johnson, Phoenix, AZ; 2. #7M Kevin Ramey, Fort Worth, TX; 3. #67 Kyle
Larson, Elk Grove, CA; 4. #6 Aaron Pierce, Daleville, IL; 5. #8B Bob Ream
Jr., Glendale, AZ; 6. #37X Cameron Hagin, Broken Arrow, OK; 7. #87F Brian
McClelland, Tulsa, Ok; DNS – Stephen Arnold, Seymour, IN
Heat 6: 1.
#8L Matt Ward, Glenpool, OK; 2. #3NZ Jerry Coons Jr., Tucson, AZ; 3. #15N
T.J. Smith, Fresno, CA; 4. #23C Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, IN; 5. #31
David Budres, Beloit, WI; 6. #20X Jimmy Harris, Broken Arrow, OK; 7. #21X
Nick Speidel, Muncie, IN; DNS – Jonathan Beason, Broken Arrow, OK
Heat 7: 1. #6R Jody Rosenboom, Rock Rapids, IA; 2. #7B Joe Boyles,
Greenwood, MO; 3. #18A Floyd Alvis, San Carlos, CA; 4. #6M Justin Mallo,
Cheyenne, WY; 5. #13 Ryan York, Racine, MN; 6. #40 Andy Huston, Roseville,
IL; 7. #11XS Tony Norem, Dassel, MN; 8. W94 Waylon Weaver, Claremore, OK
Heat 8: 1. #35 Justin Grant, Ione, CA; 2. #45X C.J. Johnson, Quinter,
KS; 3. #94 Darren Kingston, Vandalia, IL; 4. #11C Chett Gehrke, Broken
Arrow, OK; 5. #96 Cody Brewer, Choctaw, OK; 6. #77D Dalten Gabbard, Peoria,
AZ; 7. #71X Shelton Haudenschild, Wooster, OH; 8. #17M Andee Beierle,
Bismarck, ND
C Mains (10 Laps – Top 4 in each transfer to back of
corresponding B Main)
C Main 1: 1. #37X Cameron Hagin, Broken Arrow,
OK; 2. #23F Jesse Sobbing, Glenwood, IA; 3. #10 Will Pierce, Lees Summit,
MO; 4. #73S Alex Sewell, Broken Arrow, OK; 5. #20X Jimmy Harris, Broken
Arrow, OK; 6. #73F Greg Edenholm, Malibu, CA; 7. #23 Tim Lynch, Columbus,
IN; 8. #33A Stephen Arnold, Seymour, IN; 9. #77D Dalten Gabbard, Peoria, AZ;
10. #W94 Waylon Weaver, Claremore, OK: 11. #27 Kody Swanson, Kingsburg, CA;
DNS - #87F Brian McClelland, Tulsa, OK; #11XC Steve Newman, Steamboat
Springs, CO
C Main 2: 1. #36 Jonathan Beason, Broken Arrow, OK; 2.
#33X Jason Lair, Del City, OK; 3. #16 Jimmy Light, Erie, PA; 4. #40 Andy
Huston, Roseville, IL; 5. #9B Harris Brooks, Houston, TX; 6. #71X Sheldon
Haudenschild, Wooster, OH; 7. #17M Andee Beierle, Bismarck, ND; 8. #67X
Britton Bock, Angwin, CA; 9. #93R Jake Rosario, Guthrie, OK; 10. #55 Kyle
Smith, Moorpark, CA; 11. #21X Nick Speidel, Muncie, IN; 12. #11XS Tony Norem,
Dassel, MN; DNS - #3H Bubba Hunt, Tulsa, OK
A Qualifiers (10 Laps
– Top 16 in combined passing points to A Main; Balance to twin B Mains)
A Qualifier 1: 1. #3 Darren Hagen, Riverside, CA; 2. #8L Matt Ward,
Glenpool, OK; 3. #27S Andy Shouse, Oklahoma City, OK; 4. #05R Ryan Pace,
Brownsburg, IN; 5. #6M Justin Mallo, Cheyenne, WY; 6. #45X C.J. Johnson,
Quinter, KS; 7. #94 Darren Kingston, Vandalia, IL; 8. #55F Taylor Ferns,
Shelby Township, MI; 9. #96 Cody Brewer, Choctaw, OK; 10. 37X Layne
Himebaugh, Collinsville, OK
A Qualifier 2: 1. #11 Brady Bacon, Broken
Arrow, OK; 2. #39i Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Olive Branch, MS; 3. #11A Andrew
Felker, Carl Junction, MO; 4. #51J R.J. Johnson, Phoenix, AZ; 5. #6R Jody
Rosenboom, Rock Rapids, IA; 6. #9U Doug McCune, Colleyville, TX; 7. #8B Bob
Ream Jr., Glendale, AZ; 8. #9D Sean Dodenhoff, Bakersfield, CA; 9. #12 Chris
Gurley, Hebron, IN; 10. #18A Floyd Alvis, San Carlos, CA
A Qualifier
3: 1. #7M Kevin Ramey, Fort Worth, TX; 2. #2H Casey Shuman, Rattlesnake
Bend, AZ; 3. #2T Thomas Meseraull, San Jose, CA; 4. #35 Justin Grant, Ione,
CA; 5. #31 David Budres, Beloit, WI; 6. #49JR Bobby Michnowicz, Lomita, CA;
7. #88 Brenden Bright, Collegeville, PA; 8. #7B Joe Boyles, Greenwood, MO;
9. #13 Ryan York, Racine, MN; 10. #6 Aaron Pierce, Daleville, IN
A
Qualifier 4: 1. #05P Michael Pickens, Auckland, NZ; 2. #67 Kyle Larson, Elk
Grove, CA; 3. #23C Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, IN; 4. #11C Chett Gehrke,
Broken Arrow, OK; 5. #88H Johnathon Henry, Stockton, CA; 6. #3NZ Jerry
Coons, Jr., Tucson, AZ; 7. Ronnie Burke, Jr., League City, TX; 8. #17X Davey
Heskin, St. Michael, MN; 9. #10W George White, Fort Worth, TX; 10. #15N T.J.
Smith, Fresno, CA
B Mains (15 Laps – Top 4 in each transfer to A
Main)
B Main 1: 1. #3NZ Jerry Coons Jr., Tucson, AZ; 2. #23C Tyler
Courtney, Indianapolis, IN; 3. #88H Johnathon Henry, Stockton, CA; 4. #10W
George White, Fort Worth, TX; 5. #55F Taylor Ferns, Shelby Township, MI; 6.
#73S Alex Sewell, Broken Arrow, OK; 7. #7X Layne Himebaugh, Collinsville,
OK; 8. #17X Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN; 9. #37X Cameron Hagin, Broken
Arrow, OK; 10. #10 Will Pierce, Lees Summit, MO; 11. #94 Darren Kingston,
Vandalia, IL; 12. #49JR Bobby Michnowicz, Lomita, CA; 13. #23F Jesse
Sobbing, Glenwood, IA; 14. #15N T.J. Smith, Fresno, CA; DNS - #7B Joe
Boyles, Greenwood, MO; #13 Ryan York, Racine, MN
B Main 2: 1. #36
Jonathan Beason, Broken Arrow, OK; 2. #16 Jimmy Light, Erie, PA; 3. #31
David Budres, Beloit, WI; 4. #4B Ronnie Burke, Jr., League City, TX; 5. #88
Brenden Bright, Collegeville, PA; 6. #6 Aaron Pierce, Daleville, IN; 7. #9U
Doug McCune, Colleyville, TX; 8. #33X Jason Lair, Del City, OK; 9. #40 Andy
Huston, Roseville, IL; 10. #18 Floyd Alvis, San Carlos, CA; 11. #8B Bob Ream
Jr., Glendale, AZ; 12. #96 Cody Brewer, Choctaw, OK; 13. #6M Justin Mallo,
Cheyenne, WY; 14. #12 Chris Gurley, Hebron, IN; 15. #9D Sean Dodenhoff,
Bakersfield, CA; 16. #45X C.J. Johnson, Quinter, KS
A Main (25
laps – Top 3 advance to Saturday Night's Main Event)
“A” Main: 1. #67
Kyle Larson, Elk Grove, CA; 2. #39i Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Olive Branch, MS;
3. #05p Michael Pickens, Auckland, NZ; 4. #11 Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK;
5. #7m Kevin Ramey, Ft. Worth, TX; 6. #2h Casey Shuman, Rattlesnake Bend,
AZ; 7. #8L Matt Ward, Glenpool, OK; 8. #11a Andrew Felker, Carl Junction,
MO; 9. #3nz Jerry Coons, Jr., Tucson, AZ; 10. #3 Darren Hagen, Riverside,
CA; 11. #51J R.J. Johnson, Phoenix, AZ; 12. #36 Jonathan Beason, Broken
Arrow, OK; 13. #27s Andy Shouse, Oklahoma City, OK; 14. #35 Justin Grant,
Ione, CA; 15. #11c Chett Gehrke, Broken Arrow, OK; 16. #05r Ryan Pace,
Brownsburg, IN; 17. #16 Jimmy Light, Erie, PA; 18. #6r Jody Rosenboom, Rock
Rapids, IA; 19. #88h Johnathon Henry, Stockton, CA; 20. #10w George White,
Ft. Worth, TX; 21. #31 David Budres, Beloit, WI; 22. #23c Tyler Courtney,
Indianapolis, IN; 23. #4b Ronnie Burke, Jr., League City, TX; 24. #2T Thomas
Meseraull, San Jose, CA.
Vacuworx International Race of Champions (20
laps)
VIROC IV: 1. #1 Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN; 2. #39 Kevin
Swindell, Germantown, TN; 3. #24 Tracy Hines, Greenfield, IN; 4. #05G Damion
Gardner, Concord, CA; 5. #67Z Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN; 6. #39C Bryan
Clauson, Noblesville, IN; 7. #14 Tony Stewart, Columbus, IN; 8. #05 Brad
Loyet, Sunset Hills MO; 9. #67 Kyle Larson, Elk Grove, CA; 10. Brad Mosen,
Auckland, NZ; 11. #5 (11) Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK; 12. #71 Jason
Leffler, Long Beach, CA; 13. #21K Cory Kruseman, Ventura, CA; DNS - #39i
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Olive Branch, MS
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