Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Watching the Chili Bowl broadcast on night #2 went something like this.  Turn on TV later than usual, first sight as the picture comes into focus is an upside down car being tended to.  Seems like every race was lap and spin or flip, two or three laps a few times.  Whenever a battle would start someone would spin or get sucked into the cushion and flip.  I admit that when they manage to get string of a few green flag laps the racing is excellent.  The Feature went pretty well last night until I mentioned how well it was going on social media and it was almost like my post setup a crash fest. 

Anyways, I hear so much about the Chili Bowl but haven't watched all week like I'm doing this time.  Is that always a think down there?  I don't mind an occasional flip, it's open wheel racing and it's going to happen, but this lap and spin/crash thing the past couple days gets a bit tiring. 

Stan Meissner

It's always sort of bumper cars.  A lot of guys driving over their head for that one instance of fame.  But this year the track is so bad it's causing a lot of the issues.  For some reason the cushion keeps rolling up a big ledge and that's causing even the best guys to have issues.  Because the top is so hard to run more guys are staying lower.  That's crowding the bottom thus creating even more issues.  I don't know what's different about the dirt/track this year.  But the racing surface has not been very good for very long at a time from the beginning of the shootout until now.  And that's with track maintenance after every couple of races.  I really hope they figure something out but at this point I'm not sure they will.  The 55 lap A main Sat night could see a pit stop for tires and track maintenance.  

Maybe because Tony Stewart isn't doing the track prep?

Maybe their dirt came from a different source or if they are using the same dirt every year a fresh batch might be in order.  It's good enough racing to hold my attention but is not enticing me to ever take a winter vacation in Tulsa.  My only indoor Midget experience was photographing Badger Midgets one time.  The ventilation couldn't keep up so they were stopping races mid race to open the doors and air out the building.  The ventilation could handle karts and motor cross but wasn't up to the task for Midgets.  I got some awesome shots but my eyes watered and head ached for a couple days afterward.  Hence my take it or leave it approach to indoor Midget racing.

Stan Meissner

Every year you have one of "those nights" were curfew is broke and patience is tested.  Rarely is there more than one of those nights.  

One thing is that there are a lot of teams that don't race that much all summer, Chili Bowl amateurs, getting in the way of the real pros. Plus small track, lots of cars

Its definitely worth seeing live.... quite the event!

& Yes, lots of flips & spinouts every year. Betting on the "flip count" is a big thing...

A Mains are usually better, serious drivers who know what to do...

They save the dirt & re-use it

Tonights Feature was excellent with plenty of green flag racing.  Rico won and it's over in time to catch the Wild West Late Model Feature.

Stan Meissner

They run a really good show in tulsa

That said, I'm not watching Flo today, I'll wait for MavTV & better races

When I've been In Tulsa for CB, I think I went for a swim or to Woody Guthrie Museum Saturday morning...