Racin’ Today » Thorson Has Eyes On Repeat At The Chili Bowl

Thorson Has Eyes On Repeat At The Chili Bowl

John Sturbin | Senior Writer, RacinToday.com Friday, January 13 2023

Tanner Thorson served notice he has every intention of claiming a second consecutive Golden Driller trophy Saturday night after a wire-to-wire performance during John Christner Trucking Qualifying Night at the 37th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Okla.

Rallying from a spin in his OERB Heat Race, Thorson won his opening 2023 laps of competition at Tulsa Expo Raceway. Advancing from sixth to second in his Team Toyota Qualifier, it was lights-out for the No. 88.

“I thought my prelim night was over at the start of that Heat Race,” said Thorson, who joined the ranks of dirt track racing’s elite with his victory last January as a U.S. Auto Club National Midget Tour regular. “I was just kind of waiting to get hit. Luckily enough, I didn’t and was able to keep going.”

Thorson became the 22nd driver to hoist a Golden Driller trophy in 2022, symbolic of winning “The Super Bowl of Midget Racing,” after overtaking three-time event champion and NASCAR Cup regular Christopher Bell. Thorson took the lead from Oklahoma native Bell _ who paced the first 36 laps _ on Lap 37 of 55 around TER’s quarter-mile clay oval en route to a margin of victory of 0.688-seconds.

Working the top of the track on Thursday, Torson’s No. 88 was unchallenged through four cautions, each keeping the leaders from contending with traffic. Slowing for the final time on Lap 24 of the scheduled 30, the gap over runnerup Emerson Axzom grew to 1.376-seconds at the finish. Axsom’s No. 19t raced solidly in second during the entire feature.

A battle through several restarts continued for the show position before the spot finally went to fifth- starting Brady Bacon, who made the pass on Lap 24. Tim Buckwalter made it to fourth from ninth, with Tanner Carrick rolling from 11th to fifth.

Racing third from the start, the squabble with Bacon slipped Karter Sarff out of his groove and back to sixth. Chase Johnson, in seventh, was pursued by California’s Ryan Bernal, who came from 17th to eighth. Dominic Gorden and Joe B. Miller completed the top-10.

John Christner Trucking Qualifying night included 72 drivers, bringing the event count to 289 for the week.

Two-time Chili Bowl champion Rico Abreu shot past Mitchel Moles on the final lap to score his eighth career preliminary victory during Wednesday’s Smiley’s Racing Products Qualifying Night.

Californian Abreu posted the 34th win for Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian in Chili Bowl competition. Car-owner Kunz is working on a streak that has seen his organization win a Chili Bowl A-Feature in 12 consecutive events.

Battling with Blake Hahn and Brent Crews through much of the last half of the feature, a caution with six laps to go reset the deck with Rico moving to the cushion while Moles and Crews worked the bottom. Grabbing second with two laps remaining, the James Hodge Auto Group No. 24 closed the gap to car lengths at the white flag. Pinning the cushion off the final turn, Abreu pulled ahead by 0.223-seconds.

“Towards the last half of the race, I could make up some time,” said Abreu, winner of the Golden Driller trophy in 2015 and 2016. “After that last restart with six to go, I saw Chad (Boat) tell him to go down, so I just went up. I wasn’t going to follow him. It was just a pretty easy decision for me.”

Runnerup Moles posted his best career preliminary performance to lock into his first career Saturday night A-Feature, while Crews held on for third. Fourth went to Hahn with Kevin Thomas Jr. completing the top-five.

Wednesday’s field included 79 drivers, bringing the event count to 217 for the week.

Offices at the Chili Bowl Nationals are open through Friday. Pit Passes are on sale and can be purchased for single or consecutive nights. Fans unable to attend can watch every lap live on http://www.floracing.com.

The 2023 Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire run through Saturday, Jan. 14, atop the clay surface of Tulsa Expo Raceway. The event is contested under the massive roof of the SageNet Center in Oklahoma. The championship event will air live on MAVTV Motorsports Network and stream live on MAVTV on FloRacing Saturday at 10:30 p.m. (EST), with an encore presentation airing on MAVTV Motorsports Network on Sunday, Jan. 15.

Chili Bowl Nationals updates are available on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram via @CBNationals. All official press updates and results can be accessed online at http://www.chilibowl.com.

37th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals

John Christner Qualifying Night

OERB Heat Races: Top-40 in passing points advance to Qualifiers

OERB Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40-Max Adams[2]; 2. 3N-Jake Neuman[6]; 3. 29-Tim Buckwalter[7]; 4. 77W-Joe Wirth[8]; 5. 71T-Keith Rauch[4]; 6. 20H-Noah Harris[9]; 7. 11K-Joey Klemish[5]; 8. 84J-Jesse Shapel[3]; 9. (DNF) 78M-Merle Scherb[1].

OERB Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 86-Chase Johnson[1]; 2. 2D-Matt Sherrell[6]; 3. 7MF-Chance Morton[3]; 4. 1A-Jacob Allen[5]; 5. 4C-Cody Jessop[9]; 6. 17C-Devin Camfield[7]; 7. 14T-Dylan Bloomfield[4]; 8. 45-Kyle Hammer[2]; 9. 2MD-Conner Morrell[8].

OERB Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Tanner Thorson[2]; 2. 98B-Joe Boyles[1]; 3. 7M-Shane Cockrum[6]; 4. 55D-Nick Drake[9]; 5. 17K-Garth Kasiner[4]; 6. 91-Jeff Stasa[8]; 7. 83T-Herman Carrier[3]; 8. (DNF) 4M-Brody Fuson[5]; 9. (DNF) 55V-CJ Leary[7].

OERB Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 19T-Emerson Axsom[3]; 2. 75-Mario Clouser[4]; 3. 22T-Don Droud Jr.[2]; 4. 82-Landon Crawley[7]; 5. 37T-Chet Gehrke[1]; 6. 72X-Caden McCreary[5]; 7. 47W-Dylan Westbrook[9]; 8. 27J-Frank Beck III[6]; 9. 21D-Justin Dickerson[8].

OERB Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 58-Dillon Welch[2]; 2. 7G-Gavin Miller[4]; 3. 21H-Brady Bacon[6]; 4. 3B-Zach Blurton[5]; 5. 25B-Steve Buckwalter[7]; 6. 22L-Lucas Scherb[8]; 7. 15C-Carter Chevalier[3]; 8. (DNF) 7-Frankie Guerrini[9]; 9. (DNF) 139-Todd Bertrand[1].

OERB Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 15D-Andrew Deal[1]; 2. 57R-Daniel Robinson[4]; 3. 00-Anton Hernandez[6]; 4. 87W-Ryan Bernal[7]; 5. 51Z-Zach Boden[2]; 6. 3F-Tim Barber[3]; 7. 15M-Shane Morgan[8]; 8. 5K-Ben Worth[5]; 9. 4R-Ryan Bickett[9].

OERB Heat 7 (8 Laps): 1. 51J-RJ Johnson[1]; 2. 98-Tanner Carrick[2]; 3. 21S-Karter Sarff[7]; 4. 51X-Joe Walker[3]; 5. 4A-Kyle Steffens[6]; 6. 2G-JJ Yeley[9]; 7. 35L-Cody Ledger[4]; 8. 17X-Jadon Rogers[8]; 9. 33B-Mike Bitner[5].

OERB Heat 8 (8 Laps): 1. 32W-Casey Shuman[1]; 2. 71K-Dominic Gorden[3]; 3. 53R-Sean Robbins[4]; 4. 4-Taylor Ferns[5]; 5. 51B-Joe B Miller[9]; 6. 93-Kyle Bellm[8]; 7. 10X-Trevor Serbus[6]; 8. 14E-Tom Dunkel[2]; 9. 2E-Whit Gastineau[7].

Team Toyota Qualifiers: Top-16 in combined passing points advance to the A-Feature

Toyota Qualifier 1 (10 Laps): 1. 71K-Dominic Gorden[1]; 2. 21S-Karter Sarff[5]; 3. 7MF-Chance Morton[8]; 4. 3N-Jake Neuman[6]; 5. 4C-Cody Jessop[7]; 6. 7M-Shane Cockrum[3]; 7. 55D-Nick Drake[4]; 8. 15D-Andrew Deal[2]; 9. 4-Taylor Ferns[9]; 10. (DNF) 51X-Joe Walker[10].

Toyota Qualifier 2 (10 Laps): 1. 82-Landon Crawley[1]; 2. 21H-Brady Bacon[3]; 3. 51J-R.J. Johnson[2]; 4. 51B-Joe B. Miller[7]; 5. 75-Mario Clouser[4]; 6. 2D-Matt Sherrell[6]; 7. 25B-Steve Buckwalter[9]; 8. 22T-Don Droud Jr[8]; 9. 4A-Kyle Steffens[10]; 10. 40-Max Adams[5].

Toyota Qualifier 3 (10 Laps): 1. 88-Tanner Thorson[5]; 2. 19T-Emerson Axsom[6]; 3. 87W-Ryan Bernal[1]; 4. 00-Anton Hernandez[3]; 5. 32W-Casey Shuman[2]; 6. 7G-Gavin Miller[4]; 7. 1A-Jacob Allen[8]; 8. 20H-Noah Harris[9]; 9. 91-Jeff Stasa[10]; 10. 98B-Joe Boyles[7].

Toyota Qualifier 4 (10 Laps): 1. 98-Tanner Carrick[1]; 2. 86-Chase Johnson[3]; 3. 77W-Joe Wirth[2]; 4. 29-Tim Buckwalter[6]; 5. 2G-J.J. Yeley[9]; 6. 58-Dillon Welch[5]; 7. 57R-Daniel Robinson[4]; 8. 3B-Zach Blurton[8]; 9. 22L-Lucas Scherb[10]; 10. (DNF) 53R-Sean Robbins[7].

C-Features: Top-4 advance to their corresponding B-Feature

C-Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 47W-Dylan Westbrook[3]; 2. 17K-Garth Kasiner[2]; 3. 10X-Trevor Serbus[6]; 4. 11K-Joey Klemish[7]; 5. 37T-Chet Gehrke[4]; 6. 35L-Cody Ledger[8]; 7. 2E-Whit Gastineau[15]; 8. 5K-Ben Worth[11]; 9. 15M-Shane Morgan[5]; 10. 15C-Carter Chevalier[9]; 11. 21D-Justin Dickerson[13]; 12. 14E-Tom Dunkel[14]; 13. 27J-Frank Beck III[10]; 14. (DNF) 84J-Jesse Shapel[12]; 15. (DNF) 93-Kyle Bellm[1].

C-Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 55V-CJ Leary[14]; 2. 17C-Devin Camfield[2]; 3. 72X-Caden McCreary[4]; 4. 7-Frankie Guerrini[6]; 5. 51Z-Zach Boden[3]; 6. 4R-Ryan Bickett[11]; 7. 71T-Keith Rauch[1]; 8. 4M-Brody Fuson[10]; 9. 14T-Dylan Bloomfield[7]; 10. 45-Kyle Hammer[13]; 11. 139-Todd Bertrand[16]; 12. 2MD-Conner Morrell[12]; 13. 3F-Tim Barber[5]; 14. 33B-Mike Bitner[15]; 15. 17X-Jadon Rogers[9]; 16. 83T-Herman Carrier[8].

Dave.com B-Features: Top-4 advance to the A-Feature

Dave.com B-Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 87W-Ryan Bernal[1]; 2. 15D-Andrew Deal[7]; 3. 47W-Dylan Westbrook[13]; 4. 40-Max Adams[9]; 5. 7G-Gavin Miller[4]; 6. 75-Mario Clouser[2]; 7. 25B-Steve Buckwalter[6]; 8. 11K-Joey Klemish[16]; 9. 98B-Joe Boyles[11]; 10. 22T-Don Droud Jr.[8]; 11. 4A-Kyle Steffens[10]; 12. 10X-Trevor Serbus[15]; 13. 55D-Nick Drake[5]; 14. (DNS) 17K-Garth Kasiner; 15. (DNS) 53R-Sean Robbins; 16. (DNS) 58-Dillon Welch.

Dave.com B-Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 4C-Cody Jessop[1]; 2. 32W-Casey Shuman[3]; 3. 2G-J.J. Yeley[2]; 4. 57R-Daniel Robinson[5]; 5. 4-Taylor Ferns[9]; 6. 7M-Shane Cockrum[4]; 7. 72X-Caden McCreary[15]; 8. 20H-Noah Harris[7]; 9. 22L-Lucas Scherb[11]; 10. 1A-Jacob Allen[6]; 11. 51X-Joe Walker[12]; 12. 7-Frankie Guerrini[16]; 13. 17C-Devin Camfield[14]; 14. 91-Jeff Stasa[10]; 15. 3B-Zach Blurton[8]; 16. (DNF) 55V-CJ Leary[13].

Wednesday’s A-Feature: Top-2 advance to Saturday’s A-Feature

Smileys Racing Products A-Feature (30 Laps): 1. 24-Rico Abreu[6]; 2. 89X-Mitchel Moles[1]; 3. 71M-Brent Crews[5]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn[4]; 5. 5T-Kevin Thomas Jr.[7]; 6. 51R-Ricky Thornton Jr.[22]; 7. 25K-Taylor Reimer[8]; 8. 7X-Thomas Meseraull[10]; 9. 55A-Jake Swanson[13]; 10. 08G-Trey Gropp[16]; 11. 54-Matt Westfall[14]; 12. 57-Daniel Whitley[24]; 13. 4P-Kody Swanson[11]; 14. 80S-Kaden Honeycutt[20]; 15. 67K-Cade Lewis[18]; 16. 45X-Roger Crockett[12]; 17. 19Z-Hayden Reinbold[15]; 18. 2X-Landon Brooks[23]; 19. 4B-Chelby Hinton[9]; 20. 68-Ronnie Gardner[21]; 21. 25M-Jake Andreotti[3]; 22. (DNF) 07W-Corey Day[17]; 23. (DNF) 1I-Ashton Torgerson[2]; 24. (DNF) 17-Travis Berryhill[19].

Lap Leader(s): Mitchel Moles 1-29 and Rico Abreu 30

Hard Charger: Ricky Thornton Jr. plus-16

Thursday’s A-Feature: Top-2 advance to Saturday’s A-Feature

John Christner Trucking A-Feature (30 Laps): 1. 88-Tanner Thorson[1]; 2. 19T-Emerson Axsom[2]; 3. 21H-Brady Bacon[5]; 4. 29-Tim Buckwalter[9]; 5. 98-Tanner Carrick[11]; 6. 21S-Karter Sarff[3]; 7. 86-Chase Johnson[7]; 8. 87W-Ryan Bernal[17]; 9. 71K-Dominic Gorden[6]; 10. 51B-Joe B. Miller[12]; 11. 4C-Cody Jessop[18]; 12. 82-Landon Crawley[10]; 13. 2G-J.J. Yeley[22]; 14. 2D-Matt Sherrell[16]; 15. 51J-R.J. Johnson[13]; 16. 00-Anton Hernandez[15]; 17. 77W-Joe Wirth[14]; 18. 47W-Dylan Westbrook[21]; 19. 7MF-Chance Morton[8]; 20. 40-Max Adams[23]; 21. 57R-Daniel Robinson[24]; 22. (DNF) 32W-Casey Shuman[20]; 23. (DNF) 3N-Jake Neuman[4]; 24. (DNF) 15D-Andrew Deal[19].

Lap Leader(s): Tanner Thorson 1-30

Hard Charger: Ryan Bernal plus-9

Chili Bowl Nationals Champions

1987_Rich Vogler

1988 _ Scott Hatton

1989 _ Sammy Swindell

1990 _ Johnny Heydenreich

1991 _ Lealand McSpadden

1992 _ Sammy Swindell (2)

1993 _ Dave Blaney

1994 _ Andy Hillenburg

1995 _ Donnie Beechler