It was a cold and windy early mid-January day. I was having a hard time waking up as my internal alarm clock that I always use, wasn’t working and my brother, Loren, had arrived to pick me up.
Editor‘s Note: Kevin Olson submitted this column prior to his tragic death in an auto accident on Feb. 11. For more on Olson‘s death, see SPEED SPORT elsewhere in this magazine. Sprint Car & Midget Magazine will have a tribute to Olson in its April edition.
It was a cold and windy early mid-January day. I was having a hard time waking up as my internal alarm clock that I always use, wasn‘t working and my brother, Loren, had arrived to pick me up.
My first thought was why do people always say, “I slept like a baby last night,” when babies always wake up every two hours all night. Thus, I must have slept like a baby. I leaped out of bed at the speed of time (which equals one second per second) and washed my face, combed my hair and put on my cleanest dirty “Sleepy” Tripp shirt for my annual Chili Bowl adventure in Tulsa, Okla.
Originally a two-day affair, the Chili Bowl now spans a full week. But this year would be a little different due to COVID. I was unable to obtain a ride (although I didn‘t have COVID or know of anyone who did have it, but I am still blaming it on COVID) and would have to spend the week selling books, t-shirts and giving marital and financial advice.
Despite these setbacks, something else was bothering me. There were so many haunting unanswered questions that I and so many others would need answers to by the time Robert Bell took his final checkered flag of the week.
Would Kyle Larson finally end his one-race losing streak? Would most of the drivers be wearing open face helmets and t-shirts like I predicted after last year‘s race? And speaking of helmets, I often have wondered why Japanese Kamikaze pilots during World War II wore helmets? What color would Johnny Murdock‘s hair be this year? Who is Alice? And finally, would my decades-long secret finally be exposed?
I hope to answer most of these haunting questions by the end of this psycho-babble column so stay tuned.
The week of racing at the Chili Bowl never disappoints, providing exciting close races with lots of crashes and flips. This year was no exception. Just short of 400 cars took to the track for the week and the best drivers were there.
I think the highlight of the week was watching the almost unbelievable driving skills that Kyle Larson and Buddy Kofoid displayed during Tuesday night‘s main event. Kyle and Buddy went wheel to wheel most of the race, slicing through traffic and with track conditions changing. Both drivers seemed to have that sixth sense of knowing when to go high or low to get the most speed and traction from their cars.
As they went through lapped traffic it looked like a video game. It was an amazing display of driving and after many lead changes Kofoid squeezed past Larson to win on the final lap. Take every Formula 1 race ever run and all the passes and close finishes wouldn‘t equal those on this single night of racing.
The Chili Bowl is more than exciting racing and thanks to Emmet Hahn and Lanny Edwards, it now has become, along with the Indianapolis 500, one of the two most watched races in the world.
The Chili Bowl is known for its great after-race parties and this year Brandon Waelti‘s great pit party that trounced the Alex Bowman party team by a half lap. I attended this after race congregation with the hope of finding out an answer to one of the questions I left home to find out, “Who is Alice?”
Although I saw a puppet of Alice and listened intently to the crowd singing about her, sadly I was unable to get answer my question. However, songs about Alice ran repeatedly through my head waking up each morning.
I got to meet up with many old friends and racers. I love seeing guys like racers Shane Carson, Jimmy Oskie, Brooke Tatnell, Davey Hamilton, Greg Wilke, Terry McCarl, rookie sprint car sensation Buddy Parker and Ralph Parkinson Jr. These are only a few who stopped by my t-shirt stand, along with promotors and old friends Tom Deery, Chris Blair and Mike Schneider. There were so many others, it was a who‘s-who of auto racing.
Another must-attend event during the Chili Bowl is the Midget Hall of Fame induction ceremony. This year was very special for me, as one of my heroes who helped me so much when I first started racing back in 1970, Danny Frye Sr., was inducted. His whole family was there for this great honor.
I became friends with Danny Frye Sr. and Danny Frye Jr. at Memorial Stadium in Daytona Beach, Fla., during the winter of 1971, which was a race Danny won so many times that they usually put his name on the trophy before they ran the race. Danny Sr. had a lock on this place.
I was fortunate enough to be staying at the Safari Beach Motel during race week. Danny Frye Sr. took me under his wing, helping me from then on. We remained good friends along with Danny Frye Jr. and the whole family. It was so cool to hear stories about Danny Frye Sr. as told by his emotional son. It put a smile on my face and a lump in my throat more than once during the ceremony.
Danny Frye Jr. told the story of the night his dad broke his elbow in a crash at St. Charles, Mo. They were in the ambulance leaving the track‘s infield when the ambulance door opened and the gurney that the elder Frye was lying on slid halfway out the door.
Danny Frye Jr. said he was up front trying to pull his dad back in the ambulance, while the attendant was trying to keep shut the door. When they finally got into the hospital, the doctor approached Danny Frye Sr. and asked, “How is your arm?” Danny Sr. snapped back, “My arm is OK, but they broke my damn toe!”
It was also great to see old friend Kenny Nichols inducted into the Hall of Fame. He was one of the best pavement racers I have ever seen.
The week‘s grand finale is always the Saturday night main event. Once again, it was a great one with Tanner Thorson driving the wheels off his car to win his first Chili Bowl. With Thorson winning it, another burning question was answered — the one about Kyle Larson ending his one race losing streak.
I guess my most burning question was answered in full on Saturday afternoon. I can now make public a secret Emmet Hahn and I have carried with us since 1987 that is now public knowledge. For many decades, I have sold my books and shirts on the main entry into the building.
This year, I was set up in the same location selling my life-changing T-shirts that prevent COVID infections with a secret formula of Asbestos lining and fiberglass material. I was so grateful and privileged to have had Kyle Larson touch each of my shirts to bless them. It caused bedlam and chaos with customers trying to make sure to get one of these special keepsakes. Sales were so good that I ran completely out only hours after opening. I truly appreciated Larson‘s support and I even gave him the golden discount of on one of my shirts.
Sadly, the decades-long secret came to an end when a police officer and an official looking lady from the Expo Center approached me and told me that my advertising of the COVID shirts was slightly illegal. They ordered me to take down my sign advertising the COVID-proof shirts and cease sales immediately.
At first the officer armed with a Clint Eastwood-style pistol explained to me that Asbestos was illegal. I tried to explain to him that the shirts were saving lives and preventing a possible widespread outbreak right there in the building.
The officer never cracked a smile or acknowledged that I was doing the world a great service. The nice lady from the Expo Center told me that she had to verify the claim that Larson had touched every one of my shirts or it was false advertising. I agreed to a sit down with Larson. Luckily, he was not yet in the building.
When they asked to see my vendor‘s license, I had to come clean and reveal the secret. I explained to the officer that my shirt stand was just a front. You see, decades ago Emmett hired me to keep an accurate count of the people passing through the gates for his own personal tax purposes. Also, although I never found any evidence of wrongdoing with the concession people, I was always watching for any instances of the people behind the counter giving away free ice.
It was at this point that I saw the officer put his hand on his gun. He said they were going to find Emmett to confirm my true, but bizarre story.
I sold out of shirts and was closing down when I saw them walk by again and, thankfully, Emmett must have brought them to reason. We had hoped this secret would stay a secret for another 16 years when I would finally retire at the same age as Betty White. But time marches on and, hopefully, I will be back selling again next year in between nights when I‘m not racing for a top team such as KKM, Clauson-Marshall or Brodie Heyward.
Another Chili Bowl is in the books and many questions have been answered. I still don‘t know about 
Alice or those Kamikaze helmets. Maybe they were listening to podcasts? K.O.