Bacon, who was essentially sorting out a new car, had started on the front row, and now he was working hard to get on the podium. No one was going to catch Bell, who looked to have a car he could put anywhere he wanted it, and he was chased to the line by Kofoid and Bacon, in that order. Impressive runs were turned in by Joe B. Miller, who finished fourth, with Logan Seavey, driving for Swindell Motorsports, finishing fifth.
Bacon obviously wished he could have gained one more spot, but was philosophical about all that went down. “It feels good,” he said. “But, obviously, I wanted to lock in. I knew Christopher was going to be tough and Buddy was going to be tough too. When the track got slick, I think we were even with them, but we were just a bit too tight up there on the cushion. It was a different track than we had with the Race of Champions. I‘m definitely happy, this has gone better than a lot of my Chili Bowls go, so we will keep chipping away at it and hopefully we will be in the hunt on Saturday.”
Among those tabbed for stardom are 2020 USAC Rookie of the Year Buddy Kofoid. While many on the inside had watched this kid‘s progress, his performance in last year‘s race introduced him to a wider audience. With a seventh starting spot in the feature, he was well aware that he had work in front of him. “It was going to be tough,” he said. “And I told myself on the ramp that I needed five cars. That‘s what I needed to lock this thing in the show. We got the car good enough to where I could pass cars and could maneuver where I wanted to.”
When Buddy got to the second position, he wisely tracked Bell‘s every move. When Bell moved to the top, Kofoid followed suit and continued marching forward. As good as he was one year ago, Buddy now has a full season of midget racing under his belt. Adding to his confidence, he knew that last November he had actually done what few had accomplished in 2020, he went toe-to-toe with Kyle Larson and won.
If you are a jealous type, it would be easy to dislike Christopher Bell. He is one of those guys who gets out of a race car after running a grueling feature event and it seems as if every hair is in place and he hasn‘t even broken a sweat. That was the case again tonight. There are those in every walk of life who can make a hard job look easy and Bell is one of them.
Even before he had made it to the front, it was clear that he was the man to beat. In victory lane he didn‘t hide the fact that he knew he had a great piece to work with. He admitted that, in terms of maneuverability, it may have been the best car he has had at the Chili Bowl — a credit to owner Chad Boat.
Bell and Boat could not hide their disappointment a year ago when they were topped by Kyle Larson, so the task was to get better. Reflecting on his performance last year, Christopher added, “I think when the track was smooth, we were really good, and then as soon as the track got a big ledge on it, we struggled. The track didn‘t have a big ledge tonight, but it did in the Race of Champions and it felt really nice. We know why we got beat last year and we adjust to that.”
The thought on everyone‘s mind by this point was simple. Were we heading toward the inevitable showdown between Bell and Larson? “Well, I mean Rico looked fantastic,” Bell offered. “Cannon (McIntosh) is obviously really good, and he finished second in the Race of Champions. And we have a stout field going tomorrow. This is always an amazing race, but one thing for sure, Larson will be up there, and hopefully I‘m up there, and there will be a host of others. We‘re all in for a treat on Saturday night.”
Adding to his growing legend, this was Bell‘s seventh preliminary night win and a staggering sixth in a row.
FRIDAY
Given the quality of Thursday night‘s feature event, fans were hopeful for a repeat performance. Former winner Damion Gardner was in the field and was anxious to get after it given that his 2020 season was truncated by the west coast shutdown. Justin Grant, now with RMS, was a pre-race favorite due to his run of luck on previous Friday nights, and he was joined by the likes of Kasey Kahne and J.J. Yeley, who just hoped to turn his Tulsa luck around.
Unfortunately, there was plenty of mayhem, and it impacted the overall proceedings in ways big and small. There were no big moves in heat race action, although Indiana sprint car ace Brent Beauchamp did win from the fourth position.
The real story centered on some who didn‘t survive. Tanner Thorson was a DNF in heat race number two, while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was knocked out of contention in dramatic fashion. Suffice it to say as the night wore on calls to return to a separate rookies-only day grew louder.
Because of their misfortune, Stenhouse and Thorson were stuck in the second C-Main and survived, and then tagged the tail of the second B-Main. Going through his process once the wheel stopped rolling, Stenhouse said, “We didn‘t get a chance in that heat race and I felt we could have really moved. So, after that deal, it was all about figuring out how to work our way back and not have to get up so early Saturday morning.”
Conferring with Tim Clauson after escaping the C-Main, he admits being a bit skeptical. “I told Tim I don‘t know about this; this B looks stacked. He said, ‘Every car you pass is probably 20 minutes you can sleep.‘ That was the game plan going into the B. Obviously, it all worked out, we got a really good start and got to ninth in that first lap and picked our way up to get the win.”