TULSA, Okla. – Christopher Bell will begin pursuit of his fourth Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals victory during Thursday’s JCT Qualifying Night inside the Tulsa Expo Center.
Bell, who won three-straight Chili Bowl crowns from 2017 to ’19, returns to his home state of Oklahoma as the defending Thursday Chili Bowl preliminary feature winner.
The difference this year for Bell is he’ll be back with the Keith Kunz Motorsports squad he won his three Chili Bowl titles with after a one-year hiatus away from the team last year when he drove for Chad Boat’s CB Industries.
If Bell hopes to win his eighth Chili Bowl qualifying night feature, he’ll have to outlast a large group of talented drivers that includes reigning USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series champion Brady Bacon in Kelly Hinck’s No. 21h.
Tanner Thorson, who picked up five victories last year in his rookie USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series season, will pilot the No. 19t for Reinbold Underwood Motorsports. He earned a third-place finish in last year’s 55-lap finale.
Damion Gardner, who triumphed during the 2008 Chili Bowl, is back in his own No. 71g. Shane Golobic will pilot the No. 17w for Matt Wood Racing, Spencer Bayston will hit the track in the No. 1s for RMS Racing and Rusty Kunz and C.J. Leary is back in the No. 55v for NASCAR star Alex Bowman.
Other notables include USAC Triple Crown champion J.J. Yeley, USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series race winners Chad Boespflug and Shane Cottle, Clauson Marshall Racing’s Emerson Axsom, CB Industries rookie Brent Crews, cousins Tim and Steve Buckwalter, NBC Sports broadcaster Dillon Welch and veteran micro sprint racer Joe B. Miller.
Chili Bowl JCT Qualifying Night Entry List
No. 0K – Don O’Keefe Jr. (Pittsboro, Ind.)
No. 0T – Alex Schriever (Hartford, S.D.)
No. 1S – Spencer Bayston (Lebanon, Ind.)
No. 2A – Rickie Gaunt (Torrance, Calif.)
No. 2D – Matt Sherrell (Owasso, Okla.)
No. 2E – Whit Gastineau (Moore, Okla.) – Rookie
No. 2G – J.J. Yeley (Charlotte, N.C.)
No. 2S – Travis Scott (Washington, Okla.) – Rookie
No. 3B – Zach Blurton (Quinter, Kan.)
No. 3F – Tim Barber (Sonoma, Calif.)
No. 4A – Dillon Silverman (Chico, Calif.) – Rookie
No. 4M – Brody Fuson (Bakersfield, Calif.)
No. 4Z – Nate Barger (Madison, S.D.) – Rookie
No. 5K – Ben Worth (Coalinga, Calif.)
No. 6C – Collin Rinehart (Peyton, Colo.)
No. 7D – Michelle Decker (Guthrie, Okla.)
No. 7JR – J.D. Black (Grain Valley, Mo.)
No. 7NZ – Travis Buckley (Auckland, New Zealand) – Rookie
No. 08B – Austin Barnhill (Rocky Point, N.C.) – Rookie
No. 8AJ – A.J. Johnson (Oskaloosa, Iowa)
No. 8B – Colby Deming (Hobbs, N.M.) – Rookie
No. 8G – Austin Shores (Atoka, Okla.)
No. 9 – Mitchell Davis (Auburn, Ill.)
No. 10C – Dalton Camfield (Decatur, Ill.)
No. 11W – Aaron Werner (Colman, S.D.)
No. 14M – Dylan Bloomfield (Discovery Bay, Calif.) – Rookie
No. 14X – Chad Boespflug (Lebanon, Ind.)
No. 15D – Andrew Deal (Caney, Kan.)
No. 15W – Danny Burke (Crosby, Texas)
No. 15X – Carson Garrett (Littleton, Colo.)
No. 17B – Ryan Bickett (Ramona, S.D.)
No. 17E – Blake Edwards (Claremore, Okla.)
No. 17M – Jeremy Hill (Stahlstown, Pa.)
No. 17W – Shane Golobic (Fremont, Calif.)
No. 19T – Tanner Thorson (Minden, Nev.)
No. 20G – Noah Gass (Mounds, Okla.)
No. 20H – Noah Harris (Broken Arrow, Okla.)
No. 21D – Justin Dickerson (Pittsboro, Ind.)
No. 22T – Don Droud Jr. (Lincoln, Neb.)
No. 23B – Brian Bell (Gallaway, Tenn.) – Rookie
No. 25B – Steve Buckwalter (Royersford, Pa.)
No. 29 – Tim Buckwalter (Douglassville, Pa.)
No. 31S – Ray Seach (Beloit, Wis.)
No. 35L – Carson McCarl (Altoona, Iowa)
No. 39B – Emerson Axsom (Franklin, Ind.)
No. 44C – Tristan Lee (Biloxi, Miss.)
No. 47X – Danny Stratton (Reading, Pa.)
No. 51B – Joe B. Miller (Millersville, Mo.)
No. 51J – A.J. Hernandez (Phoenix, Ariz.) – Rookie
No. 53R – Sean Robbins (Collinsville, Ill.)
No. 55V – C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.)
No. 57 – Maria Cofer (Macdoel, Calif.)
No. 57B – Daniel Robinson (Ewing, Ill.)
No. 60 – Cody Gardner (Benton, Ark.)
No. 63H – Larry Petersen (Wahiawa, Hawaii)
No. 68W – Shane Cottle (Kokomo, Ind.)
No. 69 – Cody Hays (Wynne, Ark.)
No. 71.5 – Robert Bell (Colfax, Iowa)
No. 71E – Mariah Ede (Fresno, Calif.) – Rookie
No. 71G – Damion Gardner (Concord, Calif.)
No. 71R – Frankie Guerrini (San Rafael, Calif.)
No. 71W – Christopher Bell (Norman, Okla.)
No. 72X – Chris Tarrant (Rockwall, Texas)
No. 73X – Greg Edenholm (Malibu, Calif.)
No. 74 Drew Rader (Findlay, Ohio)
No. 77 – Stevie Sussex III (Laveen, Ariz.)
No. 78M – Merle Scherb (Runaway Bay, Texas)
No. 79K – Larry Webster (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
No. 81X – Dillon Welch (Carmel, Ind.)
No. 84J – Jesse Shapel (Wichita, Kan.)
No. 86 – Brent Crews (Denver, N.C.) – Rookie
No. 91 – Jeff Stasa (Kingman, Kan.)
No. 97K – Brenham Crouch (Lubbock, Texas) – Rookie
No. 98B – Joe Boyles (Greenwood, Mo.)
No. 321 – Chad Winfrey (Gladstone, Mo.)