MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Officials from Tucker-Boat Motorsports have confirmed a six-car lineup for the 34th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals, Jan. 13-18 inside the River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa, Okla.
The Tucker-Boat six-pack is headlined by three-time defending event winner Christopher Bell, who will pilot the iRacing.com/Pristine Auction Spike-Speedway Toyota in the crown jewel event.
Bell will be joined by Chris Windom, Andrew Layser, Aaron Reutzel, Gio Scelzi and Dillon Welch on the all-star roster for the Mooresville, N.C.-based organization.
It’s the largest Chili Bowl lineup in team history, and one that team co-owner Chad Boat is eager to get onto the race track in Tulsa next month, despite the fact he won’t be behind the wheel himself.
“It’s definitely a little different feeling for me going into January, but we’re definitely excited about all the partners we have coming on board, with iRacing and NOS joining the lineup we’ve built here at Tucker-Boat Motorsports,” Boat told Sprint Car & Midget by phone on Monday. “With Andrew and Chris running full time, and then adding a couple very experienced guys to help round out the team in Aaron and Christopher, of course, we feel like we’re in a very good place going into this Chili Bowl.
“We can’t forget about Dillon, either. He ran a lot more this year than he’s been able to in quite some time, and I think that showed and we have a lot of good momentum with him headed into Chili Bowl also,” Boat continued. “All in all, it’s a very strong six cars we’re bringing and Corey (Tucker, co-owner) and I feel confident that we’ll have several of them contending up front throughout the week.”
Bell has won the last three Chili Bowl Saturday A-mains with Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports and will be seeking his record-tying fourth in a row with Boat, his longtime friend and ally.
Should he be able to accomplish the feat, Bell will become the first driver to win four Chili Bowls in a row with two different teams, and the second to accomplish the quartet after Kevin Swindell’s initial run of success from 2010-2013.
Windom is a past champion of both the AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Series () and the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series, while Layser took rookie-of-the-year honors with the NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series this past year. Both of them move to TBM from Clauson-Marshall Racing.
Aaron Reutzel and Gio Scelzi have both found staunch success within the winged sprint car world, with Reutzel earning the last two All Star Circuit of Champions point titles and Scelzi becoming the youngest winner in World of Outlaws, Williams Grove Speedway and Knoxville Raceway history since 2018.
Scelzi picked up his first national midget victory during the opening night of the Elk Grove Ford Hangtown 100 in mid-November, during just his sixth USAC National Midget Series start.
Last but not least, Welch set national midget track records at both Kokomo (Ind.) and Placerville (Calif.) Speedway in 2019, spending a handful of races behind the wheel with TBM when not working his regular television and radio broadcasting duties with the Motor Racing Network and NBC Sports.
Altogether, it’s a lineup that Boat views as “the best from top to bottom” that Tucker-Boat has prepared for the Chili Bowl since the team debuted in 2016.
“Within these six that we’re bringing, I think you see a lot of experience and a lot of guys that can get it done,” Boat noted. “Four of the five (veterans) have started in the Saturday A-main, and then Andrew … that was his first Chili Bowl last year, so him coming back with a little bit more experience will no doubt help him as well. Aaron hasn’t been in the big show, but he’s run some extra races to help get ready for Chili Bowl, and I think you’ll see him really excel.
“We’re definitely excited, and now we just have to put all the pieces together and make it happen.”
Tucker-Boat’s best Saturday A-main finish as a team to date was 10th by Boat himself in 2018.
How to Watch the Chili Bowl:
Mobil 1 Road To The Golden Driller – Story Index Page
News, analysis, interviews, behind-the-scenes and more – updated throughout each day.
LIVE PPV Streaming Broadcast – Racinboys.com
Monday – Saturday coverage
LIVE Television Broadcast – MAVTV.com
Saturday, Jan. 18th at 8:30pm EST
LIVE Timing and Scoring – MyRacePass
www.myracepass.com/app
Toyota Racing Development has won five consecutive Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals features. Thanks to Mobil 1, SPEED SPORT is providing exclusive coverage of the multi-car organization, led by three-time winner and current champ Christopher Bell and two-time Chili Bowl winner Rico Abreu, and other Toyota-equipped organizations and drivers as they prepare for and compete in the Chili Bowl. The Mobil 1 Road To The Driller program is in addition to SPEED SPORT and Sprint Car & Midget’s traditional “Live from the Chili Bowl presented by MyRacePass” coverage that surrounds the event.
