For Grant, and others, this race is about the glory.
“None of us got into this for the money,” he said. “So winning here is still about the prestige and the clout that being a Chili Bowl champion carries.”
Grant realizes it takes a substantial effort from his RMS team to make a run at the Golden Driller but argues that comes with the turf.
“It requires that level of effort,” Grant said, “and as soon as the event doesn’t require that level of effort to win it’s not the same event.”
He insists doing well indoors at Tulsa matters on multiple levels.
“It means you are on the national stage with guys like Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson,” he noted. “They are what you might call big-league guys. This is a chance to showcase yourself and your team.”
Cannon McIntosh represents the new breed of Chili Bowl contender. The race was well established by the time he was born and his father took him to the event from the day he could walk.
McIntosh has won a pair of preliminary night features during the Chili Bowl and has finished in the top four on Saturday twice.
He’s essentially a hometown boy and there is some pressure to perform well in front of friends and family.
“It is the biggest race I go to every year,” he said.“We have to keep up with those teams that put in a lot of time preparing their Chili Bowl cars. We have to make sure our cars are perfect and I have to make sure I am perfect, too.”
Much has changed since those snowy nights 34 years ago and all would agree the level of competition has skyrocketed. If you look at Shane Cottle’s Chili Bowl record, you find he was the runner-up in 2000 and has finished in the top 10 on Saturday night five times.
Things are different now for smaller teams and privateers.
“I basically had good cars and a good crew chief and for some reason the place fits my driving style,” Cottle explained. “But here lately there are all these super teams, so it is tough to make the show. All of those teams combined basically whoop the whole field.”
While some lament days gone by, others arrive in Tulsa with a different perspective. When you stray to the back of the pit area and peer into some of the darkest corners of the building, you find teams that arrive with no realistic chance of winning.
Nonetheless, there is no place they would rather be. Brian Dunlap’s real job is director of broadcast and technology for World Racing Group, but one of the highlights of his year is bringing his cars to the Chili Bowl.
“I work in motorsports because it is a passion,” he said. “But I also want to participate and the time of the year the Chili Bowl is held allows me to do that on a big stage.”
Digging deeper finds there are other dynamics at play and what Dunlap suggests is undoubtedly shared by others.
“For me this is about family,” Dunlap said.“My dad and I do this together. It allows us to work on something all year. If we can run a few times in the summer, great, and if it doesn’t work out, we always have the Chili Bowl.”
In many ways the real meaning of the event for Dunlap became evident when the pandemic left everyone in limbo about the status of the 2021 edition of the race. “Last year everything was up in the air,” he recalled, “so I told dad, ‘Look we have so much fun getting ready for this and building cars we are going forward like it is going to happen. If it happens, we will be ready but if it doesn’t, we’ll have fun working toward it.’”
In the end, the entire process also allows Dunlap to escape from his daily grind and immerse himself in a pleasurable diversion. In 2022, he and his father will field cars for talented drivers Gary Taylor and Casey Shuman and have every expectation of being competitive.
Regardless of how the chips fall, Dunlap feels it will all be worth it.
“You have to be able to enjoy the moment and enjoy things as they come,” Dunlap said. “That is a cool thing about the Chili Bowl. It is easy to say there is only one person who leaves there happy, but there are small wins you can come away with and that means just as much.”
After a year where some fans and participants were left on the sidelines due to the restrictions forced by the pandemic, the 2022 edition of the Chili Bowl may be the most anticipated in years.
The motivations and goals may vary widely by team but when all enter the building there is one thing for certain, the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals is not just a race, it’s a happening.