TULSA, Okla. — Two-time USAC national midget champion Buddy Kofoid will headline Tuesday night’s CAT Qualifying field on night two of the 38th annual Chili Bowl Nationals at Tulsa Expo Raceway inside the SageNet Center.
Driving the No. 71w for Keith Kunz Motorsports Curb-Agajanian, Kofoid will be looking for his first Chili Bowl Nationals triumph. Making his fifth Chili Bowl appearance, Kofoid won a preliminary night feature in 2022 and has made the main event three times with a best finish of fourth last year.
Having made his first Chili Bowl appearance in 2004, Thomas Meseraull will run the event for the 17th time, driving a car entered by Tim Engler. T-Mezz has made 10 main event starts and finished 17th in last year’s 55-lap finale.
Abacus Racing, which won the 2023 USAC national midget championship with Logan Seavey, will have two cars on the track on Tuesday night.
Longtime USAC stalwart Kevin Thomas Jr. will handle one entry with World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series runner-up David Gravel at the controls of the second midget. Thomas will be making his ninth Chili Bowl appearance. He finished second on his preliminary night in 2022 and made the main event three times, with a seventh-place finish in 2016.
Gravel will compete at the Chili Bowl for the ninth time. He was second on his preliminary night in 2019 when he made his only Saturday night finale, finishing 18th.
Driving the No. 7u machine for Trifecta Motorsports, Chase McDermand makes his third Chili Bowl appearance. McDermand finished 16th in last year’s Chili Bowl main event. McDermand won six Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series features last season.
A winner in USAC and Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series competition last season, Zach Daum will jump aboard Andy Bondio’s famed No. 47x for this year’s Chili Bowl. Bondio is a three-time Chili Bowl winning car owner, while Daum will be making his 16th Chili Bowl appearance. Daum has eight Saturday night feature starts to his credit and won a preliminary night contest in 2010.
Rocky Mountain champion Jake Bubak, sprint car aces Parker Price-Miller, Cap Henry, Tanner Holmes and Robbie Price, late model veteran Kyle Strickler and up-and-comers Jake Andreotti, K.J. Snow and Maria Ede are also among Tuesday night’s entries.
It will be Price-Miller’s eighth Chili Bowl appearance.