Among the 360 entries for the upcoming Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals at the SageNet Center in Tulsa, Okla., one driver is not like the others.
While every driver competing during next week’s 37th annual event is a racer at heart, Dillon Welch has that racer mentality, but in a different capacity.
His day job doesn’t involve being inside the cockpit of a race car. Welch makes a living in front of the camera, as a pit reporter for NBC Sports’ NASCAR, IndyCar and IMSA coverage.
As he trades in his microphone and headset for a helmet, Welch finds reversing roles to be comically peculiar.
“It’s interesting and it’s funny. I’ve been interviewed out there on the broadcast, and it’s funny for me to be the one that’s being interviewed,” Welch told SPEED SPORT. “I’m obviously not used to doing that, so that part of it is kind of funny.
“But the nice thing is, when I’m out there, I’m there to race. I don’t have any work to do or anything while I’m out there. I’m just there to be a race car driver. Through the work I already do with Flo Racing and stuff, there’s been a couple years, like last year, where I’ve gone to the booth on one of the prelim nights and kind of helped out there with the announcing, which I enjoy doing and hope to do again this year.
“But that’s obviously just kind of for fun, and something different to do. But when I’m there, I’m there to race. That’s kind of the way I like to keep it to be honest.”
Entering his 11th Chili Bowl as a driver, Welch wasn’t planning to compete in the 37th running at first, as he and fellow broadcaster Hannah Newhouse are to be married in late January.
“It’s hard for me to believe that I’ve had just the opportunity to run it that many times,” Welch said. “I’m excited to go back and do it. I wasn’t originally planning to run this year, because I get married in a week and a half from now, so Saturday.
“The Chili Bowl is the week before our wedding, so I wasn’t gonna run initially. I ended up just talking to Brent Cox with Abacus (Racing) who I’ve known for a long time. We were both kind of interested in maybe trying to put something together, so that’s what we did.”
With plans to chase a Golden Driller, the tricky part Welch faces now is a lack of track time.
“To be honest, I feel like that’s probably my biggest hurdle to overcome every year is just the mental quickness, and thinking that it requires to be perfect in that building,” Welch said. “The guys that do race 80-90 times a year, that’s why they’re so good is because they’re just one step ahead every time.
“They’re thinking constantly of how they can get better within that individual race and it’s kind of just second nature to them. For me, I’ve got to actually think about it a little bit more, because I don’t do it as often as they do.”
Despite the disadvantage heading to Tulsa, Welch feels having the right people and equipment behind him will help him get up to speed quickly.
“It’s always been about having a good car for me, good equipment and good people around me,” Welch said. “That kind of allows me to just focus on the driving and not worry so much about what the car is going to do. If I know the car is going to be good and consistent, I can just go out there and try and drive, and try and race.
“So that’s why I always try to surround myself with people that can give me that. That way we can just put our best foot forward always.”
With it being his first ride aboard the Abacus Racing No. 58 midget, gaining comfortability within the team will be another hurdle for the 29-year-old to overcome.
However, extensive experience at Tulsa Expo Raceway could bode well for Welch, who secured a spot in the A-main last season for the second time in his Chili Bowl career.
“I always just try to tell myself every year that my goal is to be dressed for opening ceremonies, which is the C Main,” Welch said. “I think making the prelim night feature realistically, is goal No. 1.
“Then after that, whether it’s by racing my way in or just locking in through the prelim feature, I always consider a successful week if I can still have my suit on and still have some racing to do after opening ceremony,” Welch continued.
“That’s kind of my goal every year. I feel like it’s an obtainable one. So I’m just excited to get out there and get our car shook down on Sunday.”
As he looks to improve upon his 22nd-place finish last season, having a racing background is something Welch feels can help him in front of the camera.
“I think having a driving background is certainly helpful in a couple of different ways,” Welch said. “This is obviously no slight on a journalist or a reporter who doesn’t have a racing background. But I think it maybe gives the people I’m interviewing a different type of respect, or a different type of perspective on some of the questions I ask, or things like that.
“Just because I am a racer, and I do race and I maybe think of things in a different way than a reporter who hasn’t raced may think of them. I enjoy that, I enjoy the camaraderie of being a racer, and also being somebody that gets to work in this field where I get to talk to other racers for my job.”
The respect on the job is one reason Welch continues to run a handful of races every year. Having a mutual mindset and interest with his interview subjects is something Welch holds with dignity.
“I really value that and treasure that,” Welch said. “To be honest, it’s a big reason why I’ve continued to try and race, even if it is a couple times a year because I do value the perspective from other people in the industry that, ‘Yeah, I’m a reporter, but I also race too.’
“It hasn’t earned me any favors or anything, but I think it’s just a different vibe when you’re talking to somebody that kind of does the same thing you do.
“I enjoy that aspect of the job that I do get to race and hope to at least be able to continue to do it for a little while longer and still kind of appreciate that opportunity.”
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