Taylor Reimer has made steady progress during her three years competing in the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals.
She started with zero expectations during her debut in 2021, as it was one of her first races back in a midget car after taking a six-year hiatus from competition. Reimer transferred straight to one of Saturday’s G mains from her prelim and ended her first Chili Bowl attempt with a seventh-place finish in the assigned feature.
“That year was kind of just for fun, to get seat time,” Reimer explained.
In 2022, Reimer kicked it up a notch as she made the January trek to Tulsa, Okla., with the Keith Kunz Motorsports fleet — her current team. The new objective was to make the feature on her preliminary night, a feat she skillfully accomplished.
However, due to a few missteps, Reimer finished 18th in the prelim and was placed in one of Saturday’s two D mains. Her second Chili Bowl attempt ended with an 11th-place finish in the same feature. This year, Reimer was determined to make the saying “third time’s the charm” ring true, despite a few obstacles in her way.
“We struggled on the USAC West Coast Swing coming into Chili Bowl, so I was more nervous than I typically would be,” Reimer admitted. While the weeklong event in Tulsa can’t necessarily be compared to the high-intensity experience of chasing a championship, there is still a sense of pride on the line.
In Reimer’s words, “There’s still a lot of pressure, because it’s obviously the biggest race of the year.”
Building from her last two performances, Reimer’s goal was to finish in the top eight during the A feature on her preliminary night and sneak her way into the 55-lap championship showdown from a B main on Saturday.
Armed with encouragement from crew chief Beau Biner, Reimer took to the quarter-mile on Wednesday and fought her way to a seventh-place feature finish.
Goal one: Accomplished.
“We were super happy with our progress on Wednesday. I was a lot more confident going into Saturday,” Reimer said. “I think it’s beneficial to race with the best, cause you’re able to follow their lines, run what they’re doing and just learn from them.”
Next up for Reimer was the attempt to insert her No. 25k midget into Saturday night’s exclusive, 24-car field. She started 13th in one of the B mains, but issues with the car’s setup arose, making the car tight and difficult to drive.
“I knew I had the ability to make the A main, but unfortunately, we fell back and just missed the setup on it,” Reimer said. “But when the field is so stacked, I think anyone in the B main could easily make the A main.”
Reimer logged 15th in her B main — her best Chili Bowl performance to date.
Goal two: Try again next year.
With the pattern that Reimer has set in Tulsa, climbing higher through the alphabet soup every year, the hope of locking into the Chili Bowl Championship Night in 2024 seems realistic. But for now, the 21-year-old will turn her attention to the season ahead.
As a full-time driver for KKM, Reimer plans to compete in the USAC National Midget Series and on the Xtreme/POWRi National Midget circuit. Now a resident of North Carolina, Reimer has also joined the Toyota Performance Center as a development driver.
“I graduated college back in May, so this was the first year I was able to race full time and be consistent every single weekend,” Reimer said about her 2022 season. Looking ahead, she added, “I want to double the amount of podiums I had and pick up a couple more wins. I definitely think we can do that.”
In between her dirt-track schedule, Reimer will also be testing late models through the year.