TULSA, Okla. — The Steve Reynolds-owned, Flea Ruzic-wrenched Team Ripper Racing squad will bring a four-car effort to the 35th Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals, with the possibility of additional entries.
Leading the charge for the organization will be NASCAR Xfinity Series veteran Justin Allgaier, who finished second in this year’s Xfinity Series points battle behind champion Austin Cindric.
The 34-year-old native of Riverton, Ill., is a four-time Chili Bowl main event starter and is coming off a year in which he returned to the Saturday finale, driving a Ripper chassis with Ruzic on the wrenches.
Allgaier finished 21st last year and Ruzic believes they could have been better.
“He got to the A main this year but had a flat tire that he ran with for about five or 10 laps before he came in and we changed it and he fought steering problems where it really started fading in the second half of the race,” Ruzic recalled. “I didn’t think anything of it. Everything seemed fine at the shop. But when I took that car to Florida and Logan Seavey drove it, he said, ‘Man, there’s something bad with the steering. It’s pulling hard right.’ So we ended up taking the steering box out of it and sure enough, there was something wrong with it.
“Something obviously happened during the (Chili Bowl) main on Saturday night and I just didn’t catch it, but if we come back and give Justin a car with everything straight, I believe he can contend like everyone’s used to seeing him do in that building.”
Joining Allgaier in the Ripper camp will be reigning POWRi national rookie of the year Trey Gropp, Oklahoma teenager Emilio Hoover and Pennsylvania’s Brenden Bright, the brother of two-time Chili Bowl feature starter Alex Bright.
Gropp ran the second half of the POWRi season in a Ripper car after departing Mounce Motorsports, while Hoover made 13 POWRi features and three USAC mains with the Ripper team.
“Trey has about 10 or 12 races under his belt with us from last year and at the start of last year, Emilio had virtually zero experience at a midget,” Ruzic noted. “But at the end of the year, he was fast. A lot of nights he’d turn laps that were in the top two or three fastest laps of the night. He just didn’t get the finishes that reflected the speed we had with him.
“Both of those guys are young and gaining experience with us; we’re glad to bring them both back and excited to see what they can do with us for the Chili Bowl.”
Bright will debut for Team Ripper at the Chili Bowl, marking his seventh Chili Bowl appearance and first since 2017.
He’s yet to qualify for the main event, but Ruzic believes that could change.
“He’ll be the only new driver in my stable, but he’s fast and he knows how to get around the dirt, especially in Pennsylvania,” Ruzic said of Bright. “He’ll be one that, much like Justin, I think guys will have to contend with on the preliminary night before everything is all over.
“All in all, I’m really excited about the guys that Steve (Reynolds) and I are bringing to Tulsa this year and hope we can make some noise in January like we did this past year.”
The 35th Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals takes place Jan. 11-16 inside the River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa, Okla.
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