Christopher Bell Dominates Thursday’s Qualifying Night At The Chili Bowl

Story By: BRYAN HULBERT / CHILI BOWL – TULSA, OK – Treating Keith Kunz to his third trip to Victory Lane in as many nights during the 32nd Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire, Oklahoma’s Christopher Bell put his title defense in high-gear with a dominating performance during Thursday’s John Christner Trucking Qualifying Night.

Three for three in prelim night wins, Bell commented on the run by saying, “It’s just good racecars. That’s what it really boils down to. All my teammates have been really fast all week long. Keith just brings really, really good cars here.”

Asked about the fact that Kunz is three-for-three on the week, Bell simply stated, “It’s pretty remarkable.”

Earning the pole in Thursday’s 25-lap feature event, Bell stretched his lead to over a half straightaway before the race’s first caution on Lap 4. Preferring the hub of the Tulsa Expo Raceway, Bell again gapped the field with Chase Jones working the hold onto the runner-up spot from Caleb Armstrong.

Slowed again on Lap 14, Bell saw a 4.760-second advantage evaporate as the field rolled single file to the green with Shane Golobic now in the mix with Chase Johnson on the restart.

Taking over second with eight laps to run, Golobic pursued the No. 71w on the cushion with Bell advancing off the hub as Shane came into view on the LED Screens in the closing laps. Looking like Bell was on his way to an easy victory, the caution flag took the place of the white; setting up a two-lap dash to the finish.

Keeping pace with the Bell through the first two turns, Golobic carried his run to the back-stretch, but a tap to the concrete and his momentum was gone as Bell ran to nearly a second advantage at the checkered flag to lock into his fifth career Saturday night A-Feature.

Going to his sixth championship feature with his runner-up performance, Shane Golobic was joined on the podium by Chase Johnson to secure his first trip to the big dance. Just missing the final transfer, Indiana’s Tracy Hines crossed fourth with Caleb Armstrong shuffled to fifth.

Rolling from 17th, Ryan Bernal came up to sixth with Billy Pauch, Jr. seventh. Matt Sherrell from 13th came across eighth, followed by Tim Crawley in ninth. Jerry Coons, Jr. made up the top-ten.

While Bell grabbed the win, two drivers made headlines with runs to the A-Feature from D-Main competition. Suffering woes during their Heat Races, Michael Pickens and Tanner Thorson had to claw their way to the feature with Tanner Thorson advancing position 37 times to end up 11th in the A-Feature while Michael Pickens knocked down 39 spots to end his A-Feature 14th.

With John Christner Trucking Qualifying Night in the books, 258 drivers have drawn in for competition during the 32nd Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire. Thursday’s lineup had 87 of those competitors on hand with 95 more slated to run on Friday. The Fastenal Flip Count saw some tense moments but ended the night at 42 on the week with all drivers able to walk away.

The 32nd Lucas Oil Chili Bowl National presented by General Tire continues on Friday, January 12, 2018, with the night sponsored by Vacuworx. The River Spirit Expo Center opens at 9:00 A.M. with Hot Laps at 4:00 P.M. and racing at 5:00 P.M. (CT).

General Admission tickets, which double as a Pit Pass, are sold at the event and are $45 per weekday and $60 on Saturday. Purchasing consecutive days does save the buyer money. Fans unable to attend can find online PPV coverage at http://www.racinboys.com.

For continued updates on the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire, fans can follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with @CBNationals. All official press, updates, and results on the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire can be found online at http://www.chilibowl.com.

Results:

Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire
Tulsa Expo Raceway – Tulsa, Okla.
Thursday, January 11, 2018
John Christner Trucking Night

Car Count: 87
Event Count: 258

Heat Races: Top 40 in passing points advance to Qualifiers.

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24-Tracy Hines, [5]; 2. 92M-Josh Most, [7]; 3. 19S-Matt Streeter, [4]; 4. 18S-Danny Smith, [2]; 5. 321-Chad Winfrey, [6]; 6. 93-Trey Lambert, [3]; 7. 926-Morgan Frewaldt, [1]; (DNS) 8K-Chase Jones,

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 71W-Christopher Bell, [8]; 2. 7F-Michael Faccinto, [4]; 3. 15D-Andrew Deal, [3]; 4. 88-Scottie McDonald, [1]; 5. 35L-Cody Ledger, [6]; 6. 68B-Blain Petersen, [5]; 7. (DNF) 23P-Patrick Lawson, [7]; 8. (DNF) 29-Anthony Nocella, [2]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 05N-Paul Nienhiser, [4]; 2. 9E-Rick Shuman, [2]; 3. 73-Jac Haudenschild, [8]; 4. 7MF-Chance Morton, [5]; 5. 4B-Ty Hulsey, [3]; 6. 24F-Hunter Fischer, [6]; 7. 75X-Mike Griffiths, [1]; 8. 2-Ryan Hall, [7]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 71R-Chase Johnson, [6]; 2. 67K-Holly Shelton, [8]; 3. 49-Andy Bradley, [7]; 4. 0K-Don O’Keefe Jr, [1]; 5. 00C-Grady Chandler, [5]; 6. 11A-Brandon Gray, [2]; 7. 7CG-John Ivy, [4]; 8. 18K-Tyler Williams, [3]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 2D-Matt Sherrell, [2]; 2. 21K-Cory Kruseman, [1]; 3. 5-Jerry Coons Jr, [7]; 4. 29J-Logan Jarrett, [3]; 5. 22E-Shane Stewart, [6]; 6. 7S-Pat Schudy, [5]; 7. 14T-Tony Rossi, [8]; 8. 37F-JR Bonesteel, [4]

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 2DJ-Tyler Edwards, [1]; 2. 4J-Tim Crawley, [3]; 3. 87-Ryan Bernal, [5]; 4. 4P-Paul McMahan, [7]; 5. 3T-Tim Barber, [4]; 6. 56X-Mark Chisholm, [2]; 7. 2J-Cody Lampe, [8]; 8. 84S-Shaun Shapel, [6]

Heat 7 (8 Laps): 1. 25B-Steve Buckwalter, [7]; 2. 47W-Dylan Westbrook, [1]; 3. 11C-Chett Gehrke, [3]; 4. 7D-Michelle Decker, [2]; 5. 91M-Chase Majdic, [8]; 6. 51J-Zach Madrid, [5]; 7. 67F-Kyle O’Gara, [6]; 8. 77W-Matt Juhl, [4]

Heat 8 (8 Laps): 1. 45-Roger Crockett, [1]; 2. 77P-Billy Pauch Jr, [3]; 3. 47-Danny Stratton, [2]; 4. 71H-Hudson O’Neal, [6]; 5. 5T-Presley Truedson, [5]; 6. 7JR-JD Black, [4]; 7. 22B-Troy Betts, [7]; 8. 37X-Cameron Hagin, [8]

Heat 9 (8 Laps): 1. 49ER-Caleb Armstrong, [8]; 2. 57-Maria Cofer, [6]; 3. 11E-Cory Elliott, [7]; 4. 81-Jerry Hammock, [2]; 5. (DNF) 15X-Frankie Guerrini, [3]; 6. (DNF) 9K-Kyle Schuett, [4]; 7. (DNF) 42-Frank Flud, [1]; 8. (DNF) 39-Michael Pickens, [5]

Heat 10 (8 Laps): 1. 55X-C.J. Leary, [6]; 2. 93K-Riley Kreisel, [4]; 3. 9-Matt Moore, [1]; 4. 10C-Dalton Camfield, [8]; 5. 17RB-Ryan Bickett, [3]; 6. 83-Brad Thompson, [2]; 7. (DNF) 2AG-Danny Clark, [5]; 8. (DNF) 63-Tanner Thorson, [7]

Heat 11 (8 Laps): 1. 17W-Shane Golobic, [1]; 2. 7X-Gage Walker, [2]; 3. 76G-David Gravel, [4]; 4. 1H-Mike Hess, [7]; 5. 1K-Brayton Lynch, [6]; 6. 96-Cody Brewer, [5]; 7. 0B-Jay Ball, [3]

D-Features: Top 2 advance to corresponding C-Feature.

D Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 63-Tanner Thorson, [3]; 2. 67F-Kyle O’Gara, [2]; 3. 37X-Cameron Hagin, [4]; 4. 8K-Chase Jones, [9]; 5. 7CG-John Ivy, [1]; 6. 75X-Mike Griffiths, [6]; 7. (DNF) 84S-Shaun Shapel, [5]; 8. (DNF) 18K-Tyler Williams, [7]; 9. (DNF) 37F-JR Bonesteel, [8]; (DNS) 23P-Patrick Lawson,

D Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 39-Michael Pickens, [7]; 2. 42-Frank Flud, [6]; 3. 22B-Troy Betts, [1]; 4. 29-Anthony Nocella, [9]; 5. 2-Ryan Hall, [4]; 6. 77W-Matt Juhl, [8]; 7. 0B-Jay Ball, [3]; 8. (DNF) 2AG-Danny Clark, [2]; 9. (DNF) 926-Morgan Frewaldt, [5]

C-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding B-Feature.

C Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 63-Tanner Thorson, [15]; 2. 4B-Ty Hulsey, [7]; 3. 321-Chad Winfrey, [1]; 4. 67F-Kyle O’Gara, [14]; 5. 5T-Presley Truedson, [4]; 6. 51J-Zach Madrid, [8]; 7. 17RB-Ryan Bickett, [6]; 8. 7JR-JD Black, [10]; 9. 14T-Tony Rossi, [11]; 10. 68B-Blain Petersen, [9]; 11. 93-Trey Lambert, [13]; 12. 56X-Mark Chisholm, [12]; 13. 0K-Don O’Keefe Jr, [5]; 14. (DNF) 81-Jerry Hammock, [2]; 15. (DNF) 18S-Danny Smith, [3]; (DNS) 22E-Shane Stewart,

C Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 00C-Grady Chandler, [5]; 2. 39-Michael Pickens, [15]; 3. 35L-Cody Ledger, [1]; 4. 7D-Michelle Decker, [3]; 5. 1K-Brayton Lynch, [2]; 6. 15X-Frankie Guerrini, [7]; 7. 3T-Tim Barber, [6]; 8. 96-Cody Brewer, [10]; 9. 9K-Kyle Schuett, [12]; 10. 24F-Hunter Fischer, [8]; 11. 88-Scottie McDonald, [4]; 12. 42-Frank Flud, [14]; 13. 7S-Pat Schudy, [9]; 14. 11A-Brandon Gray, [13]; 15. 2J-Cody Lampe, [11]; (DNS) 83-Brad Thompson,

Qualifiers: Top 16 in combined passing points advance to the A-Feature.

Qualifier 1 (10 Laps): 1. 71W-Christopher Bell, [6]; 2. 55X-C.J. Leary, [5]; 3. 5-Jerry Coons Jr, [3]; 4. 93K-Riley Kreisel, [2]; 5. 10C-Dalton Camfield, [1]; 6. 4P-Paul McMahan, [7]; 7. 71H-Hudson O’Neal, [9]; 8. 21K-Cory Kruseman, [8]; 9. 47-Danny Stratton, [10]; 10. (DNF) 05N-Paul Nienhiser, [4]

Qualifier 2 (10 Laps): 1. 4J-Tim Crawley, [1]; 2. 2DJ-Tyler Edwards, [2]; 3. 49ER-Caleb Armstrong, [6]; 4. 11E-Cory Elliott, [3]; 5. 1H-Mike Hess, [7]; 6. 67K-Holly Shelton, [5]; 7. 7MF-Chance Morton, [10]; 8. 91M-Chase Majdic, [9]; 9. 57-Maria Cofer, [4]; 10. 47W-Dylan Westbrook, [8]

Qualifier 3 (10 Laps): 1. 77P-Billy Pauch Jr, [1]; 2. 24-Tracy Hines, [5]; 3. 2D-Matt Sherrell, [3]; 4. 45-Roger Crockett, [2]; 5. 73-Jac Haudenschild, [4]; 6. 25B-Steve Buckwalter, [6]; 7. 19S-Matt Streeter, [8]; 8. 15D-Andrew Deal, [9]; 9. 9-Matt Moore, [10]; 10. 9E-Rick Shuman, [7]

Qualifier 4 (10 Laps): 1. 17W-Shane Golobic, [2]; 2. 71R-Chase Johnson, [6]; 3. 7X-Gage Walker, [7]; 4. 87-Ryan Bernal, [1]; 5. 76G-David Gravel, [8]; 6. 7F-Michael Faccinto, [3]; 7. 92M-Josh Most, [5]; 8. 49-Andy Bradley, [4]; 9. 11C-Chett Gehrke, [9]; 10. 29J-Logan Jarrett, [10]

B-Features: Top 4 advance to the A-Feature.

B Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 87-Ryan Bernal, [3]; 2. 1H-Mike Hess, [2]; 3. 47-Danny Stratton, [10]; 4. 63-Tanner Thorson, [13]; 5. 7F-Michael Faccinto, [5]; 6. 21K-Cory Kruseman, [9]; 7. 93K-Riley Kreisel, [1]; 8. 10C-Dalton Camfield, [4]; 9. 11C-Chett Gehrke, [11]; 10. 321-Chad Winfrey, [15]; 11. 67F-Kyle O’Gara, [16]; 12. 9E-Rick Shuman, [12]; 13. 4B-Ty Hulsey, [14]; 14. 05N-Paul Nienhiser, [8]; 15. 49-Andy Bradley, [7]; 16. (DNF) 7MF-Chance Morton, [6]

B Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 76G-David Gravel, [1]; 2. 45-Roger Crockett, [3]; 3. 71H-Hudson O’Neal, [5]; 4. 39-Michael Pickens, [14]; 5. 92M-Josh Most, [2]; 6. 57-Maria Cofer, [7]; 7. 15D-Andrew Deal, [9]; 8. 19S-Matt Streeter, [6]; 9. 4P-Paul McMahan, [4]; 10. 7D-Michelle Decker, [16]; 11. 00C-Grady Chandler, [13]; 12. 35L-Cody Ledger, [15]; 13. 91M-Chase Majdic, [8]; 14. 47W-Dylan Westbrook, [11]; 15. 9-Matt Moore, [10]; 16. 29J-Logan Jarrett, [12]

A-Feature: Top 3 advance to Saturday’s A-Feature.

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 71W-Christopher Bell, [1]; 2. 17W-Shane Golobic, [6]; 3. 71R-Chase Johnson, [2]; 4. 24-Tracy Hines, [5]; 5. 49ER-Caleb Armstrong, [3]; 6. 87-Ryan Bernal, [17]; 7. 77P-Billy Pauch Jr, [9]; 8. 2D-Matt Sherrell, [13]; 9. 4J-Tim Crawley, [8]; 10. 5-Jerry Coons Jr, [12]; 11. 63-Tanner Thorson, [23]; 12. 76G-David Gravel, [18]; 13. 45-Roger Crockett, [20]; 14. 39-Michael Pickens, [24]; 15. 25B-Steve Buckwalter, [10]; 16. 73-Jac Haudenschild, [16]; 17. 67K-Holly Shelton, [14]; 18. 55X-C.J. Leary, [4]; 19. 71H-Hudson O’Neal, [22]; 20. 1H-Mike Hess, [19]; 21. 11E-Cory Elliott, [15]; 22. (DNF) 7X-Gage Walker, [7]; 23. (DNF) 47-Danny Stratton, [21]; 24. (DNF) 2DJ-Tyler Edwards, [11]

Lap Leader(s): Christopher Bell 1-25
Hard Charger: Tanner Thorson +14