Seavey Cruises In Chili Bowl’s Race Of Champions

TULSA, Okla. – Defending Chili Bowl Nationals winner Logan Seavey looked every bit as dominant during Monday night’s O’Reilly Invitational Race of Champions as he did last January when he took the iconic Golden Driller trophy back to Sutter, Calif.

Driving for four-time Chili Bowl champion Kevin Swindell, Seavey rolled forward early and drove away late at Tulsa Expo Raceway, leading the second half of the 25-lap, invitation-only special feature that spotlights past and present top performers at the Super Bowl of Midget Racing.

After qualifying fastest during group time trials and starting fourth once the inversion pill was pulled, Seavey stormed past polesitter and early leader Chase Briscoe with a turn-one slide job on lap 13 and never looked back from that point on.

Despite a lap-18 caution and subsequent restart with seven to go, Seavey cruised away from a late battle for second between Tyler Courtney and Cannon McIntosh to win by 2.448 seconds.

“Man, when you have cars that are just so fast, you don’t have to force the issue and it makes it really easy as a driver,” noted Seavey in victory lane. “I was just so comfortable that I knew, you know, even though 25 laps here is short … that we were already right there. Sunshine [Courtney] was struggling as the cushion got bigger, and I just knew as soon as he bobbled once that I would have a good enough run [through the corner] to slide him.

“Really, I was able to approach things the same way when I got to Briscoe [for the lead],” Seavey added. “I didn’t have to force the moves I made; if I didn’t have them, I didn’t take them. But when I took the chance, I went for it and I put him away quick … and you can’t do that unless your car’s just better than the guys in front of you. That’s what it takes.

“I’ve been able to perform all year [outdoors] with the Abacus [Racing] guys [in USAC competition], and now to come here to Tulsa with this thing … it’s just so hard to beat us when Kevin is on his game. I was just lucky to be the one driving it tonight.”

Though McIntosh fought past Courtney for a moment before the white flag, the past All Star Circuit of Champions titlist regained runner-up honors at the finish, leaving McIntosh to settle for third.

Karter Sarff and Chase Briscoe closed the top five, a solid showing for the pair of Chase Briscoe Racing entries, but particularly for Sarff after he collected his first POWRi National Midget League title last fall.

Two-time Race of Champions winner Tanner Thorson crossed sixth ahead of Hank Davis, Spencer Bayston, Corey Day and Zach Daum.

38th Chili Bowl Nationals; O’Reilly Invitational Race of Champions; Tulsa Expo Raceway; Jan. 8, 2024

Qualifying (group aggregated): 1. Logan Seavey, 11.267; 2. Jesse Love, 11.277; 3. 57-Tyler Courtney, 11.292; 4. 5-Chase Briscoe, 11.320; 5. 67k-Brent Crews, 11.368; 6. 1s-Spencer Bayston, 11.374; 7. 47x-Zach Daum, 11.393; 8. 5cb-Karter Sarff, 11.410; 9. 71p-Cannon McIntosh, 11.413; 10. 29s-Hank Davis, 11.414; 11. 58-David Gravel, 11.422; 12. 41-Corey Day, 11.432; 13. 88-Tanner Thorson, 11.453; 14. 91k-Kaylee Bryson, 11.550; 15. 1-Sammy Swindell, 11.574; 16. 71-Jade Avedisian, 11.625; 17. 2j-Justin Grant, 11.634; 18. Brandon Waelti, 11.806; 19. 19-Tim McCreadie, 11.823; 20. 19r-Ricky Thornton Jr., NT.

Race of Champions A-Feature (25 laps): 1. 39-Logan Seavey [4], 2. 57-Tyler Courtney [2], 3. 71p-Cannon McIntosh [9], 4. 5cb-Karter Sarff [8], 5. 5-Chase Briscoe [1], 6. 88-Tanner Thorson [13], 7. 29s-Hank Davis [10], 8. 1s-Spencer Bayston [6], 9. 41-Corey Day [12], 10. 47x-Zach Daum [7], 11. 58-David Gravel [11], 12. 84-Jesse Love [3], 13. 67k-Brent Crews [5], 14. 19r-Ricky Thornton Jr. [18], 15. 91k-Kaylee Bryson [14], 16. 1-Sammy Swindell [15], 17. 71-Jade Avedisian [16], 18. 19-Tim McCreadie [19], 19. 2j-Justin Grant [17], 20. 3w-Brandon Waelti [20].

Lap Leader(s): Chase Briscoe 1-12, Logan Seavey 13-25.

Hard Charger: 88-Tanner Thorson (+7)