SANDUSKY, Ohio – Chris Andrews is returning to Thomas Motorsports for another shot at the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals.
The 34th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals Presented by General Tire is held next week inside the River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa, Okla. Andrews, a two-time Attica Raceway Park 410 winged sprint car track champion, will be competing in his fifth consecutive Chili Bowl.
“Last year we were just terrible,” he said. “I just don’t have many laps in a midget and we started 10th in our heat on a heavy track and couldn’t go anywhere. I’ve been racing a lot of the Chili Bowl on iRacing. It’s so realistic and I think it will help me improve.
“Brian and Tyler Thomas give me a great race car every year. We have a great Spike Chassis with a Toyota engine. It’s up to me to get it done. Two years ago was our best showing. We won our heat and heading into our qualifying night A Main we were in the top four in points. Unfortunately we got taken out in someone else’s crash. We went from a possible B Main or C Main start on Saturday to a D Main.”
Andrews will qualify Tuesday when the roster of drivers includes NASCAR star Kyle Larson, who has been on a tear of late in a midget team he recently put together.
“The heat on your qualifying night is the most important race except, of course, for the Saturday races,” Andrews said. “You have to pass cars. That makes or breaks your whole week. These are the best midget racers in the world.”
Andrews will be part of a three-car team that includes Tyler Thomas and Tanner Berryhill. Berryhill will compete Monday while Thomas is set to roll off Wednesday.
Toyota Racing Development has won five consecutive Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals features. Thanks to Mobil 1, SPEED SPORT is providing exclusive coverage of the multi-car organization, led by three-time winner and current champ Christopher Bell and two-time Chili Bowl winner Rico Abreu, and other Toyota-equipped organizations and drivers as they prepare for and compete in the Chili Bowl. The Mobil 1 Road To The Driller program is in addition to SPEED SPORT and Sprint Car & Midget’s traditional “Live from the Chili Bowl presented by MyRacePass” coverage that surrounds the event.
The Chili Bowl will be shown live online on www.racinboys.com. The online PPV experience will run from Monday through Saturday’s qualifiers. At the time of opening ceremonies (6 p.m. local time) on Saturday, Racinboys PPV coverage will cease as the final features will be shown live on MAVTV (more information here).