Over the years, some NASCAR drivers have excelled at a certain indoor dirt racing event that requires motorsports drivers to compete in the 0.25-mile dirt track at the Tulsa Expo Center for the Golden Driller trophy. The event in question is none other than the Chili Bowl Nationals which has taken center stage in Tulsa, Oklahoma every January since 1987.
Sammy Swindell and his son Kevin, have competed in NASCAR at some point in their careers, and have the most Chili Bowl wins with five and four victories, respectively. However, these three NASCAR drivers have also found major success at the “biggest midget car race of the year.”
#3 Kyle Larson – 2 Wins (2020, 2021)
Kyle Larson first competed in the Chili Bowl Nationals in 2008 when he was just 15. It took the Hendrick Motorsports driver 13 years to finally win in 2020. He beat Christopher Bell to take home his first Golden Driller title.
Larson won again in 2021 and proved he is just as good on dirt as he is in NASCAR, where he also won the Cup Series Championship the same year. However, Larson’s latest venture in the competition this year was not as memorable.
#2 Tony Stewart – 2 Wins (2002, 2007)
NASCAR legend Tony Stewart won the Chili Bowl twice, in 2002 and again in 2007. The three-time Cup Series champion once mentioned how these wins felt more meaningful than his IndyCar Championship title
“In 2007 we’d already won the Triple Crown and, you know, had won an IndyCar Championship by then. But winning the Chili Bowl, a one-race event, was bigger than winning the IndyCar Championship to me. It was much harder to win the Chili Bowl. So, uh, you know, that’s a trophy that everybody wants—a trophy from here. So, um, you know, it’s just a special deal,” Stewart said in 2016.
Stewart shut down his NASCAR team, Stweart Haas Racing, and also started competing in the NHRA Top Fuel Drag racing this year.
#1 Christopher Bell – 3 Wins (2017, 2018, 2019)
After a few years of trying, Bell got his first win in 2017 and became the first person from Oklahoma to win the Chili Bowl Nationals since 1994.
He then went on to win two more titles in 2018 and 2019. The 29-year-old is also the second driver to win three consecutive Chili Bowls. Bell now drives the No. 20 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing and has nine wins in the Cup Series over five years.
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