Clauson takes Chili Bowl
“I’m just really relieved I didn’t throw it away because these guys are really good," said Clauson.“I said it last night in the Press Conference that I felt like I had a car that could compete for the win tonight from the time we unloaded the car. It was really going to be a matter of not burying ourselves."
Jumping to second on the start, Clauson pursued Caleb Armstrong for the lead early on.
Looking low on the fourth round with no success, Clauson regrouped with an inside line pass the following lap. Leaving Armstrong to contend with Christopher Bell, the driver of the Keith Kunz No. 97 continually worked the inside line, looking for a hole to squeeze through, but to no avail.
Green until Lap 13, the caution lights blinked on for Thomas Meseraull, who rolled to a stop after the engine gave up entering turn three. Damion Gardner forced the caution on the restart, going upside down through turn two. Both drivers were okay.
Racing to second on the restart, Christopher Bell began working high as the cushion began coming to life.
Losing third to Jonathan Beason on Lap 18, Caleb Armstrong began feeling the pressure from Sammy Swindell. A four car race for the podium step between Beason, Armstrong, Swindell, and fifteenth starting Kyle Larson, things took a turn as the field worked on the twenty-fifth lap. Looking low on Swindell entering the back straight-a-way, Larson and Sammy came together with Larson’s No. 71k climbing the left side tires of Swindell, sending the California driver nose down on the left front, as Sammy’s car cut hard to the left, putting the No. 1 into the infield, and a lap down as Sammy re-entered just before turn one.
Holding sixth as Alex Schutte skunk by for fifth in the mayhem, Larson’s night ended with his Toyota power running out on Lap 29. Cracking the top ten on Lap 17 after transferring from a B-Feature, Kevin Swindell moved to the top five as Larson’s engine expired.
Moving around the racing surface, Swindell worked by Armstrong for fourth on a Lap 30 restart, and then third on Lap 31 when Beason tripped over the right-front through turns one and two.
Going for the slide job on Bell on Lap 38, Bell countered and blocked the next charge.
Working back up on Clauson as slower traffic approached, the caution displayed again with 12 to go.
Rolling high on Bell for second, Swindell opened the inside line for Rico Abreu. Swapping the final podium step over the next few laps, Swindell gained the advantage over the Abreu Vineyards No. 67 who ended up spinning on Lap 48.
Glued to Bell on the restart, it was slide jobs in every corner with Bell able to drive back under Swindell after every attempt.
Caution for Jerry Coons, Jr. who went upside down with seven to go, the restart saw Clauson pull away as the race for second continued. Driving deep into the third turn on Lap 48, Kevin pitched for the slide, with the two running out of real-estate and nearly stalling on the track before finally getting back to speed.
Given a sizable advantage with laps going away, Bryan Clauson’s advantage at the line was 1.556 seconds. Swindell’s performance from fourteenth made him the Excel Therapy Hard Charger of the Week, advancing position 49 times. Christopher Bell crossing third marks his best performance in the Chili Bowl.
Pennsylvania’s Alex Bright advance from twelfth to fourth with tenth starting Dave Darland completing the top five.
Meeting face-to-face with Keith Kunz in the infield, Swindell commented on the confrontation in the post-race press conference, “It was nothing that bad. I think all the people, aside from me and Christopher made it a bigger deal than what it really was. I was just a little frustrated."
Bell shared a similar sentiment, “Everyone knew Kevin was a little frustrated with me. There after the checkered, we were kind of swerving at each other. I didn’t know how frustrated he was with me but the people, like he said, made it a bigger deal."
The 28th Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire saw the record for driver attendance tied at 281 set in 2009. Saturday’s alphabet saw the longest streak of advances at three with Brent Beauchamp, J.J. Yeley, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and Seth Motsinger each advancing through three features.
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. was Saturday’s overall Hard Charger with 23 passes to his credit. The 2014 Chili Bowl Rookie of the Year came down to the B-Features. Parker Price-Miller who finished eleventh in the second B-Feature earned the honor over Tanner Thorson who placed fourteenth in the first B-Feature.
The day’s K-Features were won by Domain Ramsay and Cole Wood. J-Feature winners were Dylan Peterson and Matt Johnson. I-Features went to Seth Motsinger and Critter Malone. Robby Parish and Brenden Bright topped the H-Features. Jason Johnson and Ryan Beechler each earned G-Feature wins with Mike Goodman and Kevin Thomas, Jr. splitting the F-Features.
Matt Westfall and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. topped the E-Features with Stenhouse being the only driver to earn two wins in the alphabet on Saturday, topping the second D-Feature. J.J. Yeley earned the win in the first D-Feature.
C-Features went to Brandon Waelti and Tim Crawley. B-Features went to Rico Abreu and Kevin Swindell.
The 29th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire is scheduled to take place January 13-17, 2015. Ticket information will be posted to http://www.chilibowl.com as soon as the information is available.
Saturday’s Lucas Oil Championship Night Results
Lucas Oil A Feature
A Feature (55 Laps): 1. 63-Bryan Clauson[3]; 2. 39-Kevin Swindell[14]; 3. 97-Christopher Bell[2]; 4. 77-Alex Bright[12]; 5. 17R-Dave Darland[10]; 6. 47X-Tim McCreadie[8]; 7. 21-Daryn Pittman[17]; 8. 8J-Jonathan Beason[4]; 9. 3-Chris Windom[9]; 10. 15X-Chad Boat[18]; 11. 67K-Rico Abreu[13]; 12. 24-Tracy Hines[22]; 13. 5D-Zach Daum[5]; 14. 1-Sammy Swindell[6]; 15. 05-Brad Loyet[20]; 16. (DNF) 7M-Kevin Ramey[24]; 17. (DNF) 17K-Alex Schutte[19]; 18. (DNF) 5-Jerry Coons Jr[21]; 19. (DNF) 7C-Caleb Armstrong[1]; 20. (DNF) 63NZ-Michael Pickens[11]; 21. (DNF) 56L-Danny Stratton[16]; 22. (DNF) 71K-Kyle Larson[15]; 23. (DNF) 47-Damion Gardner[7]; 24. (DNF) 16-Thomas Meseraull[23]
Lap Leader(s): Caleb Armstrong (1-5), Clauson (6-55)
B-Features: Top 6 advance to the A-Feature.
B Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 67K-Rico Abreu[1]; 2. 71K-Kyle Larson[4]; 3. 21-Daryn Pittman[2]; 4. 17K-Alex Schutte[6]; 5. 5-Jerry Coons Jr[9]; 6. 16-Thomas Meseraull[8]; 7. 56J-Darren Hagen[14]; 8. 26-Shane Golobic[5]; 9. 11A-Andrew Felker[7]; 10. 57M-Matt Mitchell[10]; 11. 1ST-J.J. Yeley[20]; 12. 31B-Travis Berryhill[13]; 13. 15D-Andrew Deal[11]; 14. 67-Tanner Thorson[18]; 15. 7JM-Joey Moughan[12]; 16. 15W-Brandon Waelti[15]; 17. 21K-Cory Kruseman[19]; 18. 44-Don Droud Jr[16]; 19. (DNF) 25B-Steve Buckwalter[3]; 20. (DNF) 39R-Dillon Welch[17]
B Feature 2 (20 Laps): 1. 39-Kevin Swindell[1]; 2. 56L-Danny Stratton[5]; 3. 15X-Chad Boat[8]; 4. 05-Brad Loyet[3]; 5. 24-Tracy Hines[9]; 6. 7M-Kevin Ramey[13]; 7. 10-Brad Kuhn[7]; 8. 91T-Tyler Thomas[17]; 9. 99-Brady Bacon[14]; 10. 51J-R.J. Johnson[10]; 11. 9P-Parker Price-Miller[18]; 12. 11-Chase Stockon[19]; 13. 51S-Mike Spencer[12]; 14. 56R-Ryan Bernal[4]; 15. 05T-Gary Taylor[2]; 16. (DNF) 71C-Shane Cottle[6]; 17. (DNF) 4J-Tim Crawley[15]; 18. (DNF) 39T-Payton Pierce[11]; 19. (DNF) 66-Shane Cockrum[20]; 20. (DNF) 93-Dustin Morgan[16]
C-Features: Top 6 advance to corresponding B-Feature.
C Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 15W-Brandon Waelti[1]; 2. 44-Don Droud Jr[4]; 3. 39R-Dillon Welch[2]; 4. 67-Tanner Thorson[14]; 5. 21K-Cory Kruseman[6]; 6. 1ST-J.J. Yeley[15]; 7. 19S-Richard VanderWeerd[11]; 8. 5E-James Edens[18]; 9. 15-Tim Siner[9]; 10. 11CA-Chris Andrews[20]; 11. 88-Terry Babb[10]; 12. 68-Ronnie Gardner[17]; 13. 55F-Taylor Ferns[12]; 14. 85S-Shane Hollingsworth[16]; 15. 8V-Jace VanderWeerd[13]; 16. 81-Heath Duinkerken[19]; 17. (DNF) 17S-Dominic Scelzi[7]; 18. (DNF) 8K-Frank Flud[5]; 19. (DNF) 8L-Harli White[3]; 20. (DNF) 2ND-Jeb Sessums[8]
C Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 4J-Tim Crawley[2]; 2. 93-Dustin Morgan[1]; 3. 91T-Tyler Thomas[4]; 4. 9P-Parker Price-Miller[7]; 5. 11-Chase Stockon[5]; 6. 66-Shane Cockrum[3]; 7. 6-Ricky Stenhouse Jr[15]; 8. 57B-Chad Boespflug[9]; 9. 11W-Tyler Courtney[20]; 10. 7B-Austin Brown[8]; 11. 2ST-Jon Stanbrough[19]; 12. 73X-Trey Marcham[11]; 13. 35S-Matt Sherrell[13]; 14. 73N-Nic Faas[12]; 15. 5C-Colten Cottle[18]; 16. 39C-Joey Saldana[6]; 17. 38-Billy Wease[14]; 18. 3T-Tim Barber[17]; 19. (DNF) 55-Nick Knepper[16]; 20. (DNF) 50-Daniel Adler[10]
D-Features: Top 6 advance to corresponding C-Feature.
D Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 1ST-J.J. Yeley[1]; 2. 85S-Shane Hollingsworth[6]; 3. 68-Ronnie Gardner[2]; 4. 5E-James Edens[11]; 5. 81-Heath Duinkerken[3]; 6. 11CA-Chris Andrews[9]; 7. 37-Brady Short[7]; 8. 45X-Johnny Herrera[13]; 9. 98-P.J. Jones[12]; 10. 57D-Daniel Robinson[18]; 11. 1K-Trevor Kobylarz[14]; 12. 14W-Matt Westfall[15]; 13. 91B-Kevin Bayer[16]; 14. 17E-Blake Edwards[4]; 15. 33H-Cameron Hagin[17]; 16. 91S-Jeff Stasa[5]; 17. (DNF) 1W-Paul White[8]; 18. (DNF) 84B-Bobby Michnowicz[10]
D Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 6-Ricky Stenhouse Jr[15]; 2. 55-Nick Knepper[7]; 3. 3T-Tim Barber[9]; 4. 5C-Colten Cottle[3]; 5. 2ST-Jon Stanbrough[8]; 6. 11W-Tyler Courtney[14]; 7. 5N-Jeffrey Newell[4]; 8. 19-Steven Drevicki[6]; 9. 7L-Layne Himebaugh[13]; 10. 62-Taylor Simas[1]; 11. 21AJ-A.J. Hopkins[12]; 12. 4AU-Mathew Smith[10]; 13. 33-Davey Ray[18]; 14. 6RR-Joe Liguori[16]; 15. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[5]; 16. 52C-Isaac Chapple[17]; 17. (DNF) 7A-Dalton Armstrong[2]; 18. (DNF) 8-Alex Sewell[11]
E-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding D-Feature.
E Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 14W-Matt Westfall[1]; 2. 91B-Kevin Bayer[2]; 3. 33H-Cameron Hagin[5]; 4. 57D-Daniel Robinson[3]; 5. 55B-Brian Shirley[4]; 6. 96-Cody Brewer[9]; 7. 45W-C.J. Johnson[8]; 8. 37T-William Gould[12]; 9. 77K-Kevin Olson[16]; 10. 75X-Landon Simon[10]; 11. 17J-Chase Johnson[15]; 12. 32D-Danny Jennings[14]; 13. (DNF) 31-David Budres[7]; 14. (DNF) 71S-Sheldon Haudenschild[6]; 15. (DNF) 22-Mike Goodman[13]; 16. (DNF) 5S-Kyle Steffens[11]
E Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 6-Ricky Stenhouse Jr[2]; 2. 6RR-Joe Liguori[5]; 3. 52C-Isaac Chapple[3]; 4. 33-Davey Ray[10]; 5. 12K-Josh Lakatos[12]; 6. 6J-Joe Stornetta[15]; 7. 93H-Harley Hollan[9]; 8. 2-Kevin Thomas Jr[13]; 9. 2A-Hunter Schuerenberg[8]; 10. 59E-Dex Eaton[11]; 11. 87-Dave Camfield Jr.[16]; 12. 7F-Sean McClelland[14]; 13. 37X-Michael Faccinto[7]; 14. 4-Bobby East[4]; 15. 27R-Kyle O'Gara[6]; 16. 76M-Brad Noffsinger[1]
F-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding E-Feature.
F Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 22-Mike Goodman[4]; 2. 32D-Danny Jennings[3]; 3. 17J-Chase Johnson[5]; 4. 77K-Kevin Olson[2]; 5. 83P-Wes McIntyre[11]; 6. 1T-Tony Roney[9]; 7. 43-Dakoda Armstrong[6]; 8. 82H-Mike Hess[15]; 9. 21H-Ty Hulsey[10]; 10. 83-Hannah Adair[1]; 11. 20-Tadd Holliman[7]; 12. 80-Josh Hawkins[16]; 13. 57K-Kevin Studley[14]; 14. 8OK-Gage Walker[12]; 15. 05J-Jason Johnson[13]; 16. (DNF) 87F-Brian McClelland[8]
F Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 2-Kevin Thomas Jr[3]; 2. 7F-Sean McClelland[1]; 3. 6J-Joe Stornetta[4]; 4. 87-Dave Camfield Jr.[12]; 5. 25J-Matt Juhl[2]; 6. 81B-Ryan Beechler[13]; 7. 43B-Brent Beauchamp[16]; 8. 4R-Ryan Greth[8]; 9. 82-Eric Johnson[5]; 10. 71-Kasey Kahne[14]; 11. 6A-David Gough[15]; 12. 35H-Tyson Hall[11]; 13. 24L-C.J. Leary[7]; 14. 2X-Ryan Hall[9]; 15. (DNF) 4A-Aaron Pierce[10]; 16. (DNF) 35T-Tyler Robbins[6]
G-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding F-Feature.
G Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 05J-Jason Johnson[2]; 2. 57K-Kevin Studley[4]; 3. 82H-Mike Hess[6]; 4. 80-Josh Hawkins[7]; 5. 55D-Nick Drake[12]; 6. 23-Jimmy Light[10]; 7. 7K-Robby Parish[13]; 8. 10J-John Hunt[9]; 9. 15B-Danny Burke[1]; 10. 68M-Tyler Edwards[14]; 11. 5$-Danny Smith[5]; 12. 1R-Robby Larson[8]; 13. 2M-Seth Motsinger[16]; 14. 17-Michael Koontz[15]; 15. 2$-Stuart Snyder[11]; 16. (DNF) 94-Darren Kingston[3]
G Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 81B-Ryan Beechler[4]; 2. 71-Kasey Kahne[11]; 3. 6A-David Gough[2]; 4. 43B-Brent Beauchamp[15]; 5. 37F-Chris Guinn[1]; 6. 71X-Jac Haudenschild[14]; 7. 92-Brenden Bright[13]; 8. 11XS-Donovan Peterson[7]; 9. 12J-Jay Mounce[3]; 10. 69-A.J. Fike[10]; 11. 7-Shannon McQueen[16]; 12. 56X-Mark Chisholm[6]; 13. 4G-Bill Jackson[8]; 14. (DNF) 37K-Steve Brown[9]; 15. (DNF) 31M-Ray Seach[12]; 16. (DNF) 86-Chris Ennis[5]
H-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding G-Feature.
H Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 7K-Robby Parish[1]; 2. 68M-Tyler Edwards[10]; 3. 17-Michael Koontz[2]; 4. 2M-Seth Motsinger[13]; 5. 7N-D.J. Netto[14]; 6. 7JR-J.D. Black[5]; 7. 24T-Jason Tyer[15]; 8. (DNF) 0G-Glenn Styres[16]; 9. (DNF) 91W-Mickey Walker[4]; 10. (DNF) 11B-Josh Baughman[12]; 11. (DNF) 87R-Jeff Flesher[9]; 12. (DNF) 59-Kaley Engstrom[3]; 13. (DNF) 8C-Kris Schudy[11]; 14. (DNF) 12S-Bryan Severs[8]; DNS 91-Dereck King; DNS 2B-Bill Balog
H Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 92-Brenden Bright[1]; 2. 71X-Jac Haudenschild[11]; 3. 43B-Brent Beauchamp[3]; 4. 7-Shannon McQueen[4]; 5. 19P-Patrick Stasa[6]; 6. 7X-Critter Malone[13]; 7. 0B-Tyler Brehm[8]; 8. 7J-Shawn Jackson[2]; 9. 13AU-Matt Hunter[7]; 10. 1JR-Joe Ramaker[15]; 11. 24K-Bradley Morris[16]; 12. 44C-Clint Schubert[14]; 13. 84-Scotty Smith[9]; DNS 6R-Jody Rosenboom; DNS 9D-Sean Dodenhoff; 16. DQ 11C-Chett Gehrke[10]
I-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding H-Feature.
I Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 2M-Seth Motsinger[1]; 2. 7N-D.J. Netto[6]; 3. 24T-Jason Tyer[4]; 4. 0G-Glenn Styres[2]; 5. 35L-Cody Ledger[9]; 6. 79J-Jacob Patton[8]; 7. 14E-Eric Fenton[12]; 8. 87C-Coby Hughes[16]; 9. 10B-Thomas Briggs[11]; 10. 95-Jim Radney[14]; 11. 40-Andy Huston[10]; 12. 25-Dylan Peterson[13]; 13. 11F-Floyd Alvis[7]; 14. 1OU-A.J. Burns[5]; 15. (DNF) 19W-Dan Parker[3]; 16. (DNF) 20X-Jimmy Harris[15]
I Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 7X-Critter Malone[4]; 2. 44C-Clint Schubert[1]; 3. 1JR-Joe Ramaker[8]; 4. 24K-Bradley Morris[7]; 5. 14R-John Klabunde[3]; 6. 14D-David McIntosh[2]; 7. 2S-Stratton Briggs[6]; 8. 10C-Dalton Camfield[16]; 9. 31E-Evan Sewell[10]; 10. 21N-Nick Speidel[12]; 11. 85-Matt Johnson[13]; 12. 2J-Zach Blurton[9]; 13. 4X-Shawn Petersen[14]; 14. 6C-Matt Fox[11]; 15. 0K-Don O'Keefe Jr[15]; 16. (DNF) 20S-Shon Deskins[5]
J-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding I-Feature.
J Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 25-Dylan Peterson[1]; 2. 95-Jim Radney[7]; 3. 20X-Jimmy Harris[5]; 4. 87C-Coby Hughes[2]; 5. 71AU-Domain Ramsay[13]; 6. 51X-Michael Curtis[9]; 7. 49JR-Dan Hillberg[12]; 8. 9U-Doug McCune[4]; 9. 7S-Kory Schudy[10]; 10. 6D-Jesse Denome[8]; 11. 27C-Kip Hughes[16]; 12. 21D-Justin Dickerson[6]; 13. 7RS-Scott Crystal[3]; 14. (DNF) 19C-Rusty Carlile[14]; 15. (DNF) 05P-Ryan Pace[11]; DNS 73-Jason McDougal
J Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 85-Matt Johnson[2]; 2. 4X-Shawn Petersen[3]; 3. 0K-Don O'Keefe Jr[1]; 4. 10C-Dalton Camfield[6]; 5. 16C-David Camfield[5]; 6. 86S-Danny Smith[8]; 7. 17W-Cole Wood[13]; 8. 5A-Peter Palazzolo[7]; 9. 33A-Stephen Arnold[4]; 10. D6-Dakota Gains[14]; 11. 10W-George White[16]; 12. 44D-Philip Dietz[9]; 13. 71M-Brandon Matus[15]; 14. 1B-Bobby Brewer[12]; DNS 25M-Derrick Myers; DNS 20B-Carey Becker
K-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding J-Feature.
K Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 71AU-Domain Ramsay[1]; 2. 19C-Rusty Carlile[3]; 3. 73-Jason McDougal[15]; 4. 27C-Kip Hughes[2]; 5. 33D-Lee Dakus[6]; 6. 14-Tony Rossi[11]; 7. 05H-Justin Hendricks[7]; 8. 11D-Dustin Hapka[4]; 9. 69B-Randy Boyer[9]; 10. 29S-Brian Harvey[12]; 11. 28-Greg Fitzpatrick[13]; 12. (DNF) 7D-Michelle Decker[10]; 13. (DNF) 3H-Bubba Hunt[8]; 14. (DNF) 56XX-Lance Bennett[16]; DNS 14K-Kyle Bellm; DNS 0-Johnny Murdock
K Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 17W-Cole Wood[4]; 2. D6-Dakota Gains[14]; 3. 71M-Brandon Matus[5]; 4. 10W-George White[12]; 5. 0C-Chris Stockham[9]; 6. 31J-Jimmy Elledge[2]; 7. 9M-Cory Mallo[15]; 8. 5K-Tucker Klaasmeyer[1]; 9. 22AZ-Rick Shuman[11]; 10. 4F-Chad Frewaldt[3]; 11. 8CK-David Garbo Jr.[6]; 12. 69M-Mike Miller[17]; 13. 4M-Andee Beierle[10]; DNS 27-J.J. Hickle; DNS 19R-Randy Woodside; DNS 57X-Tim Kent
L-Features: Top 8 advance. Odd finish to K-Feature 1 / Even finish to K-Feature 2.
L Feature 1: 1. 28-Greg Fitzpatrick[1]; 2. D6-Dakota Gains[2]; 3. 9M-Cory Mallo[4]; 4. 0-Johnny Murdock[5]; 5. 73-Jason McDougal[7]; 6. 56XX-Lance Bennett[11]; 7. 57X-Tim Kent[12]; 8. 69M-Mike Miller[16]; DNS 11XC-Steve Newman; DNS 11H-Garett Hood; DNS 6M-Justin Mallo; DNS 3F-Ned Fry; DNS 83J-Jonathan Halford; DNS 32-Casey Shuman; DNS 3E-Kody Swanson; DNS 14C-Paul Nienhiser; DNS 75-Justin GrantRace removed as all but 8 scratched….Finish posted in order by lineup of transfers that remained, then order of DNS based on scheduled starting position.