Can’t touch this: Logan Seavey roars to big win in Friday’s Chili Bowl

On Jan 14, 2023

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TULSA, Okla. — Getting the lead and never looking back, California’s Logan Seavey sailed the Swindell SpeedLab No. 39 into Victory Lane Friday night during Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tulsa Qualifying Night at the 37th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire.

Asked what it means to win during the Chili Bowl, Seavey replied, “It’s even more special to do it with Kevin [Swindell]. He’s obviously one of the best to ever race here, so for him to come back 10 years later since he’s won with his own car and have so much speed right away is something.

“For me to put together a good night, it’s been a while, and it’s been over a year since I’ve won a Midget race, so to do it with him especially, it gets my confidence back where it needs to be.”

The fifth time Seavey has started in a preliminary night feature, the win is the second of his career and the first win for Swindell as a car owner. Swindell won the event as a driver from 2010-2013. Logan’s previous win was for Keith Kunz in 2019.

Taking the lead from the start, Seavey kept a quick pace over the race, never yielding to the second-place runners. Even with a red flag delay on Lap 8 when Ethan Mitchell ended up hung in the fence after contact while battling with Justin Grant, the race resumed with Seavey picking up where he left off.

Working into traffic just past the race’s mid-point, Logan was able to move top to bottom on the slower cars while Grant railed the cushion. Closing one lap and losing the other was the theme until Lap 23 when a series of cautions put the field to the gutter for the remainder of the race.

On Seavey coming to the white, Grant could not overtake the No. 39, who took the win by 0.516 seconds. Grant, in the NOS Energy Drink No. 2j, protected for second, with Chase McDermand putting on an impressive run to finish third after starting 15th. Zeb Wise crossed fourth, followed by Jason McDougal.

After exchanging slides in the race for second early on, Ace McCarthy ended up sixth, followed Jace Park. Eighth was Brian Carber (from a 13th place start), followed by Clinton Boyles in ninth, and Bryant Wiedeman rounding out the top 10.

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tulsa Qualifying night included 76 drivers, bringing the total event count to 365, making it the second highest in the history of the event, after 2022, which had 381.

Saturday will be presented by General Tire and begin at 9:00 A.M. CT with P-Main and O-Main Hot Laps. Racing will run throughout the day, with Opening Ceremonies slated for 6:30 P.M. (CT). Lineups have been posted to http://www.chilibowl.com as well as the My Race Pass App.

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