SEAVEY WINS CHILI BOWL THRILLER

BY BRANDON WHITE (NASCAR NEWS)

Logan Seavey faced an enormous amount of pressure in his bid to take home a Chili Bowl win early Sunday morning in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Tasked with holding off defending Chili Bowl winner Tanner Thorson, the former Kyle Busch Motorsports driver executed a defensive clinic during the second half of the 55-lap A-Main and successfully fended off the challenge to become the 23^rd different competitor to win the prestigious event.

“This is indescribable,” Seavey said in Victory Lane.

“It didn’t really hit me until I got [the Golden] Driller. Hopefully we can get a few more, but for now I’m going to enjoy this win as much as possible. I’m at a loss for words.”

Seavey led the field of 24 cars to the green flag after prevailing in the pole shuffle earlier in the evening, but he briefly surrendered the lead to fellow dirt track stand-out Cannon McIntosh on Lap 21.

A sequence of restarts enabled Seavey to work his way back around McIntosh at the halfway point of the A-Main. Once back in control, Seavey refused to give up the bottom of the track while Thorson and McIntosh both tried to get the run they needed to pull ahead.

Seavey remained composed through a handful of late restarts and capped off a strong week at the Tulsa Expo Centre as a winner in front of an exuberant crowd after taking his preliminary A-Main feature the night before.

With his first Chili Bowl victory, Seavey joins an elite list of competitors who have triumphed in the event’s 37-year history. This group includes current NASCAR Cup Series drivers Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell, three-time Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart and Seavey’s car owner Kevin Swindell.

Thorson and McIntosh completed the front row in the Chili Bowl with Shane Golobic and Emerson Axsom taking the last two spots in the top five. Rounding out the top 10 were Kyle Jones, Mitchel Moles, Trey Marcham, Tim Buckwalter and Justin Grant.

Among the notable NASCAR names who participated in the Chili Bowl this year were Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, JJ Yeley, Josh Bilicki, Kaden Honeycutt and Carson Hocevar. None of them reached the A-Main.