There is now a legitimate challenger friday night sir at the Tulsa Fair.
have equal parts Competitive racing and confusion It’s been a long road, but the final heats of the 40th annual Chili Bowl Midget Nationals sealed Saturday’s championship with two of the most prolific racers in recent Friday history.
advertise
Logan Seavey
Justin Grant
Seavey has now won four consecutive qualifiers dating back to 2023, when he began his path to success behind the wheel of a modern Swindell Speedlab car that produced the Golden Drillers in ’23 and ’24. Will it get old?
“This is not going to be outdated, no,” Seavey said. “I love this game. I love everything about it. I love the atmosphere on Friday night. I think that’s what makes it so special, Friday’s game is even more special. It’s like, man, this place is… I don’t know. Now, it’s about an hour into the game and the building is still shaking.”
advertise
Prior to that, Grant won on Friday night at “17”, “18”, “19”, “21” and “22”. So, has Seavey now taken the Mr. Friday Night title away from Grant?
“No, no, that’s still Justin,” Seavey said, and the mutual respect between them was evident in the postgame press conference.
“Big respect for Logan; he’s a great racer and we’ve had some incredible battles, not just here but on the road in all three (USAC) divisions,” Grant said. “You know, when you show up, Logan is a guy you have to beat because he always puts his car in the right spot.
advertise
“You can never count on him. Like, you can run him down and drive by him, but he’s going to go to work and figure out how to get back to you. Some guys, you put him aside, you don’t think about them. Logan, you put him aside, you still have to worry about him.
“He’s hard to anger. It’s annoying. I think that’s one of my best character traits. I’ll stick it on his front bumper, piss him off, and go back to work, but he’s hard to panic. You stick it on his bumper, he’ll take a deep breath, and go back to work.”
Grant said he knew he could have a tough match with Seavey and vice versa and never cross the line.
advertise
There is no doubt that there are many folds Friday night’s show saw Grant and Seavey leading the way in treacherous lap traffic, which resulted in some nasty crashes as a byproduct.
Gavin Miller, for example, ran a tight tumbling race under Grant to finish second, catching Steven Snyder Jr. in the process. After the game, Miller needed to be transported to a nearby medical facility for further evaluation. The following incident took Snyder out of contention as Chase McDermond was later unable to put the car back together but was otherwise healthy.
advertise
Before that, it was a qualifying round at the Tulsa Expo Center. Seavey, Grant, Miller, Snyder and Darin Pittman are all vying for the lock.
“It’s funny because it doesn’t look like chaos in the car like it does in the stands or on the video,” Grant said. “You know, things get a little slow, right? When things are that intense and there’s so much going on, when you’re so locked in, things actually slow down.
“When you’re in it, it doesn’t seem so chaotic. You know what’s going to happen before anyone in the seat knows it because you know when you’re going to make a mistake.
advertise
“So when you see it, it’s not much of a reaction because you’re already primed to react when it comes up. You have to realize, ‘Okay, I’m in this chaos, you have one eye on your left shoulder, ‘I’m caught here,’ and ‘Someone’s going to come over,’ so you start changing your perspective to deal with the situation. It’s a semi-direct reaction as to what’s going to happen next.”
Seavey said the fun of such a game only becomes apparent after the fact.
“I think it’s right after,” Seavey said. “It’s like that moment when you’re racing hard and everything is so intense. Every once in a while, when you make a good corner or make a cool move, when you split someone three wide, or hit the bumper, you might come out the other end and say ‘that was cool,’ but then you have to go right back to work.
advertise
“That’s it, because at the end of the day, we’re working and it’s hard to appreciate it until the work is over and the three of us are on the podium together at a press conference and we can talk and joke about it.”
Defending NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Jesse Love also required post-race evaluation after he crashed after crossing the finish line in sixth place.
Now, all that’s left is for Seavey and Grant to join the other heat locks, battle each other for pole position, and wait to see who joins them in the main event.
advertise
Kyle Larson
Emerson Axom
Logan Seavey
Blake Hahn
Christopher Bell
Dyson Pursley
Hank Davis
Briggs Danner
Justin Grant
CJ Leary
A great week at Speedlab
Aside from Kyle Cummins’ engine failure on Thursday night, which still saw him finish fifth, it was a great week for the newly expanded Swindell Speed Labs owned by four-time Golden Diamond winner Kevin Swindell.
Tuesday: 14-year-old rookie Jett Barnes finishes third
Wednesday: Emerson Axom wins
Thursday: Cummins battles for victory, finishes fifth
Friday: Seavey defeats Grant
advertise
“Obviously, I love this, but I’m also a little frustrated after what happened with Kyle last night and the motor not running,” Swindell said. “I felt like we had a chance to lock in another car. The Jeter thing was so cool because we could have won that race with him.
“So, it’s interesting because I feel like our car is really good, but Jeter’s car is arguably the best, and I think we’ll know tomorrow. If he can get through B, he’ll probably be close enough, and with the shuffle and two cars in the top five, maybe taking Kyle off the pole, maybe we can get two 39s tomorrow.”
Swindell won four of those championships as a driver, and now Seavey has two as a car owner and team captain. Is this four times as exciting for him?
advertise
“It’s neat and different,” Swindell said. “Like, it’s like trying to find a favorite kid in a way. I’d never had two cars in a race until Monday’s championship race, and it’s different.
“It’s really cool to have two cars and two cars so close together. So I’m going to give it a go. There’s a version tomorrow where Logan and Emerson work together in some way against Kyle, and I don’t expect them to do that, but I’d love to get two of them on the podium. That would be pretty special.”
Feature results
Logan SeaveyJustin GrantDarrin PittmanWalt HoffmanGiovanni ScerziJesse LovemanGiovanni CerziJesse LoveIce McCarthyHayden ReinboldRoney GardnerHayden WiseAustin Woodma Westphal, Mario Klose, Brody Graham, Mason Hannagan, Jake Berger, Joe Voss, Chris Andrews, Jett Nunley, Frankie Guerini, Ryan Padgett, Gavin Miller, Steven Snyder Jr., Michael Faquinto
advertise
interview
To read more Motorsport.com articles, please visit our website.