WHITT'S VALIANT CHARGE FALLS JUST SHORT; TOYOTA DRIVER RUNNER-UP AT THE CHILI BOWL
TULSA, Okla. (January 17, 2010) – Cole Whitt charged up through the field from his eighth starting position to second place, but eventually fell just shy of giving Toyota its first-ever victory at the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals at the Tulsa Expo Raceway Saturday night.
After finishing second in his qualifying race on Wednesday night, Whitt drew the eighth starting position for Saturday’s feature, but the 18-year-old Keith Kunz Motorsports driver didn’t stay there long. He quickly moved up into the top five and had climbed into second by Lap 20. He briefly lost the position and fell back to fourth, but he climbed back into second by Lap 39. Throughout the next 10 laps, he continued to close the gap on leader Kevin Swindell and was able to pull up beside him in an attempt to pass for the lead only to see a caution flag come out and allow Swindell to stretch out his lead again. There was still one more major challenge left in his Red Bull Toyota as the race re-started with a green-white-checker, two-lap shoot-out. Whitt once again pulled up side-by-side with the leader on the final lap, but he couldn’t make the pass stick and took home runner-up honors.
“We were real good on long runs where we could build up a little air pressure in the right rear,” said Whitt. “But, on the restarts we’d be real, real tight on the cushion so I couldn’t really throw it in there as hard as I wanted. We were close. If Kevin made a mistake I could get close to him, but he made only a few.”
Jerry Coons Jr. wasn’t far behind Whitt as he placed fourth here for the second year in a row. Coons ran in the top-five throughout the event, climbing as high as third before his eventual fourth-place finish in the Wilke-Pak Toyota. With his strong outing, it marked the second consecutive year that Toyota has placed two cars in the top four at the Chili Bowl Nationals.
Tim McCreadie missed making it three Toyotas in Saturday’s feature in heart-breaking fashion in the second B Main. The 2006 Chili Bowl winner appeared to have secured the final transfer spot when a caution came out on the final circuit of the 15-lap event with McCreadie running safely in the sixth position. Instead of taking the checkered flag, the race was extended an additional lap and it proved to be a costly one for McCreadie as Bobby East slipped past on that final lap, ending McCreadie’s hopes of a second Chili Bowl title.
In total, 14 drivers campaigned Toyota power in Tulsa. In addition to Whitt, Coons and McCreadie, Josh Wise, Dave Darland and Brett Anderson advanced to the C Mains; Kody Swanson, Dusty Zomer and Randy Hannagan made it to the D Mains; Tanner Swanson and Austin Brown’s days ended in the E Mains, Henry Clarke advanced to the F Main; and Toyota NASCAR Nationwide star Jason Leffler saw his weekend conclude in the G Main after being relegated to the early rounds when he was caught up in another driver’s incident during his qualifying heat.
Portions of this year’s Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals will be broadcast on SPEED TV on tape-delayed basis. Consult your local listings for times and dates.
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