Arkansans struggle at Chili Bowl

TULSA — Arkansans had a rough day at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. None of the eight drivers advanced out of their initial features Saturday at Tulsa Expo Raceway.

Two drivers did not attempt their features. Both were scheduled to go in the P feature.

Charlie Louden of Camden had his engine seized up in his heat Wednesday. The team did not have a backup to put in the car.

Kurt Blackaby of Bentonville flipped in his heat Friday. He got out of the car and stayed at the track before going to the hospital due to concern about a concussion. Blackaby was released from the hospital Friday night.

Between the hospital visit and the car’s frame being damaged in the wreck, he did not participate Saturday.

Fayetteville’s Clint Woolbright, the first Arkansan to actually to run on the track, also had a rough go of it.

On his preliminary night Tuesday, he finished ninth in the C-Main, which earned him a spot in Saturday’s M-Main. He was scheduled to start fourth, but the car would not fire off.

Benton’s Landon Crawley performed the best among the Arkansas drivers.

He raced his way into the B feature Thursday night and started fifth. Crawley, 15, battled with NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson during the B feature, eventually finishing fourth to earn a spot in that night’s preliminary feature.

“It’s cool to race guys like that,” Crawley said. “I wish I could have got more laps around them, see what he was doing and try and learn some being behind them.”

Looking ahead to his fulltime run in the World of Outlaws sprint car series starting next month, Crawley said he realizes the value of racing guys like Larson.

“That’s one of the biggest things going into next year is racing with guys like Larson that are just as good as Larson,” he said. “It’s a learning experience being behind people like him.”

Crawley started 24th in Thursday’s preliminary feature, last on the grid, and worked his way up to a 20thplace finish.

On Saturday, Crawley started 15th in the D-Main. Only one caution flew during that race as Taylor Reimer spun in turns 1 and 2 and flipped his car. Crawley finished 13th and didn’t advance into the C feature.

Springdale’s Larry Bratti, after finishing eighth in the C-Main on Monday, started seventh in Saturday’s L-Main. He worked his way to sixth, which would have transferred him into the next feature, before fading back during a long green flag run to finish the feature in 13th place.

Decatur’s Cooper Williams crashed out in his B-Main on Monday, forcing him to the Saturday’s J-Main. Starting seventh, he had to make up two spots to advance. In the caution-free race, Williams fell to ninth in the J feature and did not advance.

Springdale’s Glenn James Bratti scored a 12th-place finish in Friday B-Main, which placed him in an H-Main on Sturday. Bratti started sixth inside the transfer. He worked up to fifth before getting passed by Broc Elliott and Kory Schud. He fell back to ninth at the line to lose out on the transfer spot.

Bonnerdale’s Bradley Fezard ran in Wednesday’s preliminary events. He started second in his heat and finished fourth. With the passing points, Fezard was just short on making the qualifiers and had to run the C-Main. Fezard started on the pole and finished first, advancing to the B-Main. During the B, he started 13th and moved up to the 10th spot, failing to advance to the next feature.

In his G-Main on Saturday, Fezard was scheduled to start in sixth place, but the team discovered a loose fuel line before the start of the feature. Fezard had to start from the rear of the field. He made his way to the 10th position but failed to advance to the next feature.

In Saturday’s main event, Logan Seavey of Sutter, Calif., led all 55 laps and claimed the win for the second year in a row.