Tulsa's 27th Chili Bowl: the Boat duo race to keep their legacy and beat the Swindell duo

TULSA - Midget car drivers are destroying the dirt Saturday, making it around Tulsa's Expo Square.

Rookies are getting in gear and legends are greasing up at this year's 27th annual Chili Bowl.

Phoenix native Chad Boat sees nothing new surrounding him.

"Luckily being a little smaller, it's a little easier for me to fit in their" said Boat.

He's been around racing since he was born and racing at Tulsa's Chili Bowl for seven years. But Chad has nothing on his dad, Billy Boat.

"We won this race 15 years ago" said Billy Boat. Billy raced at The Chili Bowl from 1992 to 1998. He then went on to race at the Indianapolis 500 for seven years.

Billy won with Chad's same number 15x, and same owner John Lawson. This is Lawson's first time sponsoring Chad at the Chili Bowl.

"We've spent a lot of time on this car. Trying to get it where we thought it needed to be to run at the front and to compete with the Swindell domination we've seen the last few years," said Billy Boat.
 
As we walk down the aisle you'll find drivers from California to Canada. There are 268 drivers here from 32 states and three countries.

We also find Sapula Driver Danny Smith.

"They're working on the motor now trying to get it to run better. If it will run better we ought to be really good," said Smith.

Danny's 48 years old and has been racing Sprint Cars more than 20 year. This is his first year driving midget cars. He said, "we have to start dead last in every race. It's 60 percent survival and 40 percent driving."

Danny won his first race and has six more to go.

While Chad's getting ready for his 50 lap finale, this is just a step towards where he wants to ultimately be- a NASCAR driver.