TULSA, Okla. — One of Tulsa’s largest sporting events kicks off next week but the drivers made their way to town this weekend. It’s the 37th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Car Racing Nationals.
Eight hundred pounds of pure midget car muscle, flying around the dirt track in hopes of winning the coveted golden driller trophy. Bixby native Tanner Berryhill has competed in this Chili Bowl 10 times. And this year he said he hopes to bring home the gold.
Berryhill said he’s been preparing for this race for months, but the way athletes train is very different to how race car drivers train.
“The best way to be in race shape is to race. There’s not a whole lot of functional workouts that you can do for racing which makes it tough but just try to race as much as you can, that’s your best bet,” said Berryhill.
Publicist and announcer for the race, Bryan Hulbert said these cars pack quite the punch. The word midget may be in the name but there’s nothing small about these compact power houses. And the economic impact the race has isn’t small either.
“Over 75 percent of our ticket holders are from outside of the Tulsa area so you bring in a huge economic impact in with this event. The sports commission last year said it was 17 million dollars in indirect and 30 million in indirect,” said Hulbert.
Even before the race kicks off, hundreds of people fill the Sagenet Center to prepare for the races and check out their favorite car. The races start Monday and wrap up one week from tomorrow and tickets are still available for the 37thAnnual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl.
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