(Photo: Aaron Bearden / Motorsports Beat)
By Aaron Bearden
The arrival of the 2021 Chili Bowl Nationals may be controversial amid the pandemic, but it couldn’t have come at a much better time for dirt racing fans. After the end of a disastrous 2020, it’s kicked off the new year with a return to something resembling normalcy.
Sure, it’s not all normal. The Top Row Rowdies aren’t raising the traditional amount of hell (a lot) on the backstretch. Instead of sitting elbow-to-elbow, the few people lucky to attend are separated in grandstands the are atypically open. Everyone is wearing a mask – well, except for this guy that paid all the money for a ticket just to get himself kicked out on Tuesday.
Many of the things surrounding the track have been different thus far. But the thing that matters most, what truly makes the Chili Bowl the special event it is, is the intense racing.
Through three days, that’s remained unchanged. Sliders have been thrown aplenty and the flip count has steadily risen as a result. Event favorites including Kyle Larson, Rico Abreu and rising star Cannon McIntosh have locked themselves into Saturday’s feature.
Another stacked field of entries has flocked to Tulsa to run the event, which once seemed unlikely to occur but steadily became possible after a successful Tulsa Shootout at the turn of the year. Sprint car legend Dave Darland elected to sit the race out for the first time in over two decades, but others like Chase Elliott have made their way to Tulsa in his place.
Now halfway through the festivities, the Chili Bowl has been a success so far. It’s provided a reprieve from a 2020 racing season that wasn’t a kind one to the grassroots racing world.
Already stressed financially and logistically in many occasions, local tracks around the world struggled to make things work once the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in earnest around mid-March. Just as many facilities were preparing for season-openers or early headline events, the lockdown rules of spring forced them back into silence.
Trapped in temporary exile with them were the various teams, competitors and spectators that would traditionally flock to the track to trade slide jobs, cheers and beers under the dim haze of overhead lights. Many lost their primary source of income — either temporarily or permanently — while others were forced to consider if their racing passion project was worth continuing when racing returned.
I probably don’t have to tell you most of the story of racing’s return at this stage. Initial action went down virtually, with a few grassroots tours and tracks taking part in the festivities, led by unique concepts like Stafford Speedway’s weekly pivot to iRacing. Eventually real-life racing began to slowly march back, with tours like the World of Outlaws and NASCAR among the first to get back to full-time competition.
But unlike the bulk of most national tours, the grassroots racing scene was disproportionally affected based on location. Tracks were forced to lean on local governance to learn when, or if, they’d be able to return to action in 2020. A few attempted to run in spite or excess of local regulations early on, but in doing so risked harsh action – such as the stoppage of Ace Speedway in North Carolina that made national news.
Those that were able to run were given various options about fan attendance, which is much more significant for smaller tracks in need of sales tied to concessions, merchandise and activations like 50/50 programs to swing their bottom line. Some were told they could only run without fans. Others had partial attendance, with few drifting above 50% capacity throughout the year.
One of the key appeals of short track racing is access, with the stars of each series available to anyone who’s willing to shell out $40 or so for a pit pass. Want to meet a NASCAR Cup Series competitor like Christopher Bell or Kyle Larson? Wait until they come to your local short track in a sprint car, act respectfully and you can typically meet them with little issue.
That prospect was minimized with attendance and procedures hampered. While streaming services have made grassroots racing more accessible for fans from home or afar, they don’t bring the same financial value to tracks as hundreds or thousands of fans buying beer, burgers and shirts from the local concessions stand.
So while racing returned overall, the amount of it to be seen varied by location based on the rules and current COVID-19 situation in the area. Numerous traditional weekly programs weren’t held. Some tracks struggled or outright closed, led by Myrtle Beach Speedway, which shuttered after one final night of action in August.
The dirt racing community was more prolific than most last year, racing through the pandemic at whatever tracks afforded each series the opportunity. The season gave Kyle Larson a home (and story of dominance) as he looked to rebound from his temporarily-lost Cup career and provided a few unique stories along the way. But many tracks were fleetingly or off of schedules altogether, and with them went a host of dirt’s biggest races.
World of Outlaws fans didn’t get to enjoy the Knoxville Nationals, arguably the Sprint Car Series’ biggest race. The Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals were once on the schedule and the Outlaws paid a visit for a special race weekend called ‘The One and Only,’ but it resulted in COVID-19 cases that forced the cancellation of all remaining races.
Eldora Speedway plays host to a group of renowned races, ranging from the Dirt Late Model Dream and World 100 to the Kings Royal, Four Crown Nationals and — until this year — NASCAR’s lone national series race on dirt with the Eldora Dirt Derby. None of those events were held in 2020, though the track managed a few special dates including the Dirt Late Model Stream Invitational and Governors Reign.
There were a few signature events remaining. The World of Outlaws completed the Ironman 55 and National Open. USAC saw a surprising race reborn in the pandemic, with the historic Hoosier Hundred, a 100-lap Silver Crown Champ Car Series race on the Indianapolis State Fairgrounds Mile, returning to the schedule on the same day as the delayed Indianapolis 500.
But by the time the checkered flag waved on the last of the year’s notable races in December, all eyes were on 2021 and the hopeful return of normalcy and the crown jewel races beloved by fans and competitors alike.
That normalcy isn’t back yet at the time of writing – at least not completely. COVID-19 vaccines are slowly trickling out to the public, though the time needed for enough of them to be implemented for some sense of herd immunity remains to be seen. Masks are still as prevalent as they were last fall and schedules are already being altered around the racing world.
But this week is showing glimpses of a return normal life. The Chili Bowl is back in Tulsa and the World of Outlaws Late Model Series is rolling at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park. Supercross is returning in days, as is the ARCA Menards Series’ preseason test at Daytona International Speedway. The Roar Before the 24 and Rolex 24 at Daytona will follow, then the build for Speedweeks can begin.
From the short tracks to the super speedways, there are initial signs of motorsports returning to something resembling the calendar of old. If society continues to progress these big early-season moments will slowly give way to the ‘standard’ events of a full racing season.
Should we be able to hold out for a few more months, we all might be able to enjoy a few of those races together in person again – maybe even without the masks.
But for now the familiar chaos of the Chili Bowl Nationals will have to suffice.
(Sources: Nick Yeoman / Twitter (via Flo Racing), Jacob Seelman / Speed Sport, Stafford Motor Speedway, Jerry Garrett / New York Times, Katherine Phillips / WECT News, Eldora Speedway, Nick Graziano / WorldofOutlaws.com, Richie Murray / USACRacing.com)
