As the calendar turns from one year to the next, a typical fan of racing – at least in the northern parts of the country – is waiting for the return of warmer weather. But in some areas, the cold winds of winter do not stop racing, they just move it indoors.
Already there have been at least three indoor racing events this season, with at least two more to come. On December 20, 2014, Andy Jankowiak won the “Battle of Trenton” indoor race in the Sun National Bank Center in the New Jersey capital, and one day later Joey Saldana was victorious in the “Great Clips Battle at the Center,” the Center in question being the Southern Illinois Center at the Du Quoin State Fair Grounds.
On the weekend between Christmas and New Year’s, Brandon Knupp won the finale of the “Rumble in Fort Wayne” inside the Memorial Coliseum Expo Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
All of these events were for single-seat “Midget” race cars of varying specifications. But if you do not know what a “Midget” race car is, do not let the name fool you into thinking that it is some kind of toy. Midgets are small but serious races cars, raced by everyone from Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt to Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne.
The Trenton and Fort Wayne races took place on the bare concrete floors of the arenas, while the Du Quoin event was staged on a dirt track.
And a dirt track will be the setting for what has been the Big Kahuna of wintertime indoor racing, the Lucas Oil “Chili Bowl Nationals,” the 29th edition of which is coming up in January in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Chili Bowl is almost incomprehensibly big, routinely drawing upwards of 200-250 entrants, and this year’s entry list has already set a record, topping 300 for the first time. With such a large field, racing begins on a Tuesday and whittles the field down to just the 24 best for the main event on Saturday.
And the building in which the Chili Bowl takes place is outsized as well, being large enough not only for the installation of a dirt oval and spectator seating for thousands, but also accommodating the garage area for all 300+ cars and equipment, all under one continuous roof.
Walking around the pit area at the Chili Bowl you are likely to bump into names from all forms of racing. Even NHRA star Gary Scelzi, a person one would not expect to find at a dirt oval race, has strapped in at the Chili Bowl.
The 2015 Chili Bowl is set for January 13 through 17.
Two weeks later, on January 30 and 31, Atlantic City’s oceanfront Boardwalk Hall will house two nights of racing to be topped off by the 13th annual “Gambler’s Classic.” The NAPA-sponsored Atlantic City indoor races have in past years attracted such drivers as Ken Schrader, Johnny Benson and Davey Hamilton, and interested onlookers have included Ray Evernham, Ron Capps and Kevin Harvick.
Boardwalk Hall is the oldest venue for indoor racing, with races have first been staged inside the venerable building in the 1930s.
The casual fan may think that auto racing is dormant during the winter months, but that is far from true.