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Chili Bowl loses a favorite before it starts and other practice notes

Chili Bowl loses a favorite before it starts and other practice notes

Buddy Kofoid was very much on the Larson, Bell, Seavey and Thorson tier

Motorsport photo

The Chili Bowl Midget Nationals ended for one expected contender before it could even begin.

Buddy Kofoid has made the Championship Saturday main event five times in six attempts with Keith Kunz Motorsports but an illness is going to keep him away from the Tulsa Expo Center this week.

After winning 18 times in a 410 Sprint Car across numerous tours in 2025, and becoming the richest (in terms of winnings) driver in the discipline, Kofoid looked poised to challenge for a Golden Driller this week.

Instead, the No. 71W will not idle this week as Kunz told Motorsport.com at the Expo that there are ‘no plans’ to fill the seat despite making some calls when it became apparent that Kofoid couldn’t make it.

Kofoid has won prelims in 2022 and 2024. He finished second in the main event in 2024. He finished sixth in the main event last year. He is one of the most prolific drivers in the building.

Ultimately, it's one less major contender for those hoping to lock in on Friday night. 

Pretty standard day, but ...

For everyone else, it was a largely procedural practice day, even if the track was not reflective of what it will be the rest of the week.

It was especially slick and tricky, as best articulated by USAC National Midget champion, and perennial contender Cannon McIntosh.

“You know, this track is very unique,” McIntosh said. “It's small. We got the berm, which is, you don't run a berm very often throughout the year, so just trying to time that right, you know.

“You can't just go in there and just plow into it and that is a lot of people's mistake is just going in there and hammering it. Everything has to be calculated and just trying to figure out the way the track is changing.

“You know, today was kind of strange in that the curb was kind of like a small ledge and then you could get above it as well. Just very, very different.”

In addition to the near moment above, it didn't look procedural for Corey Day and Willie Kahne, who spent a good amount of time debriefing after the second session trying to make their car better than it was in 2025 after locking into the feature in 2024. 

“You know, we wish we really knew,” Day said of the struggles last year. “We really don't know. I think the track had a lot of grip in it last year compared to the year prior. Like, the curb was really thick and gripping. It would suck you in.

“Whereas, the year before it was kind of powdery and it would crumble and wasn’t completely that way. So, I think it’s like in the middle of both of those this year in practice day, but it could be way different come the prelim nights and all that. So we just are kind of trying to be ready for everything.”

Photo by: Bruce Nuttleman

Meanwhile, Nathan Crane rolled over and Ryan Bernal became the first flip of the week during the morning session.

Of Swindell Speedlab 

Last year, in the pursuit of three consecutive Chili Bowl victories, Logan Seavey said he was ‘being annoying’ because every session included complaints about his throttle response. They won their prelim and finished seventh in the feature through it all.

At least on Sunday during practice, Seavey said they almost got it back, but wants a little more power put back into it.

Trial and error.

"I was pretty happy with it," Seavey said. "We've changed a lot with our engines. We changed a lot last year because all I did was complain about how they throttled. The way they drive did not fit the way I wanted to drive the car. We changed a lot this year to try to help me out a little bit. 

"We're really close to where we need to be, I think. I've been really happy in both sessions."

Swindell, the four-time race-winning driver said it's a work in progress.

“We tried to do stuff to work on that more and what we did is better but they also kind of don't run as clean as they should,” Swindell said. “It’s like, we calmed them down correctly, but it’s like we’re just not balancing something to offset the changes to get ‘em exactly right.”

Swindell has four cars this year with defending Wednesday winner Emerson Axsom, Jett Barnes and Kyle Cummins joining Seavey.

“So, we kind of swung at Emerson's there at the end to go back to normal and it ran and then we kind of did half and half on Jett’s there (on) that last run to sort of see and I think it was okay,” he added. “So it's like basically sitting around here trying to figure out if I'm gonna go all the way back to normal, go somewhere in between. Like Logan was happy, it just has like a little sputter crackle to it that's not as clean as we would like it to be.

“But Logan almost asked for more motor basically today so I think we did the right thing. It's just trying to find the kind of the happy medium to make sure it kind of takes off and does some things.”

Overall, this is where having four cars has helped the entire team.

“Today was is hectic, because we ran all four, and tomorrow we’re running three (with Race of Champions) but then it’s just one a night,” Swindell said. “So the prelim nights are not a big deal, and I can just babysit each one individually from there on out.

“Saturday, if you’re in good shape, you just throw them out there from how they were in their prelim. It’s just getting through these first two days of working on multiple cars each day.”

And, Swindell says he’s having fun, and that he really feels like a legitimate crew chief with this much volume.

“I needed my wife to go buy me an actual notebook,” he said with a laugh. “I had just been writing on cardboard and sheets of paper every time I needed to keep note of something today.”

Seavey says he likes having teammates too and it makes his car better.

"I feel like our car looks slightly different than everyone elses," Seavey said. "So its weird to see it from the stand and watch our cars go around and the things I feel from inside the car."

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Category: General Sports

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