It's that time of year again as all eyes will be on Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the 2024 edition of the Chili Bowl Nationals.
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But the biggest dirt racing event — which has always drawn many big names, especially in the NASCAR world — feels slightly different this year.
Former winners Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson are not in Tulsa this week after coming off a Championship 4 appearance in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Both drivers have long competed in the Chili Bowl festivities and have made the event a must-see event, but they are not in Tulsa this week.
The NASCAR flavor in this year's event is kind of thin. J.J. Yeley, who has long been a NASCAR journeyman, is among the entries along with Xfinity Series drivers Josh Bilicki and Richard Childress Racing rising star Jesse Love.
Alex Bowman has three cars entered in the event for other drivers. But as he has previously stated after his injury last season in a sprint car race, he won't be racing in such events in 2024.
The biggest name from the Cup Series who will be racing is Chase Briscoe, as he sets out to capture the Gold Driller.
Briscoe has made it very clear that winning the Chili Bowl is on his bucket list, given his dirt-racing background. It isn't completely out of the question in light of the success Bell and Larson have had in this event.
Briscoe enters 2024 as the top driver for Stewart-Haas Racing on the NASCAR side. He also holds the lone victory at the Cup level among the four drivers at the team, as it underwent dramatic changes across the board following the departures of Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola.
Briscoe enters Tulsa hoping that possibly winning the event will improve his resumé going into his fourth full-time Cup season. He spoke with David Hoffman from Speed Sport about his chances this week, the challenges of actually making it through all of the prelims, and the skill and luck necessary to actually get to Saturday.
It has been apparent to Briscoe since he first started going to the event that it takes a lot of precision to find success at the Chili Bowl.
"I just remember how hard the event was, really from the get-go. My first kind of experience in it, I learned really quickly how everything kind of has to go your way," Briscoe said. "One hiccup can really affect your whole week."
Though the NASCAR entries might be fewer, it's still not going to be an easy week for any of them. That's especially true for Briscoe, who hasn't advanced to Saturday's main event since 2017. That was his only ever appearance in the main event — and it wasn't a great night, as he flipped over and ended the event with a 22nd-place finish.
