MotorSports: Ferrucci Gets Indycar Contingent Off To Strong Start At Chili Bowl

NTT INDYCAR Series driver Santino Ferrucci turned in a strong debut in the prestigious Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma while fellow driver Conor Daly is on deck. Ferrucci drove from 11th to fifth in Wednesday night’s C-Main race at Tulsa Expo Raceway, just missing advancement to the next round in the preliminary night won by Rico Abreu. The fifth-place finish was quite impressive for the versatile Ferrucci, who was competing in a midget race for the first time in his life.

“I thought I did really well,” said Ferrucci, coming off a successful 2019 rookie campaign with Dale Coyne Racing. “Before my heat I only had 10 (practice) laps, so obviously I knew I was going to struggle at times. But my heat was pretty stacked, so I don’t feel so bad.”

Conor Daly will race Friday night, who will be handling the road/street course NTT INDYCAR Series schedule for Ed Carpenter Racing’s No. 20 entry, as well as a third team entry in the Indianapolis 500. He will be making his second Chili Bowl appearance. He made his debut last year.

“I just started to get the hang of it by the end of the main event that I was in,” Daly said of last year’s event.

The Indycar Series drivers will be part of Saturday’s final rounds, although their starting positions are still to be determined. There are 360 drivers competing in this 34th edition of the Chili Bowl, representing 40 states and six countries. Among them are seven former Chili Bowl champions, plus NASCAR Cup standouts Ryan Newman, Kyle Larson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Christopher Bell and Alex Bowman. Larson was Tuesday’s overall winner, while Bell is the three-time defending champion of the event.

Weeknight action of the Chili Bowl can be viewed online by pay-per-view at racinboys.com. Saturday’s final feature races will air on the MAVTV Motorsports Network. Results can be found at Chilibowl.

Thursday Jan, 16, 2020 – A-Main