The Chili Bowl Midget Nationals, the prestigious car race that takes place at the Tulsa Expo Center every year, is known as the Super Bowl of midget car racing. Its stature is such that it is often compared to the Daytona 500.
Advertisement
Christopher Bell, a driver who has experienced both midget racing and stock car racing, was asked in a recent interview with FloRacing to describe the differences between the two flagship events. He declared that comparing the two was like comparing apples to oranges.
However, Bell laid out one crucial edge that the Chili Bowl holds. “The Daytona 500 is the biggest race of the NASCAR schedule. But it’s only the NASCAR guys,” he said.
“Whereas anybody can enter the Chili Bowl. So, it’s kind of a barometer for drivers where everybody is there,” added Bell. “You get a lot of top drivers from different disciplines and people who don’t compete against each other all the time. It’s a great show.”
Bell argued from experience that it is challenging to win the Chili Bowl since many factors have to go right. But that doesn’t make it a luck-based race. As a youngster, he never imagined he would be able to win the race. But now that he has, he realizes just how big a role it has played in making him who he is.
Bell’s opinion about the Daytona 500
Bell, at the end of the day, is a Cup Series driver, and the Daytona 500 is the biggest event he races each season. He believes that the Daytona 500, or any superspeedway race for that matter, is like playing chess.
Racing up close against each other in a pack at high speeds is as dangerous as it gets. So, it’s all about a matter of being in the right place at the right time and making the right moves.
“It’s very much a game of chess. Daytona is a huge event. It is something that extends outside of the motorsport community,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said.
“I love the fact that over the last couple of years, we have seen a lot of NASCAR fans at dirt tracks and more dirt fans at NASCAR tracks. I think it’s super cool that we are coming together as one motorsports community,” he added.
Bell will soon be at the gates of Daytona for the 2026 edition. It doesn’t need to be said that he would love nothing more than to kick off his season with a victory.
