Racers Converge On Tulsa For Chili Bowl Nationals

It's time for the 2016 Chili Bowl Nationals, and all the teams are moving into the Tulsa fairgrounds.

There now are 343 cars at the Expo Center, all looking for a chance to compete in the annual short track open-wheel race.

Past champion Bryan Clauson (2014) and his team spent the day unloading trailers.

"My guys left Thursday to get down here to get in line, and this event keeps growing and growing, and it seems like every year it gets bigger and bigger,” Clauson said. “It's neat to see, but with that, there's a lot more planning that goes into it and it seems like we get here earlier and earlier every year."

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Getting all these teams crammed into the Expo Center isn't easy.

Matt Ward is the Chili Bowl's competition director.

“Since it's grown to what it is, we have to use every inch of space we've got in here for trailers and parking," Ward said.

Some of the rigs have to unhook and let forklifts squeeze the trailers into place.

Soon, the place will be buzzing with midget cars and thousands of fans.

Clauson made sure he came back to race this year.

“This is one of the biggest races on my 200 race schedule,” he said. “The idea behind my 200 races was to hit the crown jewels of short-track racing and this is if not the top, one of the top crown jewels."

Practice starts Monday at 9 a.m. and the first round of races start on Tuesday.

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