38th Annual Chili Bowl Nationals Begin At Tulsa's SageNet Center

The 38th Annual Chili Bowl Nationals kick off at the SageNet Center this week. The event brings in tens of millions of dollars to Tulsa every year.

Nearly 400 racers are chasing the Golden Driller this week, and one team is trying to get back-to-back wins.

Winning at the Chili Bowl is not easy, it takes teams of people all year to prep and get ready for race day.

"I think I ran the Chili bowl for the first time when I was like 14 or so," says Kevin Swindell.

He has a long history of racing and several wins to show for it.

"For 6 years I was about as good as you could do in here and I haven't raced since," says Swindell.

Ending his time behind the wheel wasn't a choice for Kevin, but the result of a terrible accident.

"2015 I wrecked in a sprint car and broke my back so basically I haven't raced since then."

He may not be racing anymore, but he's still winning. His team Swindell Speedlab took home the title last year. Their car even had confetti from the celebration left over in the muffler.

"When we fired it I guess there was some down in the muffler there, so when it fired it kind of blew the exhaust out of the car so it popped confetti out of the car," says Swindell.

Looking to get back-to-back wins is the team’s driver 26-year-old Logan Seavey.

"I started go-carts in California when I was 5," says Seavey.

He says it's special to be a part of a great team that works hard to compete.

"It's a year-long effort of planning and thinking about what you gotta do a little bit better to come back here and make sure you stay on top and that's what we're looking to do," says Seavey.

For Kevin, this new era is a chance to pass on the torch and share his success.

"Giving someone an opportunist to then also be a part of it was really neat, it's almost like adding someone to something that I’ve already experienced getting to bring him into it," he says.