1/19/2011
Chris Coker
Another Chili Bowl in the Record Books
Another Chili Bowl has come on gone. For Chris Coker Racing it was our 2nd attempt at the Golden Driller. The week started off with some excitement as Driver Websites announced they would be the title sponsor of the #45 Young Racing car. CCR teamed up with Lonestar Champ Kevin Ramey, National Champion Tim Crawley, along with Jonathon Beason and Justin Melton.
After a smooth day of practice on Monday, we had little time to relax going into Tuesday qualifying. The track was fast and the competition faster for the opening heat race. Chris ran hard but an early mistake cost him valuable track position.
Heat 6: 1. #05P Michael Pickens, Auckland, NZ; 2. #27S Andy Shouse, Oklahoma City, OK; 3. #7CA Caleb Armstrong, New Castle, IN; 4. #9D Sean Dodenhoff, Bakersfield, CA; 5. #45 Chris Coker, New Braunfels, TX; 6. #85J Matt Johnson, Edmond, OK; 7. #67X Britton Bock, Angwin, CA; 8. #27 Nick Chivello, Manteca, CA
Small mistakes are magnified in the field of 256 cars, and Chris was relegated to a 2nd place starting position in the C main. Where he would capitalize on the front row starting position and go on to capture his first Chili Bowl event win.
C Main 1: 1. #45 Chris Coker, New Braunfels, TX; 2. #11 Kody Swanson, Kingsburg, CA; 3. #10F Nick Foster Jr., San Jose, CA; 4. 37C Pat Schudy, Springfield, MO; 5. #33H Cameron Hagin, Broken Arrow, OK; 6. #2 Mark Bush, Cumming, GA; 7. #12 Chris Gurley, Crown Point, IN; 8. #19JR Chad Shields, Grain Valley, MO; 9. #99 Kyle Rayburn, Pueblo, CO; 10. #27 Nick Chivello, Manteca, CA; 11. #5F Ryan Cole, Porter, OK; DNS -- #38 Kyle Larson, Elk Grove, CA; #3A Dustin Arnall, Hartville, MO
The realization quickly set in that the B Feature would be much more difficult to maneuver from the rear of the field. Chris got off to a quick start though and tore threw the field only to come up 2 spots short of the ever valuable A Main transfer spot.
B Main 1: 1. #98 Chad Boat, Phoenix, AZ; 2. #43 Brent Beauchamp, Indianapolis, IN; 3. #93X Ronnie Gardner, Whittier, CA; 4. #21T Eric Todd, Falcon, MO; 5. #86R Bill Rose, Plainfield, IN; 6. #45 Chris Coker, New Braunfels, TX; 7. #40 Andy Huston, Roseville, IL; 8. #6R Jody Rosenboom, Rock Rapids, IA; 9. #10F Nick Foster Jr., San Jose, CA; 10. #20 Shon Deskins, Waddell, AZ; 11. #7C Pat Schudy, Springfield, MO; 12. #33A Steve Arnold, Seymour, IN; 13. #11 Kody Swanson, Kingsburg, Ca; 14. #14AZ Mike Daniels, West Valley, UT; 15. #0TN Bill Stines, Dover, TN; DNS -- #01 Orval Zane Burke Jr., Salinas, CA
"There is zero margin for error at the Chili Bowl" says Chris "I made a bad choice in the heat race, and it cost me a few spots to some guys that will now be racing for the win come Saturday. That's why we come, to see if we can make it through the week and be the guy that doesn't make the mistakes." Failing to qualify for the feature on his qualifying night meant Chris would have to make a legendary run through the field of last chance races. Starting 5th in the E main on Saturday, Chris and his team decided to go for broke and changed the car dramatically in order to run the bottom of the race track. However, when the time came there was simply no traction on the bottom, so Chris made some changes inside the cockpit and jumped to the top of the track in a last ditch drive. Chris made his way up to the 4th and final transfer spot in the closing laps only to jump the cushion with two turns remaining and finish 5th.
E Main 2: 1. #12K Rick Hendrix, Palmdale, CA; 2. #2A Travis Berryhill, American Canyon, CA; 3. #86C David Camfield Jr., Decatur, IL; 4. #93 Dustin Morgan, Tulsa, OK; 5. #45 Chris Coker, New Braunfels, TX; 6. #93D Dennis Rodriguez, Camarillo, CA; 7. #75X Mike English, Norwalk, CA; 8. #57K Daniel Robinson, Mt. Vernon, IL; 9. #73S Aaron Pierce, Daleville, IN; 10. #59L Billy Lawhead, Tulsa, OK; 11. #91 Jeff Stasa, Kingman, KS; 12. #71D Brian Hosford, Gilbert, AZ; 13. #25K Dereck King, Vienna, IL; 14. #10 Will Pierce, Lees Summit, MO; 15. #41W Brandon Waelti, Sun Prairie, WI; 16. #19D Steven Drevicki, Reading, PA
All in all the Chili Bowl was a great experience for the entire team, as always. Much was gained from our week in Tulsa. We made many new friends, and hopefully met some new business partners. Congratulations to Jonathon Beason on his 4th place run out of the B main on Saturday, what a great drive! Special thanks to Driver Websites, Young Racing, JBM Motorsports, and Williams Motorsports. Time to get the Sprint Cars out again!
Submitted By: Admin Account
