The 40th annual Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink roars to life next week inside the SageNet Center. Known as the "Super Bowl of Midget Racing," the event attracts stars from around the motorsports world to battle for a Golden Driller trophy in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

From the daily schedule to entry lists and more, here's "Everything You Need to Know" about the 40th running of the Chili Bowl on FloRacing. 

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What Is The Chili Bowl?

The Chili Bowl Nationals is an indoor racing event held every year at the SageNet Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The race features Dirt Midgets similar to those that compete with series such as the USAC Midget National Championship. More than 380 drivers are entered for this year's event with hopes of claiming a coveted Golden Driller trophy. 

The inaugural Chili Bowl Nationals were held in 1987. Since that time, the race has become the most prestigious race in Midget racing and one of the biggest motorsports events of the year. 

Chili Bowl Race Track

Each year, the race track inside the Tulsa Expo Center is built from the ground up in order to accommodate two events: the Tulsa Shootout and the Chili Bowl Nationals. Event officials began constructing the track in mid-December to have it prepared in time for the Tulsa Shootout at the end of December. 

The track itself is a quarter-mile banked oval that will be reworked throughout the event so that fans and racers can enjoy action-packed racing. 

Who's Racing In The Chili Bowl? 

385 drivers are currently pre-entered for this year's event. Each year, the Chili Bowl features a diverse field of drivers from all over the world of motorsports.This year's field includes drivers from NASCAR, IndyCar, High Limit Racing, World of Outlaws, USAC, Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and more. 

The last five winners of the race: Kyle Larson ('20, '21, '25) Logan Seavey ('23, '24), Tanner Thorson ('22), and Christopher Bell ('17, '18, '19) headline this year's entry list. 

Take a look at the Chili Bowl preliminary night rosters below to see the full list of drivers racing. Keep in mind, the preliminary night rosters are frequently updated as drivers switch nights leading up to the event. 

Chili Bowl Preliminary Night Rosters

Chili Bowl Format

With more than 380 drivers entered for this year's race, there will be five nights of preliminary action to set the stage for Saturday. Drivers will compete in a preliminary night on either Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.

If you're new to the Chili Bowl, there are two words that you'll need to familiarize yourself with: passing points. 

During the five qualifying nights, drivers will be looking to earn maximum passing points during heat races and qualifying races. The more passing points they earn, the better starting position they'll have during their qualifying night A-Main.

The passing points chart can be found below for those who want to follow along. 

The 40 drivers gaining the most passing points in heat races will advance to qualifying races. The rest of the drivers will go to C-Mains. 

For qualifying races, the top 24 in points (six in each qualifier) will be inverted to give them a chance to race for more passing points.

At the end of qualifiers, the top 16 in combined passing points between their heat and qualifying race will advance to the night's A-Main feature. Those who do not transfer to the A-Main after qualifiers will be placed in B-Mains. 

The top four finishers in each C-Main will be added to the back of the B-Mains and the top four finishers in the B-Mains will be added to the rear of the starting lineup for the A-Main. 

From there, it's 30 laps of racing with only the top two finishers qualifying for Saturday's A-Main. Everyone who does not qualify will be placed in the "alphabet soup" on Saturday. 

Saturday's racing will begin with either P-Mains or O-Mains depending on the amount of cars that enter. Drivers will attempt to work their way up through the alphabet one step at a time with hopes of making the A-Main. There will be two B-Main features that will each lock in the top seven finishers to the A-Main, giving us our 24-car field for the 40-lap main event. 

The Pole Dash featuring the top two finishers from each preliminary nights will determine the first 10 positions in the A-Main starting lineup.

How to Watch The Chili Bowl

Every race during the Chili Bowl Nationals will be streamed live on FloRacing. FloRacing will provide coverage of practice day, all five qualifying nights (Monday-Friday), the alphabet soup on Saturday and the main events to conclude the event on Saturday night. 

This year, a special Chili's Chili Bowl pre-race show will be live one hour prior to the start of each preliminary night. 

STREAMING: Watch the 2026 Chili Bowl Nationals on FloRacing. 

On Your TV: Now Available on Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast & Apple TV.

Cast: Cast to your smart TV including Vizio, Samsung and LG TVs.

On The Go: Download the FloSports app on iOS or Android.

Chili Bowl Broadcast Schedule

Chili Bowl Nationals Daily Schedule 2026

Sunday, Jan. 11 - Practice Day

Building Opens: 7:00 a.m. CT

Practice: 9:00 am CT

Monday, Jan. 12 – 2nd Opinion Auto Center Qualifying Night + O’Reilly Auto Parts Race of Champions

Building Opens: 9:00 a.m. CT  

Pit Pass Booth Opens: 11:00 a.m. CT

Hot Laps: 4:00 p.m. CT  

Racing: 5:00 p.m. CT

Tuesday, Jan. 13 – Warren CAT Qualifying Night

Building Opens: 9:00 a.m. CT  

Pit Pass Booth Opens: 11:00 a.m. CT

Hot Laps: 4:00 p.m. CT  

Racing: 5:00 p.m. CT

Wednesday, Jan. 14 – York Plumbing Qualifying Night

Building Opens: 9:00 a.m. CT  

Pit Pass Booth Opens: 11:00 a.m. CT

Hot Laps: 4:00 p.m. CT  

Racing: 5:00 p.m. CT

Thursday, Jan. 15 – Hasty Bake Qualifying Night

Building Opens: 9:00 a.m. CT  

Pit Pass Booth Opens: 11:00 a.m. CT

Hot Laps: 4:00 p.m. CT  

Racing: 5:00 p.m. CT

Friday, Jan. 16 – Hard Rock Casino Qualifying Night

Building Opens: 9:00 a.m. CT  

Pit Pass Booth Opens: 11:00 a.m. CT

Hot Laps: 4:00 p.m. CT  

Racing: 5:00 p.m. CT

Saturday, Jan. 17 – QuikTrip Championship Saturday

Pit Pass Booth & Pit Gate Open: 8:00 a.m. CT

Feature Hot Laps: 9:00 a.m. CT

Opening Ceremonies: 6:30 p.m. CT

Chili Bowl Winners

• 1987: Rich Vogler
• 1988: Scott Hatton
• 1989: Sammy Swindell
• 1990: John Heydenreich
• 1991: Lealand McSpadden
• 1992: Sammy Swindell
• 1993: Dave Blaney
• 1994: Andy Hillenburg
• 1995: Donnie Beechler
• 1996: Sammy Swindell
• 1997: Billy Boat
• 1998: Sammy Swindell
• 1999: Dan Boorse
• 2000: Cory Kruseman
• 2001: Jay Drake
• 2002: Tony Stewart
• 2003: Dan Boorse
• 2004: Cory Kruseman
• 2005: Tracy Hines
• 2006: Tim McCreadie
• 2007: Tony Stewart
• 2008: Damion Gardner
• 2009: Sammy Swindell
• 2010: Kevin Swindell
• 2011: Kevin Swindell
• 2012: Kevin Swindell
• 2013: Kevin Swindell
• 2014: Bryan Clauson
• 2015: Rico Abreu
• 2016: Rico Abreu
• 2017: Christopher Bell
• 2018: Christopher Bell
• 2019: Christopher Bell
• 2020: Kyle Larson
• 2021: Kyle Larson
• 2022: Tanner Thorson
• 2023: Logan Seavey
• 2024: Logan Seavey
• 2025: Kyle Larson

Archived Footage On FloRacing

Video footage from all events will be archived and stored in a video library for FloRacing subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions.

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