After a successful year driving Winged Sprint Cars, Brandon Hanks will make his first attempt at racing Midgets in the Chili Bowl at the River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa, OK, on on Jan. 9-13.

"I've heard [of] Winged Sprint Car drivers making good Midget drivers and vice versa," said Hanks, who has signed with Chris Chappue. "I'm hoping they are right.”

Hanks would love to be one of the two dozen drivers who successfully navigate their way to the A-main, but with 350 cars entered, his expectations are much more realistic.

"If you make the C-Main or D-Main in your first year at the Chili Bowl, that's pretty impressive," Hanks said. "I won't set a goal until after practice on Monday. I want to try to get comfortable and then see how it goes. I'll probably be happy to make a C-Main or a D-Main, but I want more than that."

Hanks’ confidence in making the show comes from a streak of six consecutive top 10s that he recorded in June and July. Beginning and ending with a pair of fourth-place finishes at Jacksonville (IL) Speedway and I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, AR, Hanks was unstoppable for a time. Unfortunately, those were his last top 10s of 2017, despite another 12 attempts during the season.

However, Hanks' seesaw campaign ended on an relatively high note with a second-place finish in the B-Main of October's Short Track Nationals at I-30 in the next to last night of competition.

"I'm just really excited," Hanks said. "I've been wanting to race the Chili Bowl ever since I first went there in 2012 to watch. I've been going almost every year since. What other race do you have more than 300 entries for one class? It's pretty impressive. You have NASCAR drivers, NHRA drivers and people from all different series. In my opinion it's the biggest race in the world. I can't thank Chris enough for this opportunity."