There is no controversy it’s still the sad hero worship of those two. They ran the event multiple times and finally succeeded at winning it. Never once complained about the payout. Now that they are in NASCAR they feel like they need to make a statement. So what did they do? They raced elsewhere. Who cares. The seats in Tulsa were still full and the racing continued on. Thanking them because of the purse increase is just more hero worship. If they really wanted to make a statement they should have hosted a similar event at the same time for all of the money they could garner. Kinda like what Larson will try in an attempt to kill the Outlaws. No Drama nailed it with if you don’t like that they are not there then don’t go. The event was plenty successful before they arrived on the scene and will continue to be a success now that they have moved on. When you spend the exorbitant amount of money they did to win for only 10g, maybe it was the equipment and not so much the ability. This won’t be popular, but who really cares.
But I still prefer it with Bell and Larson. It’s the 200 that have no actual chance of making The A, that I don’t care about. I noticed a drop in entertainment value at the BC39 when they split the field on preliminary nights
Even if the Chili Bowl was 100k to win, I don't think Bell would be there, due to his boss. Coy was the big advocate of getting Joe Gibbs to let Bell race dirt. Since Coy passed away I don't think Bell has ran 1 dirt race since then. Bell has even came out and said that himself, of how Joe Gibbs pretty much has a hatred of dirt racing.
Originally Posted by oppweld:
Possible, but only a scale will tell the tale.
I believe Larson used the same King Chassis for Chili Bowl and the western swing of USAC. Could be wrong and often am. He didn't have to be USAC weight at Chili Bowl then.
