(Colorado Spring, CO, December 20, 2021) Veteran Colorado open-wheel racing star Chris Crowder is set to escape from the clutches of winter and into the hot action at the 36th Annual Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma in January. It will be his first attempt at the celebrated race that features more than 300 entries from all disciplines of racing including NASCAR, NHRA, and Indy Cars.
Crowder, who resides in Colorado Springs, will be one of more than 75 drivers attempting to become the Rookie of the Race. For his initial effort in the annual event, he will be wheeling the Del Morris Motorsports/Accelerated Services Auto Transporters/Morris Insurance Agency/Open Wheel Logistics/Champion Brands/Spike/Esslinger/RSI/#17R and he will be a teammate to San Rafael, California’s Frankie Guerrini.
“This is a great prestigious race,” the former member of the United States Marine Corps said about his impression of the Chili Bowl. “Just to be there amongst the Kyle Larson’s, Rico Arbeau’s, and those guys. To be on the same stage as those guys is a unique opportunity that very few people get a chance to have. I have no expectations and Del has no expectations. The only thing he asks is if we can pass one car every time we hit the track. That is what we are shooting for. Other than that, we are going to go to have some fun and gain some experience.”
“Del actually reached out to me,” the 47-year-old driver said when queried on how he met Harris. “He said he had watched me drive at Bakersfield and Placerville and thought that I was a very clean driver, and I did not tear up a lot of equipment. I guess they had an open seat available, and they reached out to me through one of his crew guys asking if I would be interested. Obviously, the answer was heck yeah.”
Crowder’s foray into racing started with drag racing his 1966 Chevelle when he was in high school. However, after high school, he joined the Marines, and that put racing on a hiatus until he got out of the military. When he came back to racing in 2005, it was a far different discipline than what he did in his teen years. Instead of racing in one straight line, he started racing on two straight lines with turns on each end.
While Crowder added a straightaway and turns to his racing effort, he also took some things off for open wheel racing. Stuff like doors, fixed roofs, transmissions, and more. He has been going full bore and slinging clay now for 16-years. While he currently may be best known for lightning sprint cars, he also has driven competitively in winged and non-wing 305 sprint cars.
Over the years in lightning sprints, Crowder has won over 30 main events including five in 2021. He has also captured four lightning sprint car championships. Two of those titles came with the Rocky Mountain Lightning Sprint Car Association. Another was in the POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series during its inaugural year in 2020. In addition, he scored a title with the now defunct Colorado 1200 Outlaws.
Even though he won the 2020 SWLS crown, for the past four or five years, Crowder has taken his show on the road and has not raced for points. Thus, he has spread his winning across the country. His biggest victories of 2021 came at the POWRi Midwest Lightning Sprint Car Nationals at the Central Missouri Speedway in May and in night #2 of the Hangtown 100 at California’s Placerville Speedway on November 19th (the picture at the top of this release is from Crowder’s win at Placerville).
“I’m an open book right now,” Crowder said when asked what he could take from a lightning sprint to his first midget race. “I think the similarities are mostly cosmetic. Between the two of them, the chassis size is very similar, (as well as) wheel size and things like that. I am anticipating the horsepower difference and obviously having power steering as well. I want to see and feel how that relates even to the 305s.”
“Del and myself have talked about where does this lead to afterwards,” the friendly driver stated when asked if he thought the Chili Bowl could lead to more midget rides. “His words to me were, he would love to have me in a car next year. Possibly doing some USAC West stuff out in California. As long as we all jell together, the crew guys, Del and myself, I think there is a great opportunity here.”
When not on the racetrack, Crowder has been in trucking for over 20-years and has owned Open Wheel Logistics Trucking for more than eight years. He has also maintained a race shop named Crowder Race Products since 2015.
The Chili Bowl Midget Nationals is one of the premier open-wheel races in the world. The race will take place from January 10-15 on the Tulsa Expo Raceway inside the massive SagNet Center, which is one of the largest free-span buildings in the world. Crowder will compete on one of the preliminary nights which will determine where he starts in Saturday’s finale.
For fans unable to make it to Tulsa for the race, they can watch live on www.floracing.com for the five preliminary nights and Saturday’s prelims before the coverage switches to MAVTV for the finals.
In addition to the above-mentioned Chili Bowl sponsors, Crowder thanks his yearlong backers including Accelerated Services Auto Transporters, Open Wheel Logistics, Wayne Demonja Motorsports, Diablo Fabrication and Design, K&H Suspension, Sprocket Specialties, Schoenfeld Headers, R&S Powder Coating, Rees Enterprises, and Wine Country Motorsports.
