Tulsa, Okla. (6 January 2023) – Looking to open 2023 with some new hardware and a few fun stories to go with them, Binks Motorsports will make the trek from Michigan to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to compete in the team’s first Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire. The 2023 event will open with qualifying races starting on Monday, January 9th, and will run through Saturday’s main event on January 14th.
Racing with the support of Champion Parts, Binks Motorsports will enter two Spike chassis’ piloted by rookie Darin Naida (Adrian, Michigan) and silver crown veteran Kody Swanson (Kingsburg, California).
Although this is the first time the team entered as a team of its own, Dan Binks has some experience in the very unique event, having been a part of two previous Tulsa outings despite having intended to retire following his illustrious IMSA career at Corvette Racing.
During the 2022 Chili Bowl, Damion Gardner entered into the competition with a Binks Motorsport engine. Unfortunately, an incident during a qualifying night left the team out of contention for Saturday’s main event.
Behind the wheel of the 3p midget sprint will be Naida. He is deemed a rookie for the Chili Bowl this year, but his resume shows he is more than that. The Michigan native has over 80 Micro Sprint feature wins which helped lead to the title of three-time Micro Sprint Champion. For the 2022 season, Naida leveled up to a 410 sprint car, earning 410 Sprint Car Rookie of the Year at three tracks.
On board the 4p midget sprint car, Swanson, will bring his silver crown experience to the table. Swanson has earned many titles, including seven-time USAC Silver Crown Champion, four-time Hoosier Hundred Winner, and three-time Little 500 Winner. Throughout his seven USAC Silver Crown Championships, he has become the number one all-time USAC Silver Crown winner.
“I didn’t really set out to start a midget car team but here we are!” smiled Binks. “Some of my earliest memories in racing go back to being at Ascot with my dad, so I’ve always followed this part of the sport even though I was on the road racing side all of my career. And a few of those relationships is what got this midget car program going. We’ve got Champion Parts on board and even through this is a wildly unpredictable week, I think we are as prepared as we can possibly be so hopefully we can have a good week in Tulsa!”
Slusarski Excavating and Paving and Candy Dynamics will join Champion Parts on the side of the Binks Motorsports machines. The Chili Bowl Nationals week will start with practice on Sunday, January 8th, followed by five nights of qualifying races before the main event on Saturday, January 14th. FloRacing will stream the week-long events.
