Unless something drastically changes with the purse structure for the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals, Kyle Larson will not race in the Tulsa Expo Center this January.
The two-time winner of the Golden Driller and 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, who has been an advocate of increasing prize payouts, having won $50,000 in the Prairie Dirt Classic, $150,000 in the Knoxville Nationals and $175,000 in the Kings Royal, believes the $10,000 purse to the winner of the Chili Bowl doesn’t reflect the prestige of the event.
“So, I’ve been going to the Chili Bowl for 15 years, it’s a great event and I love it,” Larson recently told RacingAmerica.com. “I’ve spent half of my life going there. But now that I’ve started racing in these other big events, against big names, and they just feel like a bigger deal to me than the Chili Bowl.”
What does seem like a big deal to Larson is the Wild West Shootout at Vado Speedway Park in New Mexico, which will feature five $10,000-to-win Super Late Model features and a $25,000-to-win feature on the same days as the Chili Bowl in 2023.
To win at the Chili Bowl is a great accomplishment, however, Larson believes the importance of future wins would be devalued unless the purse begins to grow alongside the rate of the entry list, the number of race days, and broadcast rights across MAVTV and FloRacing.
Larson has put the spotlight on event co-founder and promoter Emmett Hahn.
“It’s nothing personal against the Hahns,” Larson said. “I just don’t see the race as one of the biggest ones like I used to because it hasn’t grown like other big races have. I want to see it grow for the betterment of the teams who have put so much into making it a really special week.”
“I’m just at the point where I want to see the purse grow a lot. So, for the time being, and unless that happens, I won’t be running it this year and I know there are a lot of racers that feel the same way.”
Three-time World of Outlaws champion Brad Sweet says he would at a minimum, lose $5,000 running the Chili Bowl with the chance to make $10,000 and he’s reached a similar conclusion to his brother-in-law.
“We all want Emmett to make money,” Sweet said. “He’s earned that for the sacrifices to make this event what is today, but at some point, it just won’t be taken seriously with that purse and teams are going to start having second thoughts about whether or not to go.”
“Over 300 cars,” Larson said. “You just have an idea of what they make back on that because the price of a wristband has gone up and we have to spend an extra day there too now.”
MR HAHN RESPONDS
Emmett Hahn, who co-founded the event with the late Lanny Edwards in 1987, took exception to the argument and called the impending decision for what it seems to be … a boycott. Hahn says Larson, nor any other driver, has called him over the past several years to have a good faith conversation about the purse or his overhead as a promoter.
An event spokesperson says the total expense to put on the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals each January exceeds a million dollars when factoring the cost to build the track, insurance for both the Chili Bowl and the proceeding Tulsa Shootout, staff and security for both events, a month of rent for the facility and the purse.
Further, Hahn says he keeps zero percent of the concessions and that the Fairgrounds makes close to a million dollars on the event every year.
“If I had concessions and didn’t have to pay rent, I’d be able to pay more money than what it pays,” Hahn said. “I hate to hear they feel that way, but I’m not just going to give them $50,000 like they want because we don’t have it.
“At the same time, I don’t like hearing that it’s not as big of a race because of the purse because what other race is creating NASCAR careers like this one is?”
Hahn repeated multiple times that the event takes a million dollars to produce and that the Expo Center is the only venue capable of hosting it. The event did receive overtures from cities with football style stadiums in the region, but the City of Tulsa made the best offer. The event is set to remain in Tulsa and at the Expo Center through 2034.
Hahn has added $10,000 in contingency money throughout the field and week in recent years as a result of the television rights and city agreements. The event generates $15 million annually to the local economy.
And Hahn says it will continue with or without some of its most recent winners and contenders.
“Bell started this crap two years ago and it’s just a shame because no one has called me,” Hahn says. “They have my number. I’m really easy to get a hold of, and I would have this conversation with them too but they’ve all gone straight to the media.
“He would rather go to that race in (New Mexico) and that’s what this is really about. I would hate it for fans who wanted to see them, but this race grew without them and will continue to grow if that’s what they choose.”
With or without Kyle Larson, the 37th Annual Chili Bowl Midget Nationals is scheduled for January 9-14 2023.
