T.J.’s Notebook: Picks for Tuesday at the 2018 Chili Bowl
By T.J. Buffenbarger (January 9, 2018) — After weeks of watching the growing entry list and a day of practice it’s opening day for the 2018 Chili Bowl Nationals at the Tulsa Expo Raceway. Teams competing in Tuesday’s preliminary night and the Vacuworx Race of Champions are going over final preparations while fans are going over obscure entries looking for an advantage in their Chili Bowl pool (for entertainment purposes only). Every year I try to make predictions on who will lock in along with some noteworthy entries for each preliminary night. My picks to lock in: Kyle Larson: This is the most obvious of the picks to lock in from the first preliminary night. At times Larson’s fortunes at the Chili Bowl have been less than stellar, but last year’s Knoxville Nationals performance makes me believe that we end up with the Larson that is focused and not trying too hard and will solidly lock into Saturday’s feature. Tyler Courtney: Looking to duplicate his success one year ago at the Chili Bowl on opening night during his debut for Clauson/Marshall Racing the driver known as “Sunshine” will be going for his second consecutive preliminary victory at the Chili Bowl. [...]