The Chili Bowl has always been more than just a race to Daryn Pittman. 

Growing up in Owasso, Oklahoma, which is about 15 miles from Tulsa, the 2013 World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series champion attended the event as a youngster, dreaming of one day taking to the track inside the Tulsa Expo Center.

Not only has he gotten to race in the Chili Bowl, but Pittman has also become a consistent contender for the coveted Golden Driller. Pittman will begin his Chili Bowl quest this year in the last of four qualifying nights on Friday. The top three finishers in the preliminary feature each night lock themselves into the 55-lap finale on Saturday night.

“The Chili Bowl is my favorite race of the year,” Pittman said. “It's hard to say that when we make a living racing Sprint Cars all year long. Growing up, being a fan of the Chili Bowl and being able to come back and race is really enjoyable. It’s a lot of fun to watch on my off nights. 

"The racing is some of the best we see all year long. It’s fun to get behind the wheel of a car I don’t drive very often. They are so much fun to drive and so much different than a sprint car. It’s a special event that I have always enjoyed and am glad to be a part of.”

The Chili Bowl is oftentimes the only chance Pittman has to climb aboard his self-owned No. 21 Midget each season. In the past, he also competed in the Jason Leffler Memorial at Wayne County Speedway in Illinois. Pittman, who finished fourth in points with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series in 2017, won that event in 2014. He also has raced a Midget indoors previously in DuQuoin, Illinois.

“It takes a little bit to get comfortable,” he noted of racing a Midget a time or two a year. “The guys who do it all the time, they tend to be quite a bit more aggressive and they know where their limits are. It takes me a little while to figure out how hard I can go and what’s too hard. You learn what’s too hard by making mistakes and you try to avoid those. We’ve been fairly successful the last few years and continue to get a little bit better each time we come and that’s our goal.”

Traditionally, Friday is Pittman’s qualifying night at the Chili Bowl. He sits in the stands for the first three nights, watching track conditions and enjoying the on-track action. Among the 80-plus drivers that Pittman will battle on Friday night are his World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series team owner Kasey Kahne and fellow Outlaws driver Sheldon Haudenschild.

“We feel like we have a pretty decent setup,” Pittman said. “We watch as a fan and kind of tune our car out and pay attention to the racing and the race track. The car has been pretty close the last few years and I have a couple of good guys that help me out and get us pretty close.”

(Kelly Brown)

Heading into this year’s Chili Bowl, the bulk of the attention has been on the “super teams” of Keith Kunz Motorsports and Clauson Marshall Racing, though Pittman doesn’t focus too much about on that.

He compares the scenario of the bigger Midget teams to when Kasey Kahne Racing and Tony Stewart Racing enter the pit area at a World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series event.

“That is what they race all year long and they are the best at what they do,” Pittman said. “When we roll into an Outlaws show we don't have eight or 10 cars like these guys do, but I feel like people probably look at our team like that. But yet we get beat all the time by single car, family teams, working out of a garage. It’s always fun to beat those guys, but we don’t put a lot of thought into it. 

"We just focus on our car and try to get it as good as we can. If you are up front, you more than likely will be racing the Kunz and Clauson cars and it makes it that much better to know you beat two of the best teams in the business.”

Pittman finished second on the Friday qualifying portion of the event last year and followed that up with a runner-up finish in the 55-lap finale on Saturday night, which was his best career finish in the event. 

Pittman, who made his first Chili Bowl main event start back in 1999, has finished second each of the last three years during the Friday qualifying portion of the event. The veteran driver has qualified for the main event seven times at the Chili Bowl, picking up four top 10 finishes along the way.

“I feel like we've had a car capable of winning two of the past three years,” he said. “If the driver got a little better, we might be able to get one eventually. The hard part is getting to that A-Main on Saturday. You have to have a good prelim night and be steady. You have to first make your prelim night A-Main and then run as well as you can. The goal every year is just to get into the show on Saturday. It’s 55 laps and I feel like if you are good enough you can pretty much win from wherever you start if your car is good enough. Putting it in the show is by far the biggest challenge.”

In the previous 31 editions of the Chili Bowl, only twice has a driver from the state of Oklahoma been victorious. Andy Hillenburg was the first to achieve the feat back in 1994 and Christopher Bell added his name to the list last year. 

Pittman, who has won some of the most prestigious sprint car races over the course of his career, including the Kings Royal and Historical Big One at Eldora, as well as the Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway, would like nothing more than to become the third Oklahoman to win the Chili Bowl.

“It would be the biggest win of my career,” Pittman said. “I don’t know if there is any race I would rather win than the Chili Bowl. Running second last year was pretty cool, but it also meant you were that close. It makes you want to work extra hard to get one more spot. With 350 cars, it’s a tough feat to try to get. 

"We just want to put ourselves in a position and try to be there at the end of the race to get the Golden Driller. I’ve won some big races in my career, but I feel it would be the biggest and I don’t think it could be a win that I could ever top.”

By Tony Veneziano

More By Tony Veneziano

Skylar Gee Carries On The Family Tradition
Passion Drives Greg Wilson On The Outlaws Tour 
Christopher Bell Is Making Sooners Proud 
Shane Stewart Joins Elite Club With New Zealand Win 
World Of Outlaws Drivers Stay Busy In Offseason