Backstretch Motorsports

Saturday, January 12 from Tulsa, Okla.Live on HBO Pay-Per-View

TULSA, OKLAHOMA (January 5, 2008) - To two-time defending United States Auto Club(USAC) National Midget champion Jerry Coons, it's a race with a "buzz." To NASCARNEXTEL Cup superstar Kasey Kahne, "it's just exciting." To USAC Triple Crown winner DaveDarland, "it's a great time." To defending winner - and two-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cupchampion - Tony Stewart, it's "one of the coolest races of the year."

Clearly, the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals is a lot of things to a lot of people. But onthis point, there is no debate: The Chili Bowl has become an event not to be missed. This year,fans unable to be a part of the sell-out crowd jamming the Tulsa Expo Center from Jan. 8-12 canwatch a live pay-per-view international telecast of Saturday night's (Jan. 12) headline action.

First run in 1987 on a specially-built, quarter-mile indoor dirt oval, the Chili Bowl - namedbecause it was first sponsored by a local food company whose primary product was, you guessedit, chili - has become one of America's premier short-track events, and one of its most-discussedautomobile races, period. Each winter, the top Midget and Sprint Car drivers flock to Tulsa indroves, joined by an eclectic smattering of NASCAR stars, Indy Car drivers and even theoccasional drag-racing champion.

"You've got guys from all over the world," marvels Darland, himself an iconic figure. "NewZealand, Australia, NASCAR, NHRA, Indy Cars; you know, there's just all sorts of differentcompetition there, all sots of different levels of drivers."

Stewart, the 2002 and '06 Chili Bowl king, says, "It's like going to an all-star game. Just gettingthe chance to race with some of these drivers is an experience of a lifetime … and you do havethat possibility of winning the whole thing."

Sprint Car legend Sammy Swindell is the leading Chili Bowl winner, with four titles to hiscredit. He will be back for a fifth, at age 52, and is considered to be among the favorites. On theoccasion of his 1992 triumph, one of Swindell's mechanics was a 16-year-old California kidnamed Jason Leffler, who would soon gain fame as a three-time USAC Midget champion and,later, a NASCAR Busch Series regular. "The first year I went there, I worked for a guy named

Larry Howard," Leffler recalls. "Larry had Sammy Swindell driving his car, and Sammy went tovictory lane. So the first time I went there, I won it, as a crew member. And it's been a racethat's been close to my heart ever since then." Leffler, too, will compete in this year's ChiliBowl, and is another strong threat to walk off with the A-Main feature victory.

Race organizers Emmett Hahn and Lanny Edwards have zealously crafted the Chili Bowl'stradition, and the winning trophy - dubbed the "Golden Driller" in recognition of the 76-footstatute of an Okie oilman which guards the Expo Center in a nod to Tulsa's petroleum history -has become a cherished piece of motorsports hardware. Everybody wants a shot at Chili Bowlglory; this year, upward of 280 Midgets are expected.

"When you arrive at the Chili Bowl, there's a certainly a buzz there," says Coons, one of the topMidget drivers of the last half-dozen years in anyone's book. "It's in the winter time, [so]everybody's itching for a race. The fans are; the racers are."

Joey Saldana, one of the top drawing cards on the World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Series, putsinto perspective exactly what the Chili Bowl means.

"I race for a living," says Saldana, a 13-time WoO winner last season, "and the better I do, themore money I make. But the Chili Bowl isn't about the money. It's more about the prestige."

ABOUT CHILI BOWL TELECAST:Watch the live television broadcast of the 2008 Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals onSaturday, Jan. 12, at 8:00 p.m. ET. The HBO Pay-Per-View telecast has a suggested retail priceof $24.95 and will be available to more than 61 million pay-per-view homes in the United Statesand Canada and millions more worldwide. Order directly from your digital cable or satellite TVsystem or contact your provider's customer service for details. A subscription to HBO is notrequired. Visit http://www.hbo.com./events/chili.