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Amid all the excitement, parties, and frivolities that abound, for participants the Chili Bowl Nationals is a serious undertaking. Even for those who arrive with modest expectations, considerable time has been invested and the bank account has been depleted.
Bob East may be a Hall of Famer, but he isn’t immune from this reality. This year he came to Tulsa with lofty expectations, and in some respects, matters turned south almost instantly.
East was paired once more with young Louisiana racer Chelby Hinton. His trained eye recognizes potential, and he relished anew the opportunity to help Hinton develop his skills. As for his second driver, there was a last second change of plans.
“Jason McDougal wanted to race with me again and he told me he felt the Chili Bowl owed him one,” East said. Veteran fans recalled McDougal’s thrilling run through the so called alphabet soup in 2021 that ended while battling with Ryan Bernal for a transfer spot.
Then things changed.
“About three or four weeks ago Jason called me and told me that a guy called him and said that if he raced in the Chili Bowl with him, he could run quite a few midget races during the year,” East noted. “I told him that I couldn’t do that, so you had better take that deal.”
That is where things stood until East’s longtime associate Dave Brzozowski entered the picture. Brzozowski was working with World of Outlaws driver Bill Balog on a shock order when he casually asked if Balog might be interested in running at the Chili Bowl. Balog liked the idea.
Given East’s place as one of the giants of midget racing it seems unfathomable that getting ready for Tulsa presented a different kind of challenge. Yet, it did. Getting the cars ready to go took a couple of hard days of work, but that represented only a fraction of what needed to be done.
“The preparation for the race is as much as anything getting the trailer ready,” he said. “Especially when you don’t run a midget all the time. Getting the trailer ready and the spares you need takes as much time as anything. We’re geared up for Silver Crown racing. That meant we had to load up everything, two cars and spares, in a separate trailer that we don’t use right now.”
There is the expense that comes with travel, food, lodging, all in the hopes of having a chance to compete at a high level. Right from the start East was optimistic.
“Bill went out in practice and he just putted around on the slow warmup and then they threw the green flag, and he went down into one, jumped up to the cushion and passed two cars. That’s Outlaw style. He knew you can’t fool around.”
Watching Balog in action got East’s heartbeat up a bit, but it was the debriefing that followed that genuinely excited him.
“I had never raced with him and I really didn’t know him,” East said. “He’s kind of quiet, but the more he was around the more talkative he was. He also knew exactly what he wanted. It was easy to communicate with him.”
Balog clearly understood the task before him and was prepared to do what it took to get results.
“He was ready to race,” East said. “He told me he had thought about it all night. He said I hope we don’t have to fight our way out of here, but I’m not going to be nice.”
Like it or not, in many ways it is the kind of attitude the Chili Bowl demands.
Unfortunately, the entire experience was over before the first heat race fired off on Monday night. “We broke a valve,” said a dejected East. “Those Chevy motors run good enough, but every once in a while, they have a valve problem. You break a valve spring, and it breaks the tip of the valve off. Some of those engines run a long time and this one was fresh.”
There is the instant emotional letdown. This is a once-a-year event. Not surprisingly, East also felt horrible.
“It was tough,” he said. “Bill was going to go home because he is so busy getting ready for the Outlaw season. That’s why I switched him to Monday night. He was going to work all week and come back Friday night. It took time from what he was doing, so I felt really bad about that. His dad was even there from Alaska.”
Thankfully Balog took it in stride. “He thanked us and told us we gave it our best shot,” East noted. “He’s a professional. It was disappointing because he felt he could do well, but when you race as much as he does things like this happen all the time. He also takes care of his own stuff, so he knows that these things are usually not due to a lack of effort.”
For the East camp spirits were buoyed on Wednesday night when Hinton qualified for the A main event. His night ended when he was caught in a melee, but there was still much to build on. There was still a chance to get a good result before the week ended. To make that a reality, East felt one critical piece of advice was needed.
“I had to talk to him about getting more aggressive,” he revealed. “I had to remind him that this was not a nice guy’s sport.” At times, as Balog can attest, it can be a cruel sport as well.
