Mopar Speed 2004-01-15

Mopar Speed
The Official e-Zine of Team Mopar Thursday, January 15, 2004 News

Phenomenal Mopar presence takes Chili Bowl by storm

The Team Mopar midget contingent turned in some impressive performances at last weekend's Chili Bowl in Tulsa, Okla.

Creating a huge buzz at the four-day event was the stalwart aluminum A4 Mopar midget racing engine that powered a total of 18 of the top entries. Eight (44%) qualified for Saturday's A-main event, while only 24 of 206 (12%) total entries made it to The Show.

Mopar powered four top-ten finishers in the Chili Bowl finale, including NASCAR veteran Tony Stewart (fourth), WilkePAK Motorsports young gun Davey Ray (eighth), Tracy Hines (ninth) and Dave Darland (tenth).

Kasey Kahne, who will drive the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge entry from Evernham Motorsports in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series in 2004, also utilized Mopar power in his Zarounian-Kahne Motorsports midget. Kahne qualified for the A-main, but he was bitten by racing gremlins and relegated to a 24th-place finish overall.

Several other drivers proved the strength of the overall Team Mopar lineup. Cory Kruseman, regular driver of a Tony Stewart Racing Enterprises (TSRE) Mopar car in the USAC National Sprint Series, clinched the second Chili Bowl championship of his career. Danny Lasoski, Team Mopar World of Outlaws star, followed Kruseman in second. J.J. Yeley, who piloted a TSRE Mopar-sponsored car to the USAC National Sprint championship and 14 wins in 2003, completed the podium in third. Newcomer Josh Wise, who is set to drive a Mopar-decorated midget vehicle for TSRE in the USAC National Midget Series this season, hustled his midget car to 16th overall.

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