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EDDIE TAFOYA JR'S. BEST CHILI BOWL TO DATE

2024-01-29 14:22

(Chino, CA, January 24, 2025) After a late call with the offer of a ride, Chino Hills, California's Eddie Tafoya Jr. turned in his best Chili Bowl Midget Nationals performance to date. The 2019 USAC/CRA Rookie of the Year raced his way into the A main on his qualifying night and contested the E main at the event finale.

Five days before his preliminary night, Tafoya was approached to drive one of the Josh Ford Motorsports entries in the 38th running of the prestigious Tulsa, Oklahoma event and he jumped at the opportunity. The leap was a no-brainer as the California-based operation has fared well at past events inside the world-famous Sage Center. Tafoya booked flights and quickly was on his way to midget racing's premiere event.

When he got the call for the ride, Tafoya jumped into high gear to make plans. Not only plans for the trip but also plans on what he was going to have to do on the track. Despite the instantaneous shot of pressure, he was ready for the task ahead. Since he was last at the race in 2021, he has grown as a racecar driver by leaps and bounds. From his previous experiences at the "Bowl," he knew exactly what he had to do going into the event. That proved to help a lot.

"Yeah, for sure, like I said in our pre-Chili Bowl interview, I needed to be up to speed a lot quicker than I have done before," Tafoya said. "I definitely did that. I felt comfortable right away. Jimmy May and all of his help had me really comfortable and they gave me a good car. It felt more natural to me than in prior years. More like I was driving a sprint car. We had Jimmy and two of his main helpers, Sam and Charlie. They know their stuff and have their ducks in a row when it comes to racing. They made my life a lot easier as a driver."

On his qualifying night, the handsome driver started and finished second in his heat race. He followed that up finishing third in his qualifier. That placed him on the pole for the B main and he led it from green to checkers.

The B main triumph catapulted him into the night's stacked A main that included racing superstar Kyle Larson. Tafoya started 18th and ended up 22nd in the night's feature event. While things did not go as well in the main, Tafoya was happy with the overall performance on the night and making it to the finale.

"It was definitely a huge weight off of my shoulders," Tafoya said about making the main. "Everything came together quick that week and I did not know how I was going to do or what to expect after being out of a midget for three years. I think everyone was excited and pleased. Everyone who races at the Chili Bowl says your heat race is the most important race. I am glad we could stay towards the front there (the heat) and have a good shot. It put the whole night together. I think I only made one mistake the whole time so I was pretty happy."

"Just had to deal with traffic," he continued about what happened in the main. "Being so deep, I am not used to racing these cars, these people, and not sure what people are going to do. So, I was not really comfortable putting myself up against the wall like when people are coming up the track and stuff like that. And being in other people's equipment, I took what I could get and looked to Saturday after that."

In his previous two Chili Bowl trips, Tafoya began J and H mains on the final day. On a day when drivers are desperately trying to advance in the program, those mains at times become chaotic. With the less experienced drivers and some who only race one or two times a year, sometimes what can possibly happen, many times does. Crashing and wrecks are common. The farther up a driver rises in the main event ladder, the talent level rises as well and it makes it much easier to race with less worry about getting a car junked and suffering an injury. Tafoya found that out in the E main when he narrowly missed transferring to one of the Ds.

"There is way more precision and thoughts going on rather than just having to try to stay out of the wrecks," he said after the Chili Bowl. "When you get to those higher mains, you are there racing. You are not trying so much to save yourself, and just finish. There are more quality guys and more pressure on you not to make mistakes. We missed transferring to the D main by two spots. We were right there in the hunt."

"I especially want to thank my mom and dad, Tommy Dunkel, Specialty Fasteners, and Inland Rigging for letting me race cars around the country and go out and have some fun," the grateful driver said. "I do not have plans yet for next year (2025 Chili Bowl) but I hope to be there."

Tafoya will be in his familiar #51T on Saturday, February 24th when the Avanti Windows and Doors USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series opens its 20th season at Perris Auto Speedway. One week later he will be in a Tommy and Christy Dunkel-owned Inland Rigging sprint car for the inaugural race in the Ultimate Sprint Car Series presented by Inland Rigging at the Ventura Raceway,

If you would like to hear the friendly driver on his 2023 Dirt Tracks and Rib Racks Podcast, please visit the following link https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Hox9dg0iRGXo0szabeqDy

Tafoya's great-looking shirts and hoodies are available online at www.specialty-fasteners.com.

Fans can follow Tafoya on Instagram @eddietafoya51.

Tafoya and the #51T team would like to thank Specialty Fasteners, DRC Chassis, Ryder Racing Engines, Simpson Safety Products, Bell, Benic Enterprises, BR Motorsports, PSC Powder Coating, Magik Graphics, Gasper Transportation, Owen's Insurance Services, and Weld Wheels for supporting its racing program.

Eddie Tafoya Jr. 2024 USAC National Results

January 11 Tulsa Expo Raceway Chili Bowl Midget Nationals 22nd A Main

January 14 Tulsa Expo Raceway Chili Bowl Midget Nationals 7th D Main

This release was produced by Scott Daloisio. (909) 226-7768 or E-mail mailto:sdaloisiosports@gmail.com