Kevin Swindell wins fourth-straight Chili Bowl, Tony Stewart finishes 15th

Kevin Swindell is quickly becoming the Jimmie Johnson of the Chili Bowl Nationals. He won his fourth-straight Golden Driller trophy on Saturday night in the most prestigious Midget Car race of the season.

The Chili Bowl has been the personal playground of the Swindell family since the event was first staged in 1987. Sammy Swindell, Kevin’s father, has won the race five times and started a streak of five-straight family victories when he last won in 2009. Kevin has won the event every year since.

The elder Swindell builds engines for both he and his son and was the A-main runner-up.

Stewart started 12th but was caught up in an accident on the second lap and was never a factor. The muddy pileup also included Jac Haudenschild, Jerry Coons, Jr., and Jonathan Beason.

The accident began when Stewart and Haudenschild made contact while fighting for 13th, causing both cars to spin out of control. Coons was unable to avoid the accident and flipped, eventually landing on Stewart’s hood. None of the cars had terminal damage but Chili Bowl rules state that any car coming to a complete stop must go to the back of the field – that included Stewart.

Stewart restarted 20th but was unable to run his preferred high line due to the quickly changing track conditions – many of the drivers claimed this was the worst Chili Bowl track surface they had ever faced. Stewart was able to battle back to 15th and remained on the lead lap for the remainder of the event.

NBC will air a condensed version of the race on Feb. 10.

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