An outside front row pill draw would usually be a blessing in many series, but at the Chili Bowl, it can make or break your entire week. Will Armitage was hoping to take full advantage of the 2nd place starting spot, but engine issues put the O’Dell 97A on the back foot.
“The Heat is by far the most important race of the night.” Armitage said. “The engine issues dropped us right to the rear of the race early, and it meant we had some adversity to overcome the rest of the night. The guys had to thrash to find a small issue that I could have easily prevented with more knowledge, but I’m trying not to knock myself too hard, it’s just disappointing.”
The issue seemed to be the engine “loading up” on initial starts, and the bad start in the heat race meant Will would have to attempt one of the Chili Bowl’s famous “soup” runs, starting in the back of a C Main.
Armitage started 8th in C Feature 1, and quickly started to make up places. Eventually, the USAC Speed2 Midget ace followed fellow Chili Bowl rookie Briggs Danner through the field and grabbed the 3rd place spot by the checkered flag, punching his ticket to a B Feature.
The C Main transfer cars tag the tail of the B Feature lineups, so Will was in for a huge task if he wanted to make the night’s Prelim Feature event. The Armitage Collision Repair 97A lined up in 15th place with only the Top 4 transferring to the big dance. Will made up 4 positions in the first two circuits, jumping into 11th before an early caution. Armitage continued to make clean laps and overtakes as the race reached its halfway point. Then, carnage ensued. Carson Sousa’s 4 car appeared to come down off the cushion and the 4’s left front made contact with Armitage’s right rear as the two battled for the 8th spot. Sousa wound up flipping wildly and getting stuck in the catch fence. Carson walked away, but the lengthy fence repair meant an “Open Red” situation, and Will a chance to reset for the final push to the checkered.
When the green flag came back out, the Athens, IL native continued his push forward, momentarily jumping into the 5th spot with a shot at the final transfer spot with two laps to go, but it was not to be. Will found himself in a tight tussle with the former USCS National Champion Derek Hagar for the 6th spot and came up just short, crossing the line in 7th. Still, a +8 run in a stacked prelim night B Main meant Armitage will find himself in a favorable position in Saturday’s “alphabet soup.”
“I definitely wanted to finish the soup run by making the A Main,” Will said. “But the stars didn’t align for us. We will get to work from what I believe will be an F Main on Saturday.”
With the Saturday prelims starting with double Q-Mains at 9AM, an F Main appearance is seriously impressive from the 16 year old Chili Bowl rookie.
“I can’t thank everyone on my social media for the support, and I’m trying to keep my head up.” Armitage said. “When something like the heat race happens, it’s tough, but the support definitely helps.”
Will would like to thank all his partners that have helped him enter the Chili Bowl for the first time!
Armitage Collision Repair
Alliance Community Bank
Meteer Manufacturing
And Pat and Debbie O’Dell for the opportunity to drive the 97A.
You can follow along with Will’s Chili Bowl debut by purchasing a ticket online at chilibowl.com, a pit pass at the Expo Center, or watching live coverage of the weeklong event on FloRacing. You can find Will Armitage Racing on Facebook at Will Armitage Racing (group), Twitter at @armitage_will7 and on Instagram at @will_armitage_7. You can also follow his PR with Box3 Media on Facebook, @box3_media on Instagram, and @box3_racing on Twitter.
Armitage plans to expand his racing career in 2022 with both regional and national midget races, as well as limited 410 Winged Sprint Car starts. A full 2022 schedule will be released in the coming months.
Brendon Bauman Photo
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