Chili Bowl Nationals 2027

The 41st annual Chili Bowl Nationals 2027 || 126 Days to Go!🌶️🏁

The 41st annual Chili Bowl Nationals 2027 || 127 DAYS TO GO!🌶️🏁

🌶️🏁 128 DAYS TO GO!

The countdown is officially on for the 41st Annual Chili Bowl Nationals! 🔥

📅 January 11–16, 2027
📍 SageNet Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Get ready for an exciting week of intense indoor dirt-track racing, talented drivers, high-speed action, and the legendary battle for the Golden Driller! 🏆

The road to the 41st Chili Bowl is getting closer every day. Who will rise to the top and make history in 2027? 🏁🔥

EMMETT HAHN — CO-FOUNDER • HOST & PROMOTER • THE CHILI BOWL NATIONALS
CELEBRATING THE VISIONARY BEHIND THE WORLD'S GREATEST MIDGET RACE — 1987-2024
TULSA EXPO CENTER NOW SAGENET CENTER • TULSA, OKLAHOMA
THE GOLDEN DRILLER — SYMBOL OF THE CHILI BOWL.
THE HOST WHO MADE TULSA THE HOME OF MIDGET RACING!
Before SageNet Center was SageNet, it was Tulsa Expo Center IPE Building. Emmett Hahn saw clay where others saw concrete.
As host & promoter since January 1987 with Lanny Edwards, he transformed one building into the Super Bowl of Midget Racing.
Racer • Promoter • Founder — #52 John Zink Spl. yellow midget, 5x Tulsa Speedway Champion, Founder of ASCS 1992, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.

Host Venue: Tulsa Expo Center → Now SageNet Center at Expo Square — 4145 E 21st St, Tulsa, OK.
Host Since: January 1987 — First race: 52 cars — Now: 392 cars + 15,000 fans every January!
Host Legacy: "We are here to put on a show for the fans." — Emmett Hahn — That show became 37+ years of history, community & legacy. Every January • Thousands of fans • Hundreds of drivers • One unforgettable tradition!

He didn't just host a race. He hosted a family. Every driver who rolls through the gate, every fan who smells the methanol — you're in Emmett's house.

THE 1ST CHILI BOWL — JANUARY 1987 — HOW EMMETT HAHN STARTED IT ALL! 🏁🔥
PROMOTER EMMETT HAHN & CO-PROMOTER LANNY EDWARDS — TULSA EXPO CENTER

1ST ANNUAL CHILI BOWL NATIONALS — INAUGURAL OPENING CEREMONY JANUARY 11, 1987 — TULSA, OKLAHOMA TULSA EXPO RACEWAY — Featuring CO-PROMOTER & RACING PIONEER EMMETT HAHN — Yellow #52 HAHN John Zink Special — OPENING CEREMONY 6PM Tulsa Expo Center — INDOOR MIDGET NATIONALS 52 ENTRIES THE FIRST EVER — ADMISSION $6.00 — Co-promoted by Emmett Hahn & Lanny Edwards

FIRST CHILI BOWL NATIONALS INAUGURAL EVENT 1987 — 52 MIDGET CARS 2-DAY COMPETITION — Tulsa Expo Center indoor clay — PROMOTER EMMETT HAHN — CO-PROMOTER LANNY EDWARDS — THE FIRST CHILI BOWL NATIONALS JANUARY 1987 — Original Tribute Honoring The Beginning "The Super Bowl of Midget Racing" THE FIRST CHILI BOWL — 1987 TULSA EXPO CENTER JAN 11, 1987 1st ANNUAL 52 MIDGETS — General Tire, USAC, Goodyear, Pepsi banners — ORGANIZED BY LANNY EDWARDS & EMMETT HAHN — 'THE SUPER BOWL OF MIDGET RACING' — RICH VOGLER TAKES THE WIN — First winner Rich Vogler #1 Vogler STP.

January 9-10, 1987. Tulsa Fairgrounds IPE Building. Cold outside. No one knew if indoor midget racing would work.
Emmett Hahn (5x Tulsa Speedway Champ) and Lanny Edwards (World of Outlaws co-founder 1978) risked everything. Bob Berryhill's Chili Bowl Company sponsored — name stuck!
52 cars showed up. Rich Vogler won the first Golden Driller. Admission $6.
From 52 cars to 392 cars in 2026. From 2 days to 6 days. From IPE Building to SageNet Center. From $6 ticket to worldwide on Flo Racing.
One idea. One promoter. 40 years of history.
Drop 🙏 if you wish you were there in 1987!
#1987

EMMETT HAHN — 1942-2023 — CO-FOUNDER & PROMOTER — CHILI BOWL NATIONALS ❤️
IN LOVING TRIBUTE • A PROMOTER, A VISIONARY, A LEGEND

EMMETT HAHN 1942-2023 CO-FOUNDER & PROMOTER CHILI BOWL NATIONALS — Racing Heritage 1970s young Emmett in firesuit — 33rd Annual Chili Bowl Nationals Tulsa Expo Raceway 2019 Lucas Oil Champion Golden Driller trophy — Golden Driller statue Tulsa skyline sunset oil derrick — Sprint cars on track — In Loving Tribute A Promoter A Visionary A Legend Founder of the Chili Bowl Nationals Tulsa Oklahoma Forever the Heart of the Race January Tulsa Expo Square SageNet Center — Thank you, Emmett — for building our home on the dirt. Your legacy races on.

HE DIDN'T JUST PROMOTE A RACE — HE BUILT A HOME.
January 1987 — Tulsa Fairgrounds — 52 cars. People said indoor dirt racing in January would never work.
Emmett Hahn said — "Let's do it anyway."
He was a 5x Tulsa Speedway Champion. NCRA Super Mod Champion. Founder of American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) 1992. National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.
But his greatest trophy wasn't on his shelf — it was the Golden Driller he gave to others.
40 years later, 392 cars, 15,000 fans in SageNet Center, and every single engine that fires in January fires because of him.
From driver to promoter to legend — Tulsa never forgot.
Emmett passed Dec 2023, but every January when clay is laid inside the Expo Center, we still hear his voice: "Gentlemen, start your engines."

He built more than a race. He built a family. He built Tulsa's heartbeat.
Drop 🙏💛 if you ever felt his legacy at the Chili Bowl.