For Logan Seavey and Kevin Swindell to lose the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals for the first time since 2023, someone is going to have to beat them straight-up because they are not going to actively beat themselves.
In fact, the Swindell Speedlab group were amongst the first out of the Tulsa Expo on Sunday as practice day came to a close. They had to sort out some details on a new engine but beyond that, the driver knows exactly what he wants to feel out of the car and the owner and crew chief largely obliged.
This car, after all, only gets brought out once a year and it’s been a damn good one.
As Seavey articulates it, they are within their box and they don’t feel compelled to deviate from their process with this car.
“Yeah, so when I come here, all I focus on is if drives nice and easy, and I’m not having to wrestle the car or play too much with the throttle, spinning the tires or whatnot,” Seavey said. “So yeah, we were just trying to tune the engine up a little bit, and fueling, to get all that better. But really, that was all I was not super happy about.”
At the time of the conversation, Erik Milholland from Stanton Racing Engines was making some adjustments to the power plant to give Seavey that response he was looking for.
“So glad to have the support from these guys,” Seavey said. “Obviously, I feel like I have the best engine in the business and the customer service here is really good. So overall, I was really, really happy.
“We just needed to tame down the engine a little bit because the track is probably going to be really wet. It’ll be harder to diagnose the car because you just run it really, really hard. I’ll do my best in the car to make sure everything is dialed in so we can try to win another Race of Champions tomorrow.”
And then they left pretty quickly after that second practice session, so yeah, Swindell says they’re in a familiar place with the exception of the engine and throttle response.
“He’s been picky about it the whole time,” Swindell said. “We went through this before too and knew we’d go through this a little bit again too, just to get it correct. That was probably about the only thing we were going to get out of today, just working on the map, getting it all settled to get his foot a little bit happier so he can control it.
“Especially if it’s going to be hard and slick like that. Getting your wheels tuned to the racetrack is more important than anything.”
Again, when your package has won two Championship Saturday A-Mains, two prelim night features and a Race of Champions, there is very little reason to get too far away, even if settling requires a little bit of discipline.
“We just used today to shake the car down,” Seavey said. “Like I said, we don’t get out of the box too far. We’re trying a few things but everyone knows this track is different on your prelim night, especially on Friday/
“By time we get to Friday, we can watch and see what the track is doing but it’s always changing, like any dirt track does, but for me, I just want to make sure the thing drives how I want it to, throttles how I want it too and that nothing feels abnormal.
“And then, come race day, we make the real changes we need to make and make sure I feel comfortable running really, really hard.”
And if the car is close, and if they haven’t beaten themselves come Saturday morning, they will be in the conversation for winning three-straight, something last accomplished by Christopher Bell from 2017-2019 and Swindell himself when he won four in a row from 2010-2013.
“It’s been a long time, but it’s definitely different being on this side of it versus when I was driving,” Swindell said. “I will say I didn’t have the anxiety I do now on this side, back them. I have anxiety that I’m not the one to leave something off or make a mistake he can’t overcome.
“So the nerves for me are just not screwing up this run in a dumb way, not forgetting to zip tie a wire up or something else really simple that I could have easily take care of. But I do feel really confident right now the way I did when I was driving in that third or fourth year when we won a prelim night and drew the pole, and it was like, ‘I think this might happen again,’ and it becomes real.”
For Seavey, the expectation is mostly a privilege more than a pressure. He says everyone feels pressure when they come into this building but there is less now that he has won the race, and even less now that he has two in a row.
“Last year I felt really calm and I feel the same way today,” Seavey said. “It’s comforting coming into this building when you have this kind of confidence. I want to keep winning and have that pressure to keep performing but we are going get beat someday and it feels great that we already have to. We’re going to keep working to win more so I’m focused more on the work than the pressure.”
He says that is how Kyle Larson and Donny Schatz feel when they roll into the Knoxville Nationals. They don’t let the pressure exceed the pleasure of great cars and great teams.
“That’s why the great ones win them in bunches,” Seavey said. “Very few people can walk into this building and say they don’t feel any nerves. I’m one of the handful in here that stays calm and good and can just go race.
“Whatever happens, happens.”