By Bret Emrick

Late Monday morning Tim McCreadie sat in the terminal at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago waiting to board a flight to Buffalo. His flight had been delayed for two hours, which anyone that flies knows, can be very frustrating. But the Watertown, NY native wouldn’t let the delay diminish the feeling he still carried from what he described as, “My biggest win ever”.



That biggest win ever was a victory Saturday night in the 20th Annual Chili Bowl Midget Nationals at the Tulsa Expo Raceway inside of the Tulsa Exhibition Center in Tulsa, Okla. A record 260 race teams battled over three qualifying nights and through Saturday’s ‘alphabet soup’ of last chance races just to make the starting grid for the prestigious Championship race.



Mix in the fact that the field is comprised of the best of the best from many different forms of auto racing including many of the nations top open wheel drivers, just making the Championship race grid is a victory in itself. For McCreadie the Midget cars weren’t that familiar. He had raced in the 2005 edition of the Chili Bowl placing ninth in the Championship race. This past weekend marked only his second time in one of the lightning quick and powerful machines. To win the Chili Bowl in only his second time in a Midget Race Car truly meant, “My biggest win ever” to McCreadie.



“The car ran so well and the whole deal went so smoothly for us. It just was an amazing night”, said McCreadie. “A whole bunch of people helped out whether it was Rick Eckert and Mark Richards being there with hand signals, even Josh. I mean there was so many people that helped out. It was really something to have all those guys and Bart Hartman to come down to victory lane and congratulate us. That was probably the best part about the deal. Having the guys that you’ve run against on the series for the past two years get excited and share that moment and support you when you run good really meant a lot to me.”



Driving the Steve Smith Racing/Hawk Engine Development/Hoosier Racing Tire No. 1A Steve Smith/Spike Chassis/Hawk Engines machine McCreadie set himself up well during Wednesday’s qualifying night. Placing second in his heat race and winning his qualifying race and a dramatic last lap pass during the main event for a fourth place finish qualified McCreadie right into Saturday’s Championship race. Starting tenth in the 20th Annual Chili Bowl, McCreadie methodically worked his way toward the front snaring the lead on lap 35 pulling away to the victory over Open Wheel standouts Jay Drake and Cory Kruseman.



Not having as much experience in the Midget cars as some drivers McCreadie really felt that he wasn’t behind the ‘eight-ball’ entering the event as one would think.



“The biggest thing with this race is the qualifying night”, said McCreadie. “It really is kind of an open competition show once you’ve got yourself qualified and your fairly competitive. I thought after our Wednesday run where we finished fourth that we had a decent shot – maybe not so much winning the race but running a top five. When we hot lapped before the feature the car was really good. Then the next thing you know things started to fall our way during the race. The car just kept driving forward and driving forward until I got in the lead.”



The win was not something lost on McCreadie as he knows a victory at the Chili Bowl ranks right near the top of any of the big dirt track racing marquee events.



“It was and still is a surreal feeling knowing I won the ‘Chili Bowl’ race”, said McCreadie. “That race ranks right up there with the ‘World 100’ and the ‘Dirt Track World Championship’ and all the big late model shows. But, the win was done in a totally different type of racecar than what we’re used to driving. That’s what makes it so surreal. Hopefully this is the start of things to come to where we can start to knock down some of these big late model shows and add those to this win with the Midget.”



Being from the dirt Late Model and Modified ranks McCreadie was asked how his win was accepted by the largely Open Wheel field and fan base.



“Really, I felt like I was accepted by both the competitors and the fans”, said McCreadie. “I mean both Cory Kruseman and Jay Drake gave me the utmost respect. They both told the media they figured they got beat by a better car and a guy that drove a better race that night. That’s all I could ask for. I’m sure they wanted to win the race as bad as the other 260 to 270 other drivers that were in that place. As far as the fans I thought that the place went crazy when I got out of the car. When they did the winners interview the place just erupted so I would imagine that the fans were fairly happy with the show that they saw.”



When asked if winning the ‘Chili Bowl’ has changed things for McCreadie the 31 year-old stated, “I know my phone has been ringing almost constantly since that night”. McCreadie continued, “There are a lot of people overly happy for me and are calling to congratulate me. A lot of the calls have been from people that have helped me over my career. That’s really appreciated.”



Following in the footsteps of his legendary father ‘Barefoot’ Bob McCreadie by driving the DIRT Modifieds and then into the dirt Late Models where he notched the 2004 World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Rookie of the Year’ title backed up with a third place finish in the 2005 WoO Late Model Series Championship, McCreadie was asked if the ‘Chili Bowl’ win can be used as a confidence builder for the upcoming 2006 campaign.



“Anytime you can go out there and run with them guys and be competitive for one and then for two, go out and beat them…. With all the talent that was out there Saturday night that might have been the most talented dirt track race going on anywhere in the country. Especially with all the different forms of racing that was represented. It’s a definite confidence builder going into the season” he said.



With his racing career blooming McCreadie was asked if there had been interest in his services by any NASCAR teams.



“It’s really no secret we have had some talks with some NASCAR teams but nothing has been locked down or guaranteed” he said. “It’s really gonna be a little harder for me I think because of my background and where I come from. Living in New York and racing late models and modifieds like we do I’m probably not gonna get looked at as much as say some guy that drives a Sprint Car or a Midget. Hopefully our credibility and being able to win in another type of car like we did with the Midget, I can’t see how it can’t do anything but help. It’s a process. If they don’t know who you are sometimes you have to kick the door down to let ‘em know who you are. Maybe this win is part of the deal to let those folks know that us Late Model guys can drive other types of cars too”.



McCreadie’s stirring victory was not lost on several people in the know including DIRT MotorSports Vice President of Operations Shane Carson. The longtime Sprint Car driver and former promoter also competed in the ‘Chili Bowl’ and was simply amazed with McCreadie.



“I had been watching Tim all week and realized he really can drive and win in anything but that Saturday night victory was huge”, said Carson. “He will go as far as he wants in racing and will excel at any level”.



McCreadie was one of several racers who have ties to DIRT MotorSports competing at the Chili Bowl. Carson, a former World of Outlaws star driver, wound up fifth in the first H-main. After winning the second H-main, WoO Late Model star Rick Eckert raced to eighth in the second G-main. Josh Richards, the 2005 WoO Late Model ‘Rookie of the Year’, wound up seventh in the second B-main. Two of the 2006 World of Outlaws Sprint Series Mean 15 racers Chad Kemenah, a four-time champion with the All Star Circuit of Champions, and Justin Henderson also had solid performances. Kemenah finished 17th in the first C-main while Henderson raced his way to 15th in the second C-main.



With the ‘Chili Bowl” now behind him McCreadie sets his sights on the upcoming 2006 World of Outlaws Late Model Series season. Finishing with eight WoO Late Model Series victories in 2005, more than any other driver, McCreadie was asked what the goals were for the fast approaching campaign.



“The first goal every year is to win. Win every race your in”, said McCreadie. “My mindset has never changed from that. My philosophy is that if you win enough you can have a few bad nights and have those wins more than make up for it. Of those eight shows we won last year we still didn’t win the championship meaning we should’ve won ten or twelve shows. When you do that it covers those nights where you have a DNF or wreck a car or just have a bad night. Hopefully if we can win enough races the championship will take care of itself.”



McCreadie and the rest of the stars of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series will head into the 2006 season opener Feb. 4 at Golden Isles Speedway in Brunswick, Ga., before invading Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., on Feb. 16 and Feb. 18.