SUNDAY, NOV 23 AT 8:00PM ET
Corona, CA (Nov. 17, 2014): Emmett Hahn is definitely one of motor racing’s overachievers. A top class open wheel racer who tore up the dirt tracks of the Great Plains before turning his hand to promoting, Hahn conceived, founded and fostered the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) and co-founded the world’s largest and most successful indoor motorsports event ever – the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals.
“If they had told me that someone could win the Chili Bowl three times in a row they could have had all the money in my pocket.” Emmett Hahn.
Born in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, Hahn began racing a hobby stock at Tulsa Speedway in 1962 and moved into Super Modifieds in 1966. His big break came when he drove for owner Jack Zink. He easily won his first race in Oklahoma City, although his pit crew kept waving him to slow down – but Hahn was having too much fun because he had never driven a car that fast. Hahn went on to win the prestigious NCRA Hutchinson Nationals in Kansas three times. He won five straight Tulsa Fairgrounds Speedway championships from 1971 through 1975. He also won 16 of 22 main events at Tulsa in 1975.
In 1987 Hahn quit racing and turned his hand to promoting events across the country and founding ASCS. By 1997 he and fellow promoter Lanny Edwards created the Chili Bowl at the Expo Center in Tulsa, OK. Known as the Super Bowl of midget racing, January 13-17, 2015 will be the 29th running of the Chili Bowl and more than 250 entries will do battle on the ¼ mile dirt before a sellout crowd of more than 100,000 (bleachers, trade show and pits) over the four days.
Television will play a big part in 2015 with the MAVTV television network airing 3-hours ‘live’ on Saturday, January 17, with the RacinBoys Network (RBN) streaming select qualifying events over the internet prior to the MAVTV broadcast.
Hahn was inducted into the National Midget Hall of Fame in 2006 and the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2007 and has been named Promoter of the Year in the annual National Sprint Car Hall of Fame poll five times. In addition, the same poll awarded him the Outstanding Contribution to the Sport award in 2002. In 2004 he received the Bobby Isaac Award for outstanding contributions to short track racing.
Show repeat: Sunday, Nov. 23 at 11:00pm ET.