Santino Ferrucci produced a memorable moment at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals on Friday night, capturing his first-ever heat race victory inside the iconic Tulsa Expo Center — a feat made even more special as it came on the 91st birthday of his IndyCar team owner, four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt.

Driving the No. 16 Abacus Racing entry, Ferrucci began the night in strong fashion, drawing the pole for the second heat and leading all eight laps. He held off a talented field that included two-time Chili Bowl champion Logan Seavey, who later went on to win the evening’s A-Feature. For Ferrucci, the milestone heat win marked a breakthrough in his six-year pursuit of success at midget racing’s most prestigious event.

The night, however, was not without its challenges. Ferrucci slipped from third to ninth in his qualifier, and later suffered an engine issue in the B2 Feature that ultimately ended his night with a 15th-place finish. Still, the earlier victory left him encouraged heading into Saturday’s action.

“It’s been a fantastic day,” Ferrucci said. “You come here and just to get a win in this building, regardless if it’s a heat or a qualifier, is really cool. Our No. 16 Webco midget was really quick. The Abacus boys did a great job. The car was phenomenal.”

Ferrucci reflected on the ups and downs of the evening, acknowledging that a mistake in the qualifier cost him momentum.

“I was slowly figuring out the B. I was running the bottom and trying to get up top because people weren’t there, and then we had a small engine issue that ended our run there. But all in all, we’ve had a fantastic Chili Bowl this year compared to last year. Excited to run some soup tomorrow and see where we can go,” he said.

As Saturday approaches, Ferrucci will now navigate the event’s trademark “alphabet soup” of elimination races in hopes of advancing toward the A-Main. Based on Friday’s results, he is projected to start around the J-Main, a notable improvement over his best finish of sixth in the G-Main in 2025.

“All the hard work is starting to pay off, but I want to make that A-Main, man,” Ferrucci said. “Let’s see if we can continue to do this in the future.”

With momentum on his side and confidence growing, Ferrucci heads into Saturday looking to turn his heat race success into a career-best Chili Bowl performance. Fans will be watching closely to see how far his run through the “soup” will take him.

Read the full article written by David Castro on MSports.