Last year, Kyle Larson’s boycott of the Chili Bowl shocked the racing community. Opting out of a competition he’d won two times on the trot surprised many. However, Larson justified his reasoning, pointing to the insufficient winning purse as a motivating factor. As the Chili Bowl Nationals doubled its prize money to $20,000 this year, the Hendrick Motorsports star announced his return. But in light of recent events, fans finally understood the thought process behind Larson’s boycott of the prestigious Golden Driller.
Every year, Chili Bowl organizes a raffle ticket competition called the 50/50. But what has taken the fans by surprise is the prize money that the fans-only competition provides. Surprisingly, it is more than double the Chili Bowl winner’s purse.
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The 2024 edition of the Chili Bowl is the second time officials have allowed online ticket sales for the raffle. In 2023, the event saw a total purse of $122,510. The raffle winner received half of the purse, which was more than $51,000. The remaining half was forwarded to the Donnie Ray Crawford Foundation. This brought up an interesting realization that left many dumbfounded.
With the proceeds of the raffle reaching staggering heights, numerous people realized how the Golden Driller winning prize pales in comparison to the 50/50. NASCAR insider Matthew Breault tweeted about the same. He wrote, “The Chili Bowl 50/50 winner will walk away with just under $45,000. The Chili Bowl winner will walk away with $20,000. Imagine buying a 50/50 ticket and leaving with more than double the amount the winning driver gets…”
Racing America editor Joseph Srigley also conveyed his surprise on X regarding the same, as he wrote, “Wait a damn second, did I hear that properly? There’s no way the person who ends up winning the #ChiliBowl5050 is going to end up taking home more money than the person who actually wins the Chili Bowl Nationals, right???
The Chili Bowl 50/50 winner will walk away with just under $45,000.
The Chili Bowl winner will walk away with $20,000.
Imagine buying a 50/50 ticket and leaving with more than double the amount the winning driver gets…#ChiliBowl2024 #ChiliBowl5050 #CBNationals
— Matthew Breault (@MatthewBreault7) January 14, 2024
While the prize money for the raffle is not something of concern for the Chili Bowl, the cash prize for the main event winner indeed is. Chili Bowl organizers could address this to lure more drivers to the competition and keep them coming in the future. While Larson has raised this concern specifically, other drivers could also bring this to the forefront pretty soon. In the meantime…
How can fans avail of the 50/50 raffle tickets?
Ticket sale windows are currently open for the fans, and the procedure will go on until the ‘Last Call’ on January 18. The final amount the tickets generate will decide the winning prize for the Jackpot’s Grand Prize. The final cash prize will be announced prior to the Chili Bowl A-Feature race on Saturday.
The raffle tickets have been priced quite feasibly. The pricing system set for the Chili Bowl 50/50 implies fans can buy 5 tickets for $10, 55 tickets for $20, 200 tickets for $50, and 500 tickets for $100. But that won’t be all for the prestigious dirt racing week.
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Apart from the big prize, Chili Bowl will host ticket draws every night from Monday to Friday during qualifying nights. The tickets will be drawn for a prize of $1,000, and the exact tickets are also allowed to participate in the draw for the grand prize.
Update: As per the time of updating this article, the raffle has officially closed. However, you can always keep an eye out for the same when the next edition of the Chili Bowl comes to town.
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