Jett Barnes slices through traffic during Saturday's Chili Bowl Nationals finale. (Photo courtesy of Swindell SpeedLab)

By Jacob Seelman, SWN News Editor

TULSA, Okla. (Jan. 19, 2026) – With a whirlwind week for Swindell SpeedLab, teenager Jett Barnes arrived on the scene, staked his place alongside motorsports veterans of all kinds, and ultimately left with rookie-of-the-year honors from the 40th Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink.

At just 14 years, seven months, and 20 days old, Barnes compiled a list of accomplishments in his debut Chili Bowl appearance that even some veterans have never achieved inside the SageNet Center.

Barnes ran from ninth to third during his prelim-night feature Tuesday, standing tall on the podium beside the likes of Oklahoma veterans Blake Hahn and Hank Davis, and that alone would have been impressive enough.

But the California hotshoe had even more left in the tank.

After lining up on the front row of his B-Feature Saturday night, Barnes roared past Colby Copeland to take the lead five laps in, then absolutely drove off from the competition to a 2.012-second margin of victory and a 12th-place starting spot in the 55-lap Chili Bowl championship feature.

By virtue of being the only first-year contender to lock into the grand finale, Barnes secured top-rookie honors at that point, and that was even before he went on to run as high as seventh in the nightcap.

Unfortunately, a mid-race issue took Barnes out of action before the checkered flag and left him with a 21st-place finish, but it wasn’t all bad for the Swindell SpeedLab team – which still won it all with Barnes’ teammate, Emerson Axsom.

The teenager’s effort was still a sensational body of work in itself though, and from his giddy grins and pure excitement, Barnes was still soaking in exactly what all he’d accomplished after the final checkered flag waved and the engines fell silent.

“It’s crazy. This whole week has been crazy, really,” Barnes said following the B-Feature victory that clinched him the Chili Bowl rookie-of-the-year title. “This [car] drives so easy. It’s awesome.”

That’s high praise in the words of a 14-year-old breakout star.

But how did Barnes get to the point he did, or into the Swindell SpeedLab stable at all for the Super Bowl of Midget Racing?

Team co-owner Jordan Swindell, Kevin’s wife, reflected on the team’s first crossing with Barnes in 2020 early Saturday, a few hours before Barnes catapulted himself onto a platform alongside veterans of the sport.

“So Jett was eight [years old] at the time, and he was starting on the front row of the Junior Sprint class at the Tulsa Shootout,” Swindell explained. “He ended up walking up to me … and basically, he asked that if he won the Shootout, could he be SpeedLab for life? And here he is now, and he is SpeedLab for life because he won the Golden Driller that year in Junior Sprints.

“He’s basically been my child ever since,” Swindell added with a chuckle.

The young Barnes joins a star-studded list of recent Chili Bowl Rookie of the Year honorees, including Gunnar Setser (2025), Kale Drake (2024), Jade Avedisian (2023), Corey Day (2022), Daison Pursley (2021), Buddy Kofoid (2020), Zeb Wise (2019), and Gio Scelzi (2018), all of whom have gone on to high acclaim in the dirt racing world.

What does it mean to be part of that kind of company and to represent the Swindell name like Barnes has?

“It’s awesome. It brings a lot of opportunities with it,” he noted. “Just awesome, really.”

And it might go without saying, but do the Swindells feel like they picked the right kid to help guide up the ranks?

“I’d say … I feel like he made a pretty good call [by] coming up to me that year,” Jordan noted.

The Chili Bowl Rookie of the Year Award has been presented annually since 2001 to the first-year driver that finishes highest in the alphabet soup program which headlines Saturday’s final day of competition.

Of the 26 recipients, no Chili Bowl Rookie of the Year has ever finished lower than a B Main on Saturday.

Chili Bowl Rookies of the Year

2026 – Jett Barnes, 21st in A-Main
 2025 – Gunnar Setser, 10th in B-Main 2
 2024 – Kale Drake, 14th in A-Main
 2023 – Jade Avedisian, 18th in A-Main
 2022 – Corey Day, 17th in A-Main
 2021 – Daison Pursley, 10th in B-Main 1
 2020 – Buddy Kofoid, seventh in A-Main
 2019 – Zeb Wise, ninth in B-Main 2
 2018 – Gio Scelzi, 24th in A-Main
 2017 – Donny Schatz, seventh in B-Main 1
 2016 – Joe B. Miller, 21st in A-Main
 2015 – Spencer Bayston, 18th in A-Main
 2014 – Parker Price-Miller, 11th in B-Main 2
 2013 – D.J. Netto, 17th in B-Main 2
 2012 – Richard Vander Weerd, 20th in A-Main
 2011 – Tyler Courtney, 16th in B-Main 1
 2010 – Brad Mosen, 20th in A-Main
 2009 – Shane Hmiel, seventh in B-Main 2
 2008 – Brad Sweet, 11th in B-Main 2
 2007 – Donnie Ray Crawford, fifth in A-Main
 2006 – Mike Goodman, 17th in A-Main
 2005 – Michael Pickens, sixth in A-Main
 2004 – Danny Stratton, seventh in A-Main
 2003 – Jason Meyers, sixth in A-Main
 2002 – Davey Ray, 11th in A-Main
 2001 – Paul McMahan, sixth in A-Main