ESCANABA — Last week, recently crowned NASCAR Cup Series Champion Chase Elliott announced via Twitter that he would be competing in the 2021 Chili Bowl.

The Chili Bowl, arguably the most prestigious event in midget car racing, is held yearly on a quarter-mile dirt track inside the Tulsa Expo Center in Oklahoma.

This announcement comes on the heels of Elliott committing to run Sunday’s Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Florida. The 300-lap race is one of the largest super late model events in the country.

Elliott’s willingness to compete in these events harkens back to the golden era of motorsports when many racers drove nearly anything with four wheels and an engine.

And he’s not the only modern driver doing so.

NASCAR drivers Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson (both Chili Bowl winners), Kyle Busch and a slew of others all compete whenever and wherever they can.

Something about Elliott choosing to compete in these races, though, feels different.

Think of it like Michael Jordan’s transition from basketball to baseball.

One athlete, two fundamentally different sports.

I know you’re probably thinking, “What could be so different about racing another kind of car?”

A whole lot.

Elliott’s normal ride is a 3,300-pound stock-car with 550-750 horsepower, depending on the track.

The midget car he’ll be driving at the Chili Bowl weighs in at a mere 900-pounds but will push 450 horsepower.

This insane power to weight ratio makes these cars a handful to drive and puts throttle management at a premium.

Cars pulling wheelies down straightaways or tumbling end-over-end in turns is a common sight. It’s so common that a yearly tally of flips is kept. The record of 75 was set in 2019.

Like Jordan needing to adapt to fielding and batting, Elliott will have to adapt to a completely different driving style.

Aside from the sheer interest of seeing Elliott wheel a midget car, his appearance at the Chili Bowl is likely to bring a lot more eyeballs to the Tulsa Expo Center.

This, to me, is the most important aspect of Chase’s decision.

Not only is Chase the NASCAR Cup Champion, but he is also the recipient of the most popular driver award — his dad Bill Elliott holds the record for most with 16 — for the last three years.

To say Chase has fans is an understatement.

There’s a good chance many of these fans will tune in for the Chili Bowl.

If they do, they’ll be introduced to some of the best midget car drivers in the country and a completely different racing product than they are accustomed to.

To me, this is why drivers competing in various types of motorsport is so important to the sport and not just at the national or international level, either.

In 2014, the Upper Peninsula International Raceway in Escanaba invited racing legend Ken Schrader to compete in the track’s season-opening event.

While weather and other factors resulted in fewer fans showing up, the buzz surrounding the appearance of Schrader was measurably higher than most weeks at the track.

That’s not to say the weekly product at UPIR, or any track for that matter, is not good. A star driver simply adds to any event they compete in.

Whether it be Kyle Busch racing at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna this past summer, Fernando Alonso competing in the Indianapolis 500 in 2017 or 2020 or Chase Elliott driving in the Chili Bowl, the more attention these tracks and events will garner.

With greater attention comes more potential fans and, at the end of the day, the fans are what drives the sport.

Without them, there are no sponsors to support drivers, events, or tracks.

On top of that, it is a true test for the driver to find the limits of their abilities.

Hopefully, Elliott’s decision to try his hand at the Snowball Derby and Chili Bowl entices fellow drivers of the same stature to do the same.

I don’t know what the outcome of that would be. I do know it would be a ton of fun to watch.