By alley - Jan 6, 2016, 1:11 PM ET

MAVTV and LucasOilRacing.TV launch live broadcasts with Chili Bowl Finals

ABOVE: 2015 Chili Bowl Champion Rico Abreu

MAVTV and the new LucasOilRacing.TV will broadcast the 30th running of the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals presented by General Tire. Through the channel and app, nationally and internationally, viewers can watch the three-hour finals Saturday night, Jan. 16 starting at 8:30pm ET from the River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa, Okla. With the number of entries already topping 335, including 24 U.S. States plus Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, the world's largest indoor race is on course to set driver and team records.

Known as the Super Bowl of Midget racing, the 2016 Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals is attracting the cream of American racing, including stars from Midgets, Late Model Dirt, Super Modified, World of Outlaws, NASCAR and USAC. The 2015 champion is rising young hotshoe Rico Abreu (#97). He faces the daunting task of defeating five-time Chili Bowl champion Sammy Swindell (#1), Bryan Clausen (#63), Kyle Larson (#71K), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (#17R), two-time Chili Bowl champion Cory Kruseman (#21K) and his teammate, sportscar racer

Chris Dyson

, Kasey Kahne (#67Z), and Jerry Coons Jr. (#5). Coons has the longest active A-Main streak with 16 appearances. The current entry includes eight previous champions and 52 main event qualifiers. The side-by-side action promises to be fast and furious with Dave Despain returning to call the TV action.

"No one understands 'grass roots' racing like MAVTV," said Bob Patison, president of MAVTV. "Each year the Chili Bowl airing has produced the highest rated shows on the network and we expect even better results in 2016, especially with the addition of the newly launched LucasOilRacing.TV app."