Kyle Larson celebrates in victory lane after winning his second straight Chili Bowl Nationals at Tulsa Expo Raceway on Saturday night. Photo: Joe Orth
It took 13-years for Kyle Larson to win the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals, but it only took one to add a second Golden Driller to his trophy case.
The California speedster led start to finish en route to the win in Saturday night’s 55-lap championship event at Oklahoma’s Tulsa Expo Raceway.
But the win didn’t come without challenges, as Larson had to fend off the charge of Justin Grant numerous times and Christopher Bell in the closing laps.
“To get two of these feels awesome,” said Larson as his son, Owen, hand-delivered the Golden Driller trophy. “It was a different race than last year, but just thankful to get the chance to even come race here. I think a lot of us thought maybe we wouldn’t get to come run the Chili Bowl with the pandemic going on, so hats off to Emmett Hahn and everyone else with this event.
“It’s the greatest event in the world, and very lucky to be a part of it.”
Larson was stalked by Grant through the opening laps, wjth Grant taking for the lead a look a few times. Grant had a run on the leader racing off the fourth turn on lap 15 only to see the caution come out as Kyle Cummins slowed with a flat tire. Pulling away from Grant on the restart, Larson found traffic on lap 26. He had put a trio of slower cars between himself and Grant just as the caution waved again.
Rolling back to green with 37 laps to run, Larson put a gap on the field.
After taking second from Grant on lap 46, Bell closed rapidly. With five laps to go, Bell had moved in behind Larson. The action was broken up by another caution on lap 51 for a spin by Blake Hahn.
On the restart, Bell began looking for a way around the leader, but tagged the upper groove in turn three. That sent Bell’s car flipping violently into the fence. Bell was uninjured, but done for the night.
On the restart, Grant tried again to get around Larson, but a crash behind by Tyler Courtney brought out the final caution flag of the night and set up a green-white-checkered finish.
Back under green, Larson drove away for a 1.246-second advantage for the victory.
Grant crossed the line in second, with Tanner Thorson third, Cannon McIntosh fourth and Daryn Pittman fifth.
Chris Windom, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Brad Sweet, Bayston and Logan Seavey rounded out the 10.
A total of 309 drivers were on hand for the 35th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals. Saturday’s run of events included 25 Feature events starting with the double M-Features. The Pole Dash added four rounds to the overall Saturday event count.
In his first career Chili Bowl Nationals, Dawsonville, Georgia’s Chase Elliott made it up to the second F-Feature, finishing in seventh. Braselton, Georgia’s Matt Linder made it up to the second H-Feature, recording a 14th place finish.
The 36th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals are slated to take place January 10-15, 2022, at the Tulsa Expo Raceway, located inside the River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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For more information, visit ChiliBowl.com.
Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals
Tulsa Expo Raceway – Tulsa, OK
35th Annual Chili Bowl Nationals – January 16, 2021
1. Kyle Larson
2. Justin Grant
3. Tanner Thorson
4. Cannon McIntosh
5. Daryn Pittman
6. Chris Windom
7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
8. Brad Sweet
9. Spencer Bayston
10. Logan Seavey
11. Cole Bodine
12. Alex Bright
13. Colby Copeland
14. Christopher Bell
15. Tyler Courtney
16. Rico Abreu
17. Blake Hahn
18. Kyle Cummins
19. Michael Kofoid
20. Chase Johnson
21. Thomas Meseraull
22. Brady Bacon
23. Jake Neuman
24. Joe B. Miller
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