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TULSA, Okla. – A year ago, Kyle Larson finally rose to greatness by winning his first Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals title. On Saturday night, he converted that greatness into immortality by adding a second Golden Driller Trophy to his resume.
Larson led every round of the 35th edition of the Super Bowl of Midget Racing, leaving no doubt on his path to back-to-back Chili Bowl wins in his own # 01 King-Toyota MAVTV / JV1 group.
The Elk Grove, Calif. Native threw to point on the second attempt at the initial start, and never fell behind from there in the 55-lap headliner. He fought off pole-sitter Justin Grant early and his longtime rival Christopher Bell late before taking the checkered flag ahead by 1.246 seconds at the end.
This was the third time in the past seven years that a driver had scored multiple wins in the annual midget racing show. Larson (’20 -’21) joins Bell (’17 -’19) and Rico Abreu (’15 -’16) in this category.
Although Larson didn’t take the lead until well past the halfway point of his first Chili Bowl score, he admitted playing defense the entire run this year was a tall order.
“I had to work a lot harder for that one,” said Larson, who will return to the NASCAR Cup Series full-time next month with Hendrick Motorsports in victory lane. “I could feel Grant pressuring me most of the race. There, in the middle part, the track was really curved. I was not bad then. But in the end he built a massive sidewalk and I was trying to run hard… but when I was running hard I would slam him (the cushion). If I ran slowly, I would be tight against her. Once I saw that Bell came in second I knew I had to try to be smarter and not make massive mistakes or I would let him get away with it.
“I made a lot of massive mistakes during this race.”
A prolonged delay in track preparation after twin B Hands of the Night meant that the grand final only took the green flag until 11:21 PM CT.
Once launched, however, the feature lived up to its annual billing.
Grant got the better of Larson to start the race, but Joe B. Miller’s No.49 turnaround before all the cars had crossed in the first lap led to a full restart and gave Larson a second chance at capitalize.
Larson didn’t waste it either, sprinting to a seven-car lead at the end of the first lap before Brady Bacon knocked over at turn three for the second yellow of the night.
This time around, a lap was made in the record books, leaving Larson ahead for a single file reboot and giving him a lead he wouldn’t give up again. That didn’t mean there hadn’t been attempts to stop him, however.
Grant’s first look for the lead came after a diamond in the fourth corner that gave the NOS Energy Drink # 2j a peek under Larson, but Kyle Cummins slowed down with a flat tire to force it. the third warning of the event.
A longer run with the green flag opened from this point, with Larson entering slower traffic and Grant staying with him, but never finding an opening to complete a move for first place.
Thomas Meseraull’s mechanical issues led to a yellow with 29 laps scored, but it wasn’t until a restart on lap 38 – following a Buddy Kofoid incident in turns three and four – that things did. really warmed up.
Eleventh starter Tanner Thorson jumped into fourth place with a slip job over Cannon McIntosh, while Larson steadily built a one-second advantage over Grant before the traffic came back in with 10 to go.
As Larson struggled to circle the cars, Bell was searching and hungry for redemption. He passed Grant with nine laps to go and was eager to get to Larson after being beaten by No.01 in 2020.
As Bell passed Grant, Larson hit the outer berm and suddenly three cars under a blanket were fighting over the Golden Driller. Grant passed out quickly, but Bell was hot on Larson’s tail tank.
Larson scored the cushion again on lap 50 and Bell almost took advantage, but a yellow with four-for-a-lap from Blake Hahn thwarted Bell’s lead and put Larson on a clean track.
Bell attempted to knock Larson down on the ensuing restart, but entering the third corner with two laps to the left Bell slid down the race track and scored the treacherous pad, flipping his iRacing / CB Industries No.84x and ending his run for a fourth Chili Bowl victory. .
This left Larson in the lead over Grant, who attempted a huge slider on the penultimate restart of the race, but couldn’t clear Larson and piled into the field behind him as he hit the outside berm at the first turn.
The accordion effect ultimately caused Tyler Courtney to go upside down and host one final reboot.
Larson hit his marks on the scoreboard two laps from the end of the race, retiring for his second Chili Bowl victory over Grant, Thorson, McIntosh and a Daryn Pittman, who dropped from 20th to fifth overall.
Chris Windom, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brad Sweet, Spencer Bayston and Logan Seavey closed the top 10.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic that has kept some teams loyal at home, 309 cars have still drawn to compete in this year’s Nationals Lucas Oil Chili Bowl.
The last World Wide Technology Raceway Flip Count ended at age 69, with all the riders able to start again.
Tulsa Expo Raceway will host the 36th Lucas Oil Chili Bowl National Championships from January 10-15, 2022.
RESULTS: 35th National Lucas Oil Chili Bowl; Tulsa, Oklahoma Expo Raceway; January 16, 2021
Lucas Oil A characteristic (55 laps): 1.01-Kyle Larson [2]; 2. 2J-Justin Grant [1]; 3.08-Tanner Thorson [11]; 4. 71K-Cannon McIntosh [4]; 5. 21-Daryn Pittman [20]; 6. 89-Chris Windom [14]; 7. 17S-Ricky Stenhouse Jr. [12]; 8. 1R-Brad Sweet [19]; 9. 1S-Spencer Bayston [15]; 10. 39-Logan Seavey [17]; 11. 39B-Cole Bodine [24]; 12. 25X-Alex Bright [7]; 13. 27W-Colby Copeland [23]; 14. 84X-Christopher Bell [3]; 15. 7C-Tyler Courtney [6]; 16. 97-Rico Abreu [5]; 17. 52-Blake Hahn [13]; 18. 3G-Kyle Cummins [10]; 19. 67-Michael Kofoid [8]; 20. 72-Chase Johnson [21]; 21. 7X-Thomas Meseraull [9]; 22. 9 p.m.-Brady Bacon [16]; 23. 3N-Jake Neuman [22]; 24. 49J-Joe B. Miller [18].
Tour leader (s): Kyle Larson 1-55
Hard charger: # 21 – Daryn Pittman (+15)
SPEED SPORT’s LIVE From the Chili Bowl coverage is supported by MyRacePass, KICKER, Curb Records and Swann Communications! To learn more about each of our partners and to discover all the coverage of the Chili Bowl from SPEED SPORT, visit our Chili Bowl index page! DON’T MISS SPEED SPORT’S LIVE From the Chili Bowl on Saturday January 16 at 6:30 p.m. ET on MAVTV and watch the Chili Bowl Final LIVE Saturday January 16 at 8:30 p.m. on MAVTV!
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