It took 13-years for Kyle Larson to win the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire, but it only took one to add a second Golden Driller to his trophy case when the California shoe led start to finish in the Jan. 16 55-lap championship event held in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Not without challenge, 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,” Larson said as his son Owen hand-delivered the Golden Driller. “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.”
Stalked by Grant through the opening laps, the NOS Energy Drink No. 2j took a look a few times. Diamonding off the fourth turn on Lap 15 with a run, caution lights greeted the field as Kyle Cummins slowed with a flat tire. Pulling away from Grant on the restart, the MAVTV No. 01 found traffic on Lap 26. Putting a trio of slower cars between himself and Grant, the No. 2j was about to have his hands full when Christopher Bell rolled up just as the caution waved again.
Rolling back to green with 37 laps to run, Larson put time on the field. Taking second from Justin on Lap 46, Christopher Bell closed rapidly. On the back bumper of Larson with five laps to go, Bell turned under Larson off the fourth turn after Kyle biked the car on the cushion. Keeping the iRacing No. 84x to his rear, the field went back single-file when Blake Hahn spun on Lap 51. Full assault on Larson on the restart, Bell began looking for a hole, but it was not to be as the cushion bit in Turn 3 and sent Bell flipping violently into the fence. Bell was uninjured.
Advancing Grant back to second, he took a shot at Larson on the restart but was unable to clear and instead slammed the cushion. Forcing the field to hit the brakes, Tyler Courtney ended up getting crossed up and going over. Green, white, checkered for the Golden Driller, Larson set sail by 1.246-seconds.
Grant crossed second, with Tanner Thorson moving up eight spots to third. Cannon McIntosh was fourth, with Owasso’s Daryn Pittman coming in as the night’s Hard Charger with a run from 20th to fifth.
Chris Windom moved from 14th to sixth, with Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. seventh. Up 11 spots, Brad Sweet made it to eighth. Spencer Bayston made up six positions to ninth, with Logan Seavey wheeling 17th to 10th.
A total of 309 drivers were on hand for the 35th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire. The day’s run of events included 25 feature events, starting with the double M-Features.
The Pole Dash added four rounds to the day’s overall event count. The night’s overall Hard Charger was Jason McDougal, who advanced position 54 times through six rounds (I-Feature through the D- Feature) of the Alphabet Soup.
The 2021 Chili Bowl Rookie of the Year was Oklahoma’s Daison Pursley with a 10th place finish in the first Dave.com B-Feature. The Worldwide Technology Raceway Flip Count made it to 69. All drivers were OK.
The 36th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire takes place Jan. 10-15, 2022, at the Tulsa Expo Raceway, located inside the River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa. Ticket renews, and new orders begin on March 3. More information on prices will be posted soon.
35th Annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Feature (55 Laps): 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. Buddy Kofoid; 20. Chase Johnson; 21. Thomas Meseraul; 22. Brady Bacon; 23. Jake Neuman; 24. Joe B Miller.
Bloomington releases 2021 racing schedule
Bloomington Speedway has announced it’s 2021 racing schedule:
April 9: Season Opener — Sprints, Modifieds and 305 winged sprints
April 16: USAC Sprints and 305 winged sprints
April 23: Sprints, Indiana Late Model Series and Modifieds
April 30: Sprints, Modifieds, Super Stocks and Bombers
May 14: Harris Memorial (Rain Date is July 16) — Sprints, Modifieds, Super Stocks and 305 winged sprints
May 28: Josh Burton Memorial (Rain Date Sept. 3) — MSCS Sprints, Modifieds, Super Stocks and MMSA
June 4: USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK — USAC Midgets and Sprints
June 25: Celebrate America Fireworks — Sprints, Modifieds, Super Stocks and Midget Cup
July 16: Sprints, Modifieds, Super Stocks 305 winged sprints
July 30: INDIANA SPRINT WEEK — Sprints and modifieds
Aug. 6: Bob Kinser Memorial — Sprints, Modifieds and Super Stocks
Aug. 20: Bloomington Fan Appreciation — Sprints, Modifieds, Super Stocks and Bombers
Sept. 3: MSCS Sprints, Modifieds, Super Stocks and MMSA
Sept. 10: Sprints, 305 winged sprints and Bombers
Sept. 17: Sprints, Modifieds, Super Stocks, MMSA and Midget Cup
Late Models kick off season this weekend
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will kick off its 2021 racing season this weekend at All-Tech Speedway in Lake City, Florida. Among the competitors expected is last weekend’s Lucas Oil Chili Bowl winner, Kyle Larson, who led the nation in feature wins a year ago.
Tonight’s event will be broadcast live on MAVTV, LucasOilRacing.TV and on the MAVTV Facebook page.
James Essex writes a motorsports notebook for The Republic. Send comments to [email protected].
