TULSA, Okla. A year ago, Kyle Larson finally achieved greatness by winning his first Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals title. On Saturday night, he turned that greatness into immortality by adding a second Golden Driller trophy to his resume.
Larson led every lap of the Super Bowl or Midget Racing’s 35th run, and he left no doubt on the road to the Chile Bowl victories in his own no. 01 MAVTV / JV1 Group King-Toyota no.
The Elk Grove, California, rushed to the finish line with the second attempt with the initial start, never picking from there in the 55-lap. He earlier had policeman Justin Grant and his rival Christopher Bell fend off before eventually taking the checkered flag with 1,246 seconds.
It was the third time in the past seven years that a driver has achieved recurring victories in the annual extravaganza for dwarf racing. Larson (’20 -’21) joins Bell (’17 -’19) and Rico Abreu (’15 -’16) in that category.
While Larson only took the lead halfway through the first Chile Bowl score, he conceded that the defense for the entire race this year was a big prize.
“I had to work harder for that one,” Larson said. He will perform full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series with Hendrick Motorsports next month in the win. ‘I could feel Grant pushing me the whole race. There in the middle section the track really curved. I was not bad then. But in the end it built up a massive curb and I tried to run hard … but when I was going to run hard, I hit it (the pillow). If I had run easily, I would have run into it. When I saw Bell become second, I knew I had to try to be smarter and not make big mistakes, otherwise I would have let him get by.
“I made a lot of big mistakes during the race.”
A long delay in preparing the track for the twin B Mains of the night meant that the grand final only took the green flag at 23:21 CT.
Once running, however, the function maintained its annual invoice.
Grant got the upper hand from Larson to start the race, but Joe B. Miller’s no. 49 before all cars crossed in the first lap, led to a complete restart and gave Larson a second chance to capitalize.
Larson did not squander it either and jumped to a seven-car lead towards the end of the first lap before Brady Bacon in turn went upside down three in the second yellow of the night.
This time, a shot was placed in the record book, leaving Larson ahead for a reboot of one file and giving him an edge he would not give up again. However, that did not mean he did not try to stop.
Grant’s first look at the lead in the race was after a diamond from the fourth corner hit the NOS Energy Drink no. 2j under Larson, but Kyle Cummins slowed down with a flat tire to force the third warning of the event.
A longer green flag run opened from that point, with Larson slowing down and Grant staying with him but never finding an opening to complete a move to first place.
The mechanical problems of Thomas Meseraull led to a yellow dot with 29 laps, but only in a 38-time restart – after a Buddy Kofoid incident in turns three and four – did things really heat up.
Eleventh starting Tanner Thorson jumped to fourth place with a sliding track on Cannon McIntosh, while Larson gradually built up a one-second advantage on Grant before traffic came back into play with 10 runs.
While Larson fought to kick cars, Bell was in search of hunger for salvation. He passed Grant and had nine rounds left and was eager to get out at Larson after being beaten by the no. 01 was beaten.
At the same time that Bell Grant was passing by, Larson hit the outside ramp and suddenly it was three cars under a blanket fighting for the Golden Driller. Grant faded quickly, but Bell was hot on Larson’s tail tank.
Larson marked the cushion again on lap 50 and Bell almost took advantage, but a yellow with four to make a Blake Hahn turn thwarted Bell’s march and put Larson in a clean track.
Bell tried to drop Larson during the subsequent restart, but with the turn of three laps with two laps, Bell slipped on the racetrack and marked the treacherous cushion, his iRacing / CB Industries No. 84x turned around and ended his run on a fourth Chile Bowl victory.
This put Larson ahead in front of Grant, who tried a big move during the penultimate restart of the race, but Larson could not clear and piled up the field behind him when he in turn hit the outside edge one.
The accordion effect eventually led to Tyler Courtney going upside down and setting up a final restart.
Larson scored his points over the final with two shots, and scored for the second Chile Bowl victory over Grant, Thorson, McIntosh and a running back Daryn Pittman, who came from 20th place to finish fifth.
Chris Windom, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brad Sweet, Spencer Bayston and Logan Seavey closed out the top 10.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic that keeps some stalwart teams at home, 309 cars still competed to compete during this year’s Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals.
The final World Wide Technology Raceway Flip Count ended at 69, and all drivers were able to walk away.
Tulsa Expo Raceway is hosting the 36th Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals from January 10-15, 2022.
RESULTS: 35th Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals; Tulsa (Okla.) Expo Raceway; 16 January 2021
Lucas Oil A Function (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. 21H-Brady Bacon [16]; 23. 3N-Jake Neuman [22]; 24. 49J-Joe B. Miller [18].
Shot 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! Visit our Chile Bowl index page for more information on each of our partners and to see all of SPEED SPORT’s Chile Bowl coverage! DON’T MISS SPEED SPORT’S LIVE From the Chili Bowl on Saturday, January 16th at 6:30 pm ET on MAVTV and watch the Chili Bowl Finals LIVE on Saturday, January 16th at 8:30 pm on MAVTV!