Kyle Larson wins Chili Bowl
Today at 07:06 AM
Kyle Larson led all 40 laps from the pole Saturday night en route to his third Chili Bowl Midget Nationals win in six years, holding off young Daison Pursley in a three-lap sprint to the finish at Tulsa Expo Raceway.
The win came despite two moments of near-disaster in the grand finale that could have easily ripped the trophy from his grasp.
First was a lap-23 incident between Jacob Denney and Brenham Crouch at the back of the field, which happened right in front of Larson and led to him ramping over the front end of Crouch‘s race car with his Paul Silva-prepared No. 1K.
Then came a wicked moment coming to three to go where Larson‘s right-rear tire climbed the wall coming down the frontstretch, ripping a sponsor banner off the barriers just as Pursley tried to charge forward and grab the lead around the outside.
Both situations brought out caution flags, but miraculously, Larson never stopped either time and was able to retain the lead over Pursley.
Shane Golobic completed the podium finishers.
Fellow NASCAR Cup Series star and past Chili Bowl winner Christopher Bell finished 10th after transferring into the A-main from his B-main, while two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch was 14th in an E-main and Ty Gibbs ended up winning a G-main before ending up one spot shy of transferring in his F-main.
Josh Bilicki, a frequent runner in the Cup Series and Xfinity Series, ran seventh in his G-main after winning the preceding H-main.
