Tuesday
Tuesday night meant Kyle Larson was back in action and he was joined by reigning USAC midget champion Buddy Kofoid. What followed was one of the best preliminary nights in Chili Bowl history. Describing it in mere words is impossible.
Larson led the first 24 circuits from the pole with Kofoid in hot pursuit. When it appeared Kofoid would pounce, a caution flag waved or lapped traffic worked in Larson‘s favor.
Kofoid, whose Keith Kunz No. 67 had been repaired after a crash during the Race of Champions on Monday, wrestled the lead from Larson on a lap-24 restart and sailed to his first preliminary night triumph. Larson fended off a charge from Chris Windom to hold on to second.
“Shit, that was tough. The curb was treacherous, but that is just like I like it,” Kofoid said. “It‘s funny. I showed my crew chief Jared a quote that said the man who wants it more will get it. I think I wanted it more. I kept searching around and my car was good wherever I went. I‘m out of breath and speechless, but it‘s a damn good feeling going into Saturday. This thing was bent this morning and had a seat and a front end in it. That‘s it. Now, it has all new parts. This thing works well bent.”
Larson was disappointed, but happy he didn‘t fall into Windom‘s clutches.
“I was good,” he said. “But I think Buddy was a tick better than me. I just wanted to protect the slider. I slowed too much in one and he got back by me. I messed up and gave up the win but am glad I didn‘t drive too much over my head once that happened and could still fight for second.”
Wednesday
As a new wave of fans arrived on Wednesday, so too did Rico Abreu.
The two-time Chili Bowl winner has made the midweek preliminary night his personal playground in recent years and he‘s one of the most popular drivers to ever compete in the Chili Bowl.
Jason McDougal started on the pole and led until just shy of the halfway mark, but he knew Abreu was coming. Trying in vain to protect his position McDougal fell to an Abreu slide job.
Texas ace Chase Randall found speed late in the event, but when he looked to move around Abreu with four laps remaining, the 2021 USAC Rookie of the Year overcooked the cushion.
Meanwhile, Kevin Thomas Jr. was methodically working the bottom and for a time it looked like he may snatch the win. When the checkered flag waved, Abreu was ahead of Thomas with Blake Hahn finishing third on his preliminary night for the third straight year.
It was Abreu‘s seventh preliminary night victory and his fifth consecutive Wednesday night triumph.
One of the things that resonates with fans is that Abreu is never afraid to show his emotion.
“Any time you put yourself in position for Saturday in this event it is pretty special,” he said, “The biggest thing for me is experiencing those moments with my team and they can experience that sensation of winning. They get a kick out of that. There are new crew members on Keith Kunz Motorsports and it is cool to see them in victory lane with me and now three nights in a row at the Chili Bowl.”
Thomas said he played to his strengths by keeping his car in the bottom groove.
“You want to go up there and try to run the guy down but I‘m not the best at running the top,” Thomas said. “I‘m not going to run it better than he‘s running it. That would be a waste of my time and probably cost me from sitting at this table.”
Thursday
After three consecutive victories, some suggested it was time for the Keith Kunz Motorsports juggernaut to give the competition a break.
But that wasn‘t going to happen with Christopher Bell back in the Kunz stable. Still, Bell needed to make adjustments to contend for the victory.
“I was surprised after I got in the car Monday how much different it felt from what I was accustomed to,” he said, “So when I went to Chad‘s (Boat) two years ago all I did was try to get his cars to drive like I was accustomed to with Keith‘s cars. Then my car felt normal at Chad‘s. Then I come back to KKM and I was lost at the beginning of the week and even today. I still don‘t feel 100 percent comfortable making moves and maneuvering around from the top.”
As for the race, Bell had a real fight on his hands. Shane Golobic led the field for the first four laps, but Tanner Thorson driving for Andy Reinbold was on a mission.
Thorson, a former USAC national champion is recognized as a ferocious competitor. It was a race that was marked by hand-to-hand combat and strategy.
Thorson pulled everything out of his bag of tricks to keep Bell at bay. In a highly entertaining affair, Bell grabbed the lead with four laps to go and beat Thorson by .380 seconds. It was Bell‘s eighth preliminary night victory and seventh in a row. Oh, and KKM was now four-for-four.
“I started going good on the top about midway through the race and I started picking guys off,” Bell explained. “I got by C. J. (Leary) and was coming on Tanner and then the yellow came out. He moved up and took my line away from me, so at that point I went to the bottom and tried to get going as good as I could there.”
Thorson took second largely in stride.
“I was watching the board and knew Bell was coming,” Thorson said. “I knew it was a matter of time before he was going to throw a bomb on me. I was waiting for it honestly, so I was trying to screw him up on the starts as best I could.”
Leary finished third for Alex Bowman Racing.