Grant was relentless in the early going but, try as he might, he could never overtake Larson. At times it was a matter of the yellow emerging just before traffic became a factor. The interesting thing about this race is that Larson made some obvious errors that left the door open. Some of these miscues, he said, were a function of the racing surface. “That was a track I don‘t think any of us had been on all week,” he said. “I think a lot of people were making mistakes behind me as well. It got curbed up, and you are still trying to run a fast pace because you want to get away from those guys behind you. You just get a little too greedy and you mess yourself up.”
Grant could vouch for his foe and felt the frustration of not being able to catch Larson. “He made some bobbles,” Justin said. “So, we could keep him just close enough that we could almost capitalize. But it was just so slick across, and I just couldn‘t get digging enough to pull off a slider, and he would recover really well. He would bobble and I would catch up to him and he would fire and take off at the same speed. So, I didn‘t have a run. I tried to pull it off but it cost us and Bell got by me. And Bell was running hard.”
THE CHILI BOWL (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 – Michael Kofoid
20 – Chase Johnson
21 – Thomas Meseraull
22 – Brady Bacon
23 – Jake Neuman
24 – Joe B. Miller
In the early going, it appeared that Bell was giving it his all but didn‘t quite have the handle on his mount as he did earlier in the week. He could get alongside, but Larson could shut the door enough to stymie him. Bell‘s best chance came with five circuits to go. Larson had hit the cushion and was teetering on the edge, but the yellow came out when Blake Hahn spun. When action resumed Bell put the bit between his teeth, but when he slammed the cushion in pursuit, the three-time winner took a hard tumble and was done for the night.
Now Grant was back in the mix. It was here that Larson reached into his bag of tricks for a critical restart. Entering the fourth turn, Kyle went well above the cushion and drove straight down to protect the bottom. It was a move he had seen before. “You were worried about Grant there the last couple of laps,” he said. “And I really changed it up, and it really helped my launch down the frontstretch. Bell did that at Gateway maybe the first year we raced there. He would go way above the cushion and then get his angle right. I was in second and then was all messed up. So, I took a little something out of his book that I learned, and it worked.”
Grant was not willing to give up, and made one more desperate attempt to get to the front. “It sucks being that close,” Justin said with a laugh. “I didn‘t have a great run, right? But it is green, white, checkered and I didn‘t come to Tulsa to run second. That‘s what I told these guys all week. I didn‘t care if we ran second or last, I‘m here to win the thing and I thought this might be our only shot. Let‘s roll the dice. Maybe he bobbles into one, maybe he gets tight on the curb, maybe this is the move, so let‘s throw it.”
It didn‘t work, and created one last measure of chaos. “I had just pretty much assumed we had turned over,” Grant said. “And I was like, well we‘re done, I screwed that up. And I think Thorson slammed me in the left front and it knocked me out of the air. It landed and it took off. It caused a melee behind us, which is unfortunate for those guys. But I think any of those guys in my shoes would have the same mindset. This is one of those races where you really don‘t come here to make money; you come here to take a trophy home and that‘s the draw. That‘s why there are 300 cars here and a ton of people watching at home — nobody cares who runs second.”
At the checkered flag Larson had won for the second consecutive year, followed by Grant and Tanner Thorson, who had a remarkable Chili Bowl. Thorson was pleased with the outcome and proclaimed, “Yeah it was good. We‘ve got a damn war buggy now. This thing is beat up, twisted up, but it is a badass machine. I‘m excited about getting going in the outdoor season.”
Cannon McIntosh, who was strong all week long, was next in line, with Daryn Pittman rounding out the top five after passing 15 cars. Daison Pursley, who made it as far as the B-Main, was the Rookie of the Year.
A year ago, Larson seemed both thrilled with his win and pleased to have the monkey off of his back. This time he seemed slightly subdued. On one hand, he was pleased because he saw this win as further evidence of work he has done to become better as a driver. One thing he highlighted as a point of emphasis was learning to stay calm and focused when it mattered most. “Maybe four or five years ago I wouldn‘t have been able to do that,” he admits. “But, tonight I felt I calmed down those last few restarts.”
Still, it was a bit different, “I am still excited for sure, but you can look around and there are no fans in the stands. I remember winning this race last year and I bet half the crowd stuck around to see interviews they couldn‘t hear. So, the atmosphere this year with the pandemic was nowhere near the same all week. I think I can speak for all the drivers that we miss the fans. Even though there were a lot here, it just wasn‘t the same. Not even close. Hopefully it will get back to normal next year and we can get this event back to where it needs to be.”
Amen to that. Nonetheless, as many headed to the exits, they had been treated to a different kind of finale, but one that still provided indelible images.
Most of all, it is likely that many were still amazed that it ever happened. That was the real story. One thing is for certain: they will all be back, for one simple reason. The Chili Bowl
always delivers.