TULSA, Okla. — Tanner Thorson, the 2022 Chili Bowl Nationals winner and two-time victory Kyle Larson top the entry list for Thursday night’s Victory Fuel Qualifying night during the 38th annual event at Tulsa Expo Raceway inside the SageNet Center.
Thorson, who won the Chili Bowl with Reinbold Underwood Motorsports, will guide his own No. 88 midget in the quest to earn a second Golden Driller trophy.
Thorson, who was the 2016 USAC midget champion, will be making his 11th Chili Bowl Nationals appearance. He’s made nine Saturday night main events and won a pair of preliminary night features, including last year.
Thorson finished second in last year’s 55-lap finale after winning it the previous year.
Larson did not participate in the 2023 Chili Bowl and is a last minute entry in this year’s race aboard the No. 98k midget fielded by Keith Kunz Motorsports Curb-Agajanian.
Spencer Bayston, the 2017 USAC national midget champion, returns to the Chili Bowl and will drive the No. 1s for RMS. Bayston has five A-main starts in nine appearances in Tulsa. His best finish came in 2018 when he finished third. Bayston is a full-time competitor in the High Limit Racing sprint car series.
The Kunz team will also field the No. 5g machine Gavan Boschele on Wednesday night. Boschele was a frequent winner in winged 360 sprint car competition last summer.
NASCAR Cup Series veteran J.J. Yeley, a USAC Triple Crown champion, will make another go at the Chili Bowl in a Petty Motorsports entry.
Yeley made his first Chili Bowl appearance in 1998 and this year will mark his 19th effort in midget racing’s biggest event. Yeley has never won a preliminary night main event and his best finish in Saturday night main events is second in 2007.
Count Brady Bacon, who won in USAC and World of Outlaws sprint car action in 2023, among the veterans continuing to chase Chili Bowl glory.
Bacon made his first of 17 Chili Bowl appearances in 2006 and he’s qualified for five Saturday night main events with a best effort of fourth in 2019.
Ricky Thornton Jr., a 41-time feature winner last season primarily in dirt late models, will drive a Reinbold Underwood Motorsports entry and he chases Chili Bowl glory. An accomplished micro sprint racer, Thornton is making his second Chili Bowl start.
Jesse Love, who won last year’s ARCA Menards Series stock car title and who will drive for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this season, will drive one of Chad Boat’s CB Industries midgets on Wednesday.