TULSA, Okla. — Spencer Bayston was untouchable in the No. 1s RMS Racing midget on Thursday night at the 38th annual Chili Bowl Nationals, scoring his first preliminary feature victory at the SageNet Center.
After starting from the pole, Bayston led all 30 laps during the Victory Fuel Qualifying Night feature and locked straight into Saturday’s A main.
“I’m just pleased to have it done. That’s the type of race where one mistake can ruin your whole night. I’m happy that none of those happened and we were able to come out on top,” Bayston said with a grin.
On the other hand, second-place finisher Tanner Thorson wasn’t necessarily smiling at the end of the night, though his runner-up result secured a spot for his No. 88 midget in Saturday’s 55-lap feature.
“I’m pleased with it, doesn’t mean I’m happy with it,” Thorson said. “I wanted to free my car up, but I knew I needed to keep it tight, but I also needed it to be free. Same thing with when I ran second to (Christopher) Bell a couple years ago.
“I was just so pissed off at myself for not doing what I wanted to do, and screwing my chances at winning. That’s just the racer in me. A lot of people think it’s crazy, but we’re here to win.”
At the very least, Thorson is confident that he now knows what to change in order to be better for Saturday.
Chase Johnson completed the podium in his No. 31b midget, which was a bit of a bittersweet result after starting second.
“We definitely had a little luck on our side tonight. Last year’s Chili Bowl I felt like nothing went my way,” Johnson said. “Winning the heat race, then going six to second in the qualifier was big, because it put us on the front row of the A main. I would’ve loved to be first or second, but being on the podium at Chili Bowl is so cool.”
Alex Bowman Racing’s C.J. Leary made a charge from seventh to fourth, while Brady Bacon finished fifth.
Dirt late model regular Ricky Thornton Jr., who started third in the prelim, was an early challenger for the lead but made a few costly mistakes that pushed him back to seventh.
Kyle Larson endured a violent flip in the No. 98k Keith Kunz Motorsports midget that caused the two-time Chili Bowl champion to DNF — officially scoring 24th. He is not planning to return for Saturday’s alphabet soup.
Feature Results (30 Laps)
1. Spencer Bayston, 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Chase Johnson, 4. C.J. Leary, 5. Brady Bacon, 6. Tim Buckwalter, 7. Ricky Thornton Jr., 8. Karter Sarff, 9. Ryan Bernal, 10. Parker Jones, 11. Ashton Torgerson, 12. Matt Westfall, 13. Matt Sherrell, 14. Kyle Spence, 15. Gavan Boschele, 16. Caden Sarale, 17. Jeffrey Newell, 18. Lane Goodman, 19. Ethan Mitchell, 20. Landon Crawley, 21. Andrew Deal, 22. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 23. Kenney Johnson, 24. Kyle Larson