TULSA, Okla. — A nail-biter of a race, the annual tradition of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Race of Champions brought the Chili Bowl crowd to its feet on Monday night at the SageNet Center.
Spencer Bayston added his name to the list of winners in the event’s 15th edition.
Battling early with Rico Abreu, the pair went slide for slide for several laps, with ABreu holding off the No. 1s until lap 12. Getting space over the field, the closing laps would welcome a new challenger. Charging the hub of the Tulsa Expo Raceway, Cannon McIntosh closed the gap to car lengths as the pair raced to the final three laps.
Just needing a chance to pounce, the final trip to the backstretch saw Bayston waiting on the car off the cushion of the second turn.
Giving McIntosh a run into the final two turns, it would not be enough as McIntosh slid off the bottom enough to let Bayston win the drag race to the line.
Abreu crossed third with Logan Seavey, who raced as high as third on lap 10, fourth. Tanner Thorson was fifth.
The finish:
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 1S-Spencer Bayston[5]; 2. 08-Cannon McIntosh[6]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu[1]; 4. 39-Logan Seavey[7]; 5. 88-Tanner Thorson[4]; 6. 5-Chase Briscoe[9]; 7. 71W-Michael Kofoid[8]; 8. 52-Blake Hahn[10]; 9. 2J-Justin Grant[2]; 10. 4P-Kody Swanson[14]; 11. 4X-Michael Pickens[3]; 12. 55X-Alex Bowman[12]; 13. 39T-Tim McCreadie[18]; 14. 98-Tanner Carrick[11]; 15. 47-Zach Daum[19]; 16. 97-Brenham Crouch[15]; 17. 7M-Shane Cockrum[16]; 18. 1-Sammy Swindell[17]; 19. (DNF) 71G-Damion Gardner[13]