TULSA, Okla. — Ryan Bernal became the third Matt Wood Racing driver to lock into Saturday night’s Chili Bowl main event when he finished second on Thursday at Tulsa Expo Raceway.
Bernal got a break when two cars in front of him tangled late in the race, setting up a two-lap shootout to the checkered flag, which placed him third behind leaders Tanner Thorson and Christopher Bell.
“Honestly, a little bit of luck. There those two in front of me tangling, kind of put me in position,” Bernal said. “Green-white-checkered anything can happen. We saw that with Shane’s (Golobic) race. I wanted to be on the other side of that. I got to the bottom and I stuck it and I thought, ‘Oh, man, I have a shot.’ Then, of course, I went down into three and miss the bottom and give it back to Tanner. If I stick the bottom there, I think we win.”
Bernal joins teammates Landon Brooks, who won his preliminary feature, and Shane Golobic, who finished second on his qualifying night, in Saturday’s $20,000-to-win feature.
“We come here to race on Saturday, so a lock in is extremely good and I am extremely proud of this team,” Bernal said. “You get to race with Chris. These guys are making history. Christopher Bell and Tanner Thorson are as good as it gets in this building, so I am just happy to be here.”
He’s also proud of the entire Matt Wood Racing organization.
“Matt Wood and NOS Energy Drink give us this opportunity to come out here,” Bernal said. “A couple of California winged drivers that have locked in the last couple of days. I can’t say enough how excited I am to be here. I worked really hard on myself to put myself in position to be here.”
It’s a team effort.
“We are all here as a group at 8:30 in the morning,” Bernal noted. “Landon after he wins, he’s down in the lobby waiting for us. He works on the car. We have a good time, and the results are showing that.”
