TULSA, Okla. — Kyle Larson held off a late charge from USAC midget champion Daison Pursley to win Saturday’s 39th running of the Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink at Tulsa Expo Raceway.
Larson led all 40 laps from the pole to win the prestigious event for the third time and pocket the $20,000 top prize. Larson previously conquered the indoor quarter-mile track in 2020 and 2021.
“It was just a very difficult race track to run the line that I was running,” said the driver of the Silva Motorsports No. 1k. “It comes with a lot of reward with the risk that you’re taking. I messed up on the straightaway a couple times. I’m glad I kept going there, because that caution really, really saved me, and allowed it to be a little bit easier run to the finish. I think if we stayed in traffic, Daison would have had a lot of opportunities to throw stuff at me.”
Larson led every lap, but still survived a close call when Justin Grant and Brenham Crouch tangled in front of him.
“When Grant ran over Crouch, I had nowhere to go. I ran over him and stalled,” Larson explained. “When I landed, I’m like, ‘Please refire,’ and it did, so we got a couple lucky breaks there.”
Pursley finished second in a Chad Boat Industries entry.
“I tried to pace Kyle for 40 laps. It was a very technical track where you’d make room in one corner, then give it back the next,” Pursley said. “It’s unfortunate. I have a lot of mixed emotions right now. I really wanted to win this one, but there’s nothing to hang your head out when you’re racing against the likes of Kyle Larson. I’ve been coming here since I was little, so this really means a lot to me.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to run in a lot of great cars here and again tonight in our CB Industries Toyota. I thought we might have had the chance when the yellow came out due to the banner, but there’s so many woulda, coulda, shoulda’s that happen in this building, that’s what makes it so tough to win here.”
The Matt Wood Racing entries of Shane Golobic, who started eighth, Ryan Bernal (ninth) and Landon Brooks completed the top five finishers.
Logan Seavey, who had won two consecutive Chili Bowls, started fourth and came home seventh.
Christopher Bell finished 10th in his return to the Chili Bowl.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 1K-Kyle Larson[1]; 2. 86-Daison Pursley[3]; 3. 17W-Shane Golobic[8]; 4. 87W-Ryan Bernal[9]; 5. 57W-Landon Brooks[2]; 6. 71-Michael Kofoid[14]; 7. 39-Logan Seavey[4]; 8. 97-Gavin Miller[7]; 9. 68K-Emerson Axsom[6]; 10. 71W-Christopher Bell[12]; 11. 41-Corey Day[15]; 12. 29S-Hank Davis[16]; 13. 29-Tim Buckwalter[22]; 14. 71K-Cannon McIntosh[21]; 15. 23C-Tyler Courtney[17]; 16. 81F-Frank Flud[23]; 17. 67W-Jacob Denney[18]; 18. 87-Justin Grant[19]; 19. 1C-Brenham Crouch[10]; 20. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg[11]; 21. 56E-Tyler Edwards[24]; 22. (DNF) 97K-Kale Drake[13]; 23. (DNF) 88-Tanner Thorson[5]; 24. (DNF) 8J-Jonathan Beason[20]
