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Kyle Larson Wins Thrilling Monday Chili Bowl Feature

Talk about starting off with a bang.

The grand opening to the 39th annual Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Ok., Monday night’s (Jan. 13) prelim feature was a thriller from start to finish, kicking off the annual dirt midget showcase with another classic battle.

After an action-packed evening, the nightcap came down to a fight between Kyle Larson, Shane Golobic and Cannon McIntosh. Larson came out on top, using series of sliders on the final restart and a bold defensive move to put his No. 1k out front as the checkered flag flew.

The two-time Chili Bowl champion was thrilled afterward.

“I was pumped because – (and) don’t take this the wrong way – but I feel like I carried the car,” Larson told Frontstretch. “And anytime you carry the car, you win a race you don’t feel like you should, and really drive your ass off to do it pumps me up, so I was pumped up after the feature.”

The win for Larson ties him with Rico Abreu and Christopher Bell for the most prelim night wins in Chili Bowl history with eight. Both Larson and Golobic, who finished second, are locked into Saturday night’s Chili Bowl A-main.

Golobic started the 30-lapper from the pole with Tanner Carrick alongside, while Larson and McIntosh started back in fourth and seventh, respectively. McIntosh was on the move early, quickly jumping in to the top four. But Larson was on a backslide, nearly dropping down to seventh in the opening laps.

Briggs Danner made a bold move for the lead on lap 7 that ended in a barrel roll in turn 4, bringing out the yellow and stacking the field back up once again. McIntosh slid Golobic for the lead on the ensuing restart and seemed to have the car to beat at the time, pacing the field while Larson rebounded behind him.

McIntosh led until seven to go, when Golobic threw a slider of his own in turn 3 as Larson closed in behind. Another yellow stacked the field back up with five laps remaining and led to a slider fest in the final laps, with three drivers at the front going for the only two locked-in spots for Saturday.

After a thrilling battle with McIntosh for second, one final yellow set up a two-lap shootout between Larson and Golobic for the win. One small mistake on the entry of turn 3 by Golobic allowed Larson to pull the slider, and it was all defense from there for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion.

In his proper return to the Chili Bowl, Larson left Monday a winner, while Golobic once again had to settle for second, something that has become a trend for the Californian. Disappointment aside, Golobic is locked in to battle for the big prize and has his sights on the end of the week.

“The goal is to win Saturday, so we put ourselves in a really good spot,” Golobic said. “Wanted to win, didn’t get ‘er done, again. Add to the total lock-in number without a win stat, that’s kind of an embarrassing stat. … (I’ll) think big picture again like we always seem to do but yeah, I’m happy.”

“You can forget about all the prelim nights if you can get a Saturday driller,” Golobic later added. “I’m gonna be mad about this all week probably but come Saturday that driller is kind of what we’re going for.”

McIntosh found himself on the bottom step of the podium at race’s end, on the outside looking in for a Saturday transfer spot. He’ll start his Chili Bowl Saturday from the pole of a B-main, after starting beginning day upside down in his heat race on Monday afternoon.

“Not necessarily, but it is a good rebound,” McIntosh said when asked if he was satisfied. “I think your expectations change a little bit when you lead a race. Once you start leading laps, nothing less than a win (is acceptable), it’s disappointing if you don’t win a race.”

Behind McIntosh was arguably the story of the night. Brent Crews was the hard charger of the feature, going 13th-to-fourth in 30 laps. But the climb went deeper than that – Crews actually started the night in the C-main, methodically working his way into a realistic shot at making Saturday’s feature.

“I definitely feel good,” Crews said of the run. “Part of my greediness wishes there were 10 more laps of the feature for as good of a car as we had, but I’m just grateful to be here and just try to make good decisions on Saturday and work our way through the B-main the best we can.”

Crews went third to first in the C-main, rose from 17th to claim the B-main and rallied from 17th again to take fourth in the A. It was a stellar performance from the 16-year old that gives him an early place in Chili Bowl lore.

Monday Night Chili Bowl Results

  1. Kyle Larson
  2. Shane Golobic
  3. Cannon McIntosh
  4. Brent Crews
  5. Ashton Torgerson
  6. Jerry Coons Jr.
  7. Joe B. Miller
  8. Justin Peck
  9. Trey Marcham
  10. Dillon Welch
  11. Tanner Carrick
  12. Alex Sewell
  13. Roger Crockett
  14. Cap Henry
  15. Reese Nowotarski
  16. Michelle Decker
  17. Trevor Cline
  18. Mario Clouser
  19. Carson Bolden
  20. Kyler Johnson (DNF)
  21. Gary Taylor (DNF)
  22. Zach Wigal (DNF)
  23. Luke Storer (DNF)
  24. Briggs Danner (DNF)

Chili Bowl action starts up once again on Tuesday, Jan. 14, with hot laps at 4:00 p.m. CT, 5:00 p.m. ET. All the action can be found live on FloRacing.

Chase_folsom_ROVAL_2022

Chase began working with Frontstretch in the spring of 2023 as a news writer, while also helping fill in for other columns as needed. Chase is now the main writer and reporter for Frontstretch.com's CARS Tour coverage, a role which began late in 2023.  Aside from racing, some of Chase's other hobbies include time in the outdoors hunting and fishing, and keeping up with all things Philadelphia sports related.