Auto Racing Digest

Kyle Larson wrecks, will not advance to Saturday's A-Main in Chili Bowl Nationals

Larson needed to finish first or second in Thursday's A-Feature. Unfortunately, he finished last (24th/DNF).

Jerry Bonkowski

Kyle Larson wrecks, will not advance to Saturday's A-Main in Chili Bowl Nationals
Kyle Larson wrecks, will not advance to Saturday's A-Main in Chili Bowl Nationals /

Kyle Larson's race car and his hopes to win the Chili Bowl Nationals after becoming a late entry on Tuesday, both fell far short during Thursday night's A-Main qualifying feature at the Tulsa Expo Center.

After threading through the field from 20th to 11th, Larson appeared to lose control of the Keith Kunz Motorsports Toyota-powered 98K (his second crash of the night), bounced off the wall, made slight contact with another car and tumbled end-over-end several times before landing upright.

Unfortunately for the 2021 NASCAR Cup champ and back-to-back Chili Bowl winner (2020 and 2021), damage was severe enough that as soon as the car was pushed off the track, team crew members immediately signaled the front suspension was bent so severely that it was unable to be repaired.

Here's video of Larson's race-ending wreck with six laps to go:

Both the car and Larson's bid for a third Chili Bowl crown were unable to continue, meaning he did not qualify for Saturday's A-Main feature to anoint the winner of the event's Golden Driller Trophy and the $20,000 first prize.

As a result, Larson -- who finished last in the 24-car field and was scored with a DNF -- won't have to rush back from the finals of the Wild West Shootout in New Mexico on Saturday, where he has been racing all week and was hoping to pull off a double win along with the Chili Bowl title.

It was Larson's second wreck of the evening. Here's video of the first mishap, which occurred with four laps to go in Heat 4:

Here's Larson's overall scorecard for the evening: he finished fourth in the eight-lap Heat 4, won the 12-lap C-Feature, was second in the 15-lap B-Feature and then was scored with a DNF in the 20-lap A-Feature. Only the top two finishers in the A-Feature qualified to advance to Saturday's A-Main championship event.

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Jerry Bonkowski
JERRY BONKOWSKI

@JerryBonkowski is an award-winning writer/columnist/editor who has specialized primarily in motorsports -- most notably coverage of NASCAR, IndyCar and NHRA -- for much of his 30-plus-year career. He has worked full-time for many of the largest media brands including USA Today, ESPN, Yahoo and NBC. He started AutoRacingDigest.com in partnership with Sports Illustrated in 2022 and serves as the site's editor and publisher. He also is a regular contributor to Autoweek.com and NASCAR.com. Follow Jerry on Twitter @JerryBonkowski

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