Kyle Larson Steals Monday Night Prelim Feature at 2025 Chili Bowl Nationals
After the on-track activity displayed Monday at the 2025 Chili Bowl Nationals, the evening could be referred to as NASCAR night!
Christopher Bell, driver for Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, managed to capture the victory in the evening’s first major event, the O’Reilly Invitational Race of Champions, leading every single lap en-route to his third win in the event.
However, when it came time to start the official proceedings at the Tulsa Expo Center with the first night of Preliminary Action, it was all Kyle Larson, one of Bell’s biggest rivals both in the NASCAR Cup Series and in the world of dirt racing.
Piloting the No. 1K FloRacing-sponsored entry, Larson didn’t appear to have the quickest vehicle in the A-Main, but was able to lay back and watch as others at the front of the field made mistakes, allowing the NASCAR Cup Series champion to methodically work his way into contention for the victory against Cannon MacIntosh and Shane Golobic.
“It wasn’t pretty,” said Larson. “It wasn’t a pretty 30 laps, just things didn’t work out early, and kind of had to methodically work my way back forward, and just was able to make it happen really. I didn’t feel that good, we still have a lot of work to do to compete on Saturday but I’m confident Paul [Silva] will figure it out like he always does.”
As Larson closed in on the top two, a late-race caution set up a restart for Larson, who quickly maneuvered his way around MacIntosh and fought for the win against Golobic, making a dive in the final laps to take the victory.
Unfortunately for Golobic, who continues to look for his first victory in Preliminary Action, he came up short, finishing second for the fifth time in his career But, the good news is that he’s locked into the A-Main for Saturday’s main event.
“I wanted to be kind of smart there on the last restart, although it probably didn’t look like it,” Larson quipped. “You know, you don’t want to give up a locked-in spot, but you also want to win, because you can’t win a Chili Bowl from third row on back.”
Cannon MacIntosh, the winningest driver in Monday Night Prelim history, finished in third place, just missing out on a guaranteed spot in Saturday’s 40-lap feature.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series part-time Brent Crews made an incredible rally on Monday, advancing from the C-Main to the B-Main and into the A-Main, before driving from the back to finish in fourth.
Ashton Torgerson rounded out the top five. Jerry Coons, Jr. finished in sixth place, with Joe B Miller in seventh, Justin Peck in eighth, Trey Marcham in ninth, and Dillon Welch completing the top-10.
Action from the Tulsa Expo Center will continue throughout the week, with the 2025 Chili Bowl Nationals taking place on Saturday, January 18.