Larson Leads All 40 For Third Chili Bowl Nationals Title

Kyle Larson (center) won the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals for the third time Saturday night. (David Campbell/DPC Media photo)

TULSA, Okla. – They say sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, but Kyle Larson was both lucky and great during Saturday’s finale to the 39th Chili Bowl Midget Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink.

Larson led all 40 laps from the pole en route to his third Golden Driller in six years, holding off young Daison Pursley in a three-lap sprint to the finish at Tulsa Expo Raceway despite two moments of near-disaster that could have easily ripped the trophy from his grasp.

First was a lap-23 incident between Jacob Denney and Brenham Crouch at the back of the field, which happened right in front of Larson and led to him ramping over the front end of Crouch’s race car with his Paul Silva-prepared No. 1K.

Then came a wicked moment coming to three laps to go where Larson’s right-rear tire climbed the wall coming down the frontstretch, ripping the NOS Energy Drink sponsor banner off the barriers just before Pursley tried to charge forward and grab the lead around the outside.

Both situations brought out caution flags, but miraculously, Larson never stopped either time and was able to retain the lead over Pursley.

It was a showing of generational skill, combined with the ultimate fortune, that combined to make Larson the fourth driver in Chili Bowl history with three or more victories.

“That was really wild,” said Larson, who added Saturday’s triumph to prior Golden Drillers in 2020 and ’21 and tied Christopher Bell as a three-time event winner.

“It was a very difficult racetrack to run the line I was running, but with the risk that’s involved also comes a lot of reward if you can get it right,” explained the driver of the No. 1K FloRacing/HendrickCars.com Eagle Chassis. “I messed up on the (front) straightaway a couple of times, and I’m glad I kept going because the cautions honestly saved me and made it a bit easier run to the finish.

Kyle Larson celebrates with a burnout after winning the 39th Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. (Jacy Norgaard photo)

“If we’d stayed in traffic, I think Daison would have had a lot of opportunities to throw some shots at me. We got some lucky breaks, but we had a great race car also. This feels great after how tough Monday was.”

Larson topped the earlier pole shuffle to earn the top starting spot – which he’d never relinquish – and dominated a leaner feature that featured the kind of electric track conditions that official Brad Chandler and the rest of the Chili Bowl’s staff hoped to provide.

Trimmed by 15 laps compared to years past, the racetrack during the feature never locked down into a one-groove, rubbered-up surface, providing multiple lanes for cars to make moves and bringing the crowd to its feet more than once.

The only caution of the race other than Larson’s aforementioned scares came on lap nine, when Jonathan Beason jumped the cushion and got upside down in turn one, ending his night after he’d advanced into the big show from the second B-main.

After starting third, Pursley got past outside polesitter and early runner-up Landon Brooks on the 13th time around, quickly putting distance between himself and the Matt Wood Racing driver as he brought his CB Industries mount slowly closer to Larson’s rear bumper.

He got within a second at halfway, then watched as Larson jumped Crouch’s front end, but still lined up second for the next restart with 17 laps left despite that chaos ahead of him.

As the laps wound down, Larson’s advantage began to grow as Pursley got tighter and tighter running the outside lane, opening the door for Brooks to rally back and slide into second off turn four coming to nine to go.

Pursley countered five laps later, putting himself back in position when Larson climbed the cushion and the wall coming to complete lap 37, but the end result wouldn’t change despite Pursley’s final efforts.

Larson maintained enough of an advantage to hold on over the final three-lap sprint, leaving the Locust Grove, Okla., native to settle for a bittersweet, career-best Chili Bowl runner-up.

“There are so many ‘what ifs’ that I could point to, but I think it goes back to the qualifying thing [running out of fuel during the pole shuffle]. Anytime you give Larson the front row, it’s going to be hard to catch him because he’s just so good at controlling the race,” said Pursley. “It was going to be hard once he got out to the lead and built that rhythm, but that was a grueling 40 laps.

“We have nothing to hang our heads about, though. We’ll try again next year.”

Shane Golobic climbed from eighth to third by the end of the feature, leading a trio of Matt Wood-owned entries inside the top five. Ryan Bernal ended up fourth and Brooks finished in fifth.

Buddy Kofoid was the highest finishing of the B-main transfers, moving from 14th to sixth, with two-time defending Chili Bowl winner Logan Seavey never playing a major role in a lackluster seventh-place run.

Gavin Miller, Emerson Axsom, and Bell closed the top 10. Bell’s run came after he won the second 20-lap B-main held prior to the grand finale.

In addition to the championship feature, 30 other lower mains were held during NOS Energy Drink Driller Day inside the SageNet Center. Information on those races will follow shortly.

The 40th Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink is slated for Jan. 12-17, 2026.

Race Face Digital’s Chili Bowl coverage is supported by DPC Media, home of longtime motorsports and automotive photographer David Campbell. To purchase DPC apparel or order photos from Chili Bowl 2025, visit www.seemymind.com for more information.

RESULTS: 39th Chili Bowl Midget Nationals; Tulsa (Okla.) Expo Raceway; Jan. 18, 2025

A 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. 97K-Kale Drake [13]; 23. 88-Tanner Thorson [5]; 24. 8J-Jonathan Beason [20].

Lap Leader(s): Kyle Larson 1-40.

Hard Charger: 29-Tim Buckwalter (+9)