Larson Among Stars Set For Chili Bowl Race Of Champions

Kyle Larson in action at Tulsa (Okla.) Expo Raceway. (Dave Campbell/DPC Media photo)

TULSA, Okla. – It’s been eight years since Kyle Larson topped the O’Reilly Auto Parts Race of Champions field at the Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink, and that’s a statistic that the two-time Golden Driller winner hopes to erase Monday night inside the SageNet Center.

Larson is among the 19 drivers entered for the annual invitation-only exhibition race at the Super Bowl of Midget Racing, having previously topped the 20-lap sprint in 2014 and 2017.

On both of those occasions, however, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion was driving for the powerhouse Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports operation. Now, he’s hoping for a Race of Champions title for himself and his longtime sprint car owner Paul Silva.

Larson began driving for Silva in Chili Bowl competition in 2020, the year he finally picked up his long-awaited first Chili Bowl crown after years of racing with Keith Kunz in midget races across the United States.

He’s won the Chili Bowl twice for Silva, but the pairing has yet to triumph in the Race of Champions together.

“I always enjoy racing for Paul and, obviously, we’ve had a ton of success over the past 12 or 13 years that we’ve been together,” noted Larson following his practice rounds Sunday. “In the shorter stint that we’ve had in midgets, we’ve been really successful as well … the Race of Champions is just the one thing in this building that we haven’t won together just yet.

“I’d love to have a solid week here for both Sunshine (teammate Tyler Courtney) and myself and get back to being fast inside the Expo. Hopefully we can start off strong in our prelim and the Race of Champions Monday.”

Larson will do double duty Monday night, as his preliminary program is on opening day this year alongside the Race of Champions.

Monday’s Race of Champions field features titlists from numerous disciplines and series, each of whom earned their berth either by winning a touring championship, winning one of last year’s preliminary nights, finishing on the podium in one of the last five Chili Bowls, or by running top two in one of the last five Race of Champions features.

Among the notables in the field are five-time Chili Bowl champion Sammy Swindell, Larson, two-time defending Chili Bowl winner Logan Seavey, three-time Chili Bowl winner Christopher Bell, and 2022 Chili Bowl winner Tanner Thorson.

Series champions from 2024 invited include High Limit Racing titlist Brad Sweet, USAC Silver Crown Series champion Kody Swanson, Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion Ricky Thornton Jr., High Limit Midweek Money Series king Courtney, POWRi national midget and Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series champion Cannon McIntosh, and USAC National Midget Series champion Daison Pursley.

Additional entries not fitting the listed criteria, including Swindell, were selected at the discretion of Chili Bowl officials.

The format for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Race of Champions features group qualifying, an inversion draw of 0, 4, 6, or 8 to finalize the feature lineup, and a 20-lap feature around the Tulsa Expo Raceway.

Seavey is the defending Race of Champions winner, while Swindell has won the event a record four times (2009, ’11, ’12, ’15).

2025 O’Reilly Auto Parts Race of Champions Entry List

Car No. – Driver – Hometown (Car Owner)

1 – Sammy Swindell – Germantown, Tenn. (Swindell Motorsports/Bertrand)
1K – Kyle Larson – Elk Grove, Calif. (Paul Silva)
1S – Spencer Bayston – Lebanon, Ind. (RMS Racing)
3T – Brad Sweet – Grass Valley, Calif. (RMS Racing)
4P – Kody Swanson – Kingsburg, Calif. (Dan Binks)
19R – Ricky Thornton Jr. – Chandler, Ariz. (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
21H – Brady Bacon – Broken Arrow, Okla. (Kelly Hinck)
23C – Tyler Courtney – Indianapolis, Ind. (Paul Silva)
39 – Logan Seavey – Sutter, Calif. (Kevin & Jordan Swindell/Curb/Bertrand)
41 – Corey Day – Clovis, Calif. (Willie Kahne)
57 – Kaylee Bryson – Muskogee, Okla. (Abacus Racing)
67 – Ryan Timms – Oklahoma City, Okla. (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71 – Buddy Kofoid – Penngrove, Calif. (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71K – Cannon McIntosh – Bixby, Okla. (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71W – Christopher Bell – Norman, Okla. (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
86 – Daison Pursley – Locust Grove, Okla. (CB Industries)
87 – Justin Grant – Ione, Calif. (CB Industries)
88 – Tanner Thorson – Minden, Nev. (Tanner Thorson)
98 – Tanner Carrick – Lincoln, Calif. (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)

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