Axsom Delivers For KKM On Chili Bowl Wednesday

TULSA, Okla. – After four years of trying, Indiana’s Emerson Axsom finally found his way to victory lane at Tulsa Expo Raceway during the Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink Wednesday night.

Driving for Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports, Axsom started on the outside pole and used a turn-one slide job on lap four of the York Plumbing Qualifying Night feature to wrest the top spot away from polesitter Daison Pursley.

From there, Axsom led the balance of the 30-lapper and fended off a last-lap charge from Pursley for his first prelim night win at the Chili Bowl in five attempts.

Wednesday’s effort made Axsom the 55th different driver to win a Chili Bowl prelim night and second in a row, following on from Landon Brooks’ surprise Tuesday score one night earlier.

It was also car owner Keith Kunz’s 37th overall victory at Tulsa Expo Raceway in Chili Bowl competition.

“Man, this feels good,” Axsom said after the race. “I’ve been trying here for a long time. I knew our stuff was good enough, if I did my job, to where we should be able to run in the top five. But we played our cards right and stayed out front once we got there.”

After enjoying past success in micro sprint action during the Tulsa Shootout, Axsom was relieved to finally add to his résumé inside the SageNet Center with a victory during Chili Bowl week.

“The KKM team gave me a really good car tonight,” Axsom added. “I came in with an open mind and put the micros out of my mind, and it feels awesome to get the monkey off my back with a win tonight.”

The feature took two tries at a double-file start to get going, with a skirmish between K.J. Snow and Steven Snyder Jr. drawing a caution on the initial green flag, and that was a good thing for Axsom after he stumbled a bit on the first go-round and fell back a spot to third.

But on the restart, Axsom hung right with Pursley in second before making his bid for the lead – and what turned out to be the pass for the win – minutes later.

It took 13 laps for another caution to develop, with Sammy Swindell and Chelby Hinton ending up in the wall in turn three, and that was followed by an upside-down Taylor Reimer right at the halfway point.

The second half ran uninterrupted, however, and though Pursley tried to get back past Axsom he was hampered by a CB Industries mount that was tight off the turn-two cushion.

He still finished second though, after leading the first three laps, locking into his third straight Saturday feature at the Super Bowl of Midget Racing.

“I felt like I was making good speed on the bottom, but once Emerson got to the lead, it was a cat-and-mouse game,” noted Pursley. “Just need to do a little better job on my part on Saturday and pass a few cars and we’ll have a shot. Track position is so huge here with how good everyone is in the top three or four rows.

“It’s a good feeling to be locked into the A-main, but we still have a job to do on Saturday.”

Defending Wednesday winner Corey Day charged from eighth to third in the nightcap, but fell one spot short of guaranteeing himself into the finale and will start near the front of a B-main Saturday night.

Pennsylvania’s Tim Buckwalter and Axsom’s KKM teammate, reigning Chili Bowl rookie-of-the-year Kale Drake, closed the top five ahead of Blake Hahn, Mitchel Moles, Jett Yantis, Kyle Cummins, and Jake Swanson.

Hahn was the feature’s biggest mover, coming out of a B-main and advancing from 19th to sixth in the A.

Day, Drake, Brandon Waelti, Buckwalter, Pursley, Kody Swanson, Colby Copeland, and Moles won heat races to begin the program, while Jake Swanson, Snow, Steven Snyder Jr., and Axsom topped the four A-Qualifiers.

Preston Lattomus and Logan Mitchell won their C-mains. Rylan Gray and Hinton were the B-main victors.

Seventy-three drivers drew in for competition Wednesday, bringing the event total to 213 through three preliminary nights. The flip count swelled to 32, but all drivers walked away from their incidents.

Action from the Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink continues Thursday night with Hasty-Bake Qualifying Night from Tulsa Expo Raceway.

Broadcast coverage begins at 4 p.m. CT, with every lap of Chili Bowl week available through FloRacing.

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 Nationals; York Plumbing Qualifying Night; Tulsa (Okla.) Expo Raceway; Jan. 15, 2024

OERB Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. 41-Corey Day [2]; 2. 83-Will Armitage [5]; 3. 25K-Taylor Reimer [6]; 4. 91X-Danny Wood [7]; 5. 23T-Tristan Lee [1]; 6. 35-Tyler Robbins [3]; 7. 14G-Gordy Gundaker [4]; 8. 111-Keith Zimmerman [8]; 9. 715-Robert Bell (DNS); 10. 70-Cade Cowles (DNS).

OERB Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. 97K-Kale Drake [2]; 2. 3G-Kyle Cummins [6]; 3. 55A-Jake Swanson [5]; 4. 22X-Steven Shebester [4]; 5. 75A-Todd Hobson [8]; 6. 84Y-Alex Yankowski [9]; 7. 17D-Gunnar Pike [7]; 8. 80A-Steve Miller [1]; 9. 57F-Blake Green [3].

OERB Heat #3 (8 laps): 1. 3W-Brandon Waelti [3]; 2. 1-Sammy Swindell [6]; 3. 68K-Emerson Axsom [7]; 4. 7B-Garrett Benson [4]; 5. 7AU-Harry Stewart [5]; 6. 14L-Luke Drotschie [1]; 7. 75X-Leroy Boone [8]; 8. 32J-Jason Tessier [9]; 9. 22J-Zach Hampton [2].

OERB Heat #4 (8 laps): 1. 29-Tim Buckwalter [4]; 2. 3U-Rylan Gray [5]; 3. 77-Joe Wirth [1]; 4. 44B-Branigan Roark [7]; 5. 3J-J.J. Yeley [6]; 6. 60-Landon Britt [9]; 7. 11-Lane Goodman [2]; 8. 4H-Steve Padgett [3]; 9. 3N-Jake Neuman [8].

OERB Heat #5 (8 laps): 1. 86-Daison Pursley [6]; 2. 8K-K.J. Snow [4]; 3. 81C-Colten Cottle [2]; 4. 32C-Alex Bright [3]; 5. 96X-Logan Mitchell [1]; 6. 7J-Shawn Jackson [5]; 7. 26P-Preston Lattomus [7]; 8. 2F-Casey Friedrichsen [8]; 9. 21R-Myles Tomlinson [9].

OERB Heat #6 (8 laps): 1. 4P-Kody Swanson [3]; 2. 40X-Steven Snyder Jr. [4]; 3. 40-Max Adams [8]; 4. 2B-Tanner Berryhill [9]; 5. 22A-Lonnie Oliver [5]; 6. 21C-Colby Stubblefield [7]; 7. 42-Matt Carr [1]; 8. 60M-Earl McDoulett Jr. [6]; 9. 14T-Connor Speir [2].

OERB Heat #7 (8 laps): 1. 27W-Colby Copeland [2]; 2. 4Y-Jett Yantis [7]; 3. 37-Ayden Gatewood [1]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn [9]; 5. 25B-Steve Buckwalter [6]; 6. 57H-Autumn Criste [3]; 7. 5Z-Oliver Billingsley [8]; 8. 5M-Donnie Steward [4]; 9. 77K-Kevin Cook [5].

OERB Heat #8 (8 laps): 1. 19T-Mitchel Moles [4]; 2. 4D-Dustin Smith [2]; 3. 4B-Chelby Hinton [3]; 4. 16C-David Camfield Jr. [7]; 5. 10J-Gage Rucker [1]; 6. 46X-Joe Kata [6]; 7. 20C-C.J. Sarna [5]; 8. 77B-Bret Klabunde [9]; 9. 251-Johnny Brown Jr. [8].

C Feature #1 (12 laps, top four transfer): 1. 26P-Preston Lattomus [6]; 2. 7J-Shawn Jackson [3]; 3. 10J-Gage Rucker [2]; 4. 11-Lane Goodman [10] / 5. 20C-C.J. Sarna [8]; 6. 23T-Tristan Lee [1]; 7. 57H-Autumn Criste [5]; 8. 111-Keith Zimmerman [9]; 9. 80A-Steve Miller [14]; 10. 32J-Jason Tessier [7]; 11. 5Z-Oliver Billingsley [4]; 12. 60M-Earl McDoulett Jr. [11]; 13. 14T-Connor Speir [16]; 14. 21R-Myles Tomlinson [12]; 15. 715-Robert Bell [15]; 16. 3N-Jake Neuman [13]; 17. 57F-Blake Green (DNS).

C Feature #2 (12 laps, top four transfer): 1. 96X-Logan Mitchell [1]; 2. 14L-Luke Drotschie [6]; 3. 46X-Joe Kata [2]; 4. 2F-Casey Friedrichsen [9] / 5. 35-Tyler Robbins [4]; 6. 42-Matt Carr [10]; 7. 251-Johnny Brown Jr. [11]; 8. 22J-Zach Hampton [13]; 9. 17D-Gunnar Pike [5]; 10. 77B-Bret Klabunde [7]; 11. 77K-Kevin Cook [14]; 12. 75X-Leroy Boone [3]; 13. 14G-Gordy Gundaker [8]; 14. 4H-Steve Padgett [12]; 15. 5M-Donnie Steward (DNS); 16. 70-Cade Cowles (DNS).

TRD Qualifier #1 (10 laps): 1. 55A-Jake Swanson [1]; 2. 41-Corey Day [3]; 3. 86-Daison Pursley [6]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn [2]; 5. 3G-Kyle Cummins [5]; 6. 25B-Steve Buckwalter [10]; 7. 4P-Kody Swanson [4]; 8. 22X-Steven Shebester [9]; 9. 77-Joe Wirth [8]; 10. 4D-Dustin Smith [7].

TRD Qualifier #2 (10 laps): 1. 8K-K.J. Snow [2]; 2. 97K-Kale Drake [3]; 3. 91X-Danny Wood [1]; 4. 4Y-Jett Yantis [6]; 5. 1-Sammy Swindell [5]; 6. 7AU-Harry Stewart [10]; 7. 83-Will Armitage [4]; 8. 7B-Garrett Benson [9]; 9. 37-Ayden Gatewood [8]; 10. 75A-Todd Hobson [7].

TRD Qualifier #3 (10 laps): 1. 40X-Steven Snyder Jr. [2]; 2. 27W-Colby Copeland [3]; 3. 29-Tim Buckwalter [6]; 4. 32C-Alex Bright [9]; 5. 4B-Chelby Hinton [7]; 6. 3U-Rylan Gray [4]; 7. 40-Max Adams [5]; 8. 84Y-Alex Yankowski [8]; 9. 44B-Branigan Roark [1]; 10. 22A-Lonnie Oliver [10].

TRD Qualifier #4 (10 laps): 1. 68K-Emerson Axsom [4]; 2. 25K-Taylor Reimer [2]; 3. 19T-Mitchel Moles [6]; 4. 3J-J.J. Yeley [9]; 5. 16C-David Camfield Jr. [1]; 6. 81C-Colten Cottle [7]; 7. 3W-Brandon Waelti [5]; 8. 2B-Tanner Berryhill [3]; 9. 60-Landon Britt [8]; 10. 21C-Colby Stubblefield [10].

Ferguson Enterprises B Feature #1 (15 laps, top four transfer): 1. 3U-Rylan Gray [2]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn [1]; 3. 4P-Kody Swanson [4]; 4. 7AU-Harry Stewart [6] / 5. 2B-Tanner Berryhill [7]; 6. 83-Will Armitage [5]; 7. 7B-Garrett Benson [8]; 8. 40-Max Adams [3]; 9. 4D-Dustin Smith [10]; 10. 11-Lane Goodman [16]; 11. 44B-Branigan Roark [9]; 12. 60-Landon Britt [11]; 13. 10J-Gage Rucker [15]; 14. 7J-Shawn Jackson [14]; 15. 22A-Lonnie Oliver [12]; 16. 26P-Preston Lattomus [13].

Ferguson Enterprises B Feature #2 (15 laps): 1. 4B-Chelby Hinton [2]; 2. 91X-Danny Wood [1]; 3. 16C-David Camfield Jr. [5]; 4. 22X-Steven Shebester [7]; 5. 3W-Brandon Waelti [3]; 6. 77-Joe Wirth [9]; 7. 25B-Steve Buckwalter [4]; 8. 96X-Logan Mitchell [11]; 9. 21C-Colby Stubblefield [10]; 10. 37-Ayden Gatewood [8]; 11. 46X-Joe Kata [13]; 12. 84Y-Alex Yankowski [6]; 13. 14L-Luke Drotschie [12]; 14. 2F-Casey Friedrichsen [14]; 15. 75A-Todd Hobson (DNS); 16. 81C-Colten Cottle (DNS).

A Feature (30 laps): 1. 68K-Emerson Axsom [2]; 2. 86-Daison Pursley [1]; 3. 41-Corey Day [8]; 4. 29-Tim Buckwalter [3]; 5. 97K-Kale Drake [9]; 6. 52-Blake Hahn [19]; 7. 19T-Mitchel Moles [4]; 8. 4Y-Jett Yantis [7]; 9. 3G-Kyle Cummins [13]; 10. 55A-Jake Swanson [11]; 11. 40X-Steven Snyder Jr. [6]; 12. 3J-JJ Yeley [16]; 13. 27W-Colby Copeland [10]; 14. 3U-Rylan Gray [17]; 15. 7AU-Harry Stewart [21]; 16. 32C-Alex Bright [15]; 17. 1-Sammy Swindell [14]; 18. 91X-Danny Wood [20]; 19. 16C-David Camfield Jr. [22]; 20. 22X-Steven Shebester [23]; 21. 25K-Taylor Reimer [12]; 22. 4B-Chelby Hinton [18]; 23. 8K-K.J. Snow [5]; 24. 4P-Kody Swanson (DNS).

Lap Leader(s): Daison Pursley 1-3, Emerson Axsom 4-30.

Hard Charger: 52-Blake Hahn (+13)