It’s Landon Brooks On Upset Tuesday At The Chili Bowl

TULSA, Okla. – Capping a program filled with surprises Tuesday night inside the SageNet Center, Landon Brooks made a thrilling last-lap pass of Brenham Crouch to win on Warren CAT Qualifying Night at the 39th Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink.

Brooks drove forward from seventh in the No. 57W Spike Chassis for Matt Wood Racing, but it was a thrilling fourth-to-second move on the final restart of the 30-lap preliminary feature that put the 21-year-old California native in position to pounce.

With 10 laps left when the green flag waved for the final time, Brooks found the high lane around Tulsa Expo Raceway and ripped past both Corbin Rueschenberg and Gunnar Setser off turn four to take two positions for the price of one.

Brooks then set his sights on race-long leader Crouch, who started from the pole after ending qualifiers as the high-point earner and was looking to go wire-to-wire around the fifth-mile dirt oval.

After a slider attempt in turn one didn’t pan out with four to go, Brooks reloaded the next time around and completed the move on lap 28, taking the lead at the start-finish line as the crowd roared.

Crouch wasn’t done, though, using a near-identical move to resume command coming to the white flag after Brooks stumbled atop the turn-four cushion and lost momentum.

But Brooks re-gathered his race car and pitched one more slider to the bottom of turn one on the final lap, slicing across the nose of Crouch’s No. 1C off the second corner and driving away to victory.

Brooks took the checkered flag in front by a half-second to become the 54th driver in Chili Bowl history to win a preliminary night main. It also marked car owner Matt Wood’s first Tulsa Expo Raceway victory.

In victory lane, the usually stoic Brooks was rife with emotion as he celebrated arguably the biggest win of his career to date.

“This is unbelievable!” Brooks exclaimed before being engulfed in a hug by fellow Golden State native Shane Golobic, who finished second in Monday’s preliminary feature and was turning wrenches on Brooks’ car all day Tuesday.

Though Brooks improved a position on the initial start, he actually lost a decent amount of ground to the leaders early on, forcing him to play catch-up until a swath of caution flags through the middle stages bunched the field back up and got him back into contention.

“My (crew) guys told me before the feature started just to be patient and make some solid laps on the bottom, and I tried to do that, but I think I actually stayed down there just a little too long,” Brooks admitted. “I knew the track would come in, but I felt like I was kind of giving (our chances) away. I had a great race car, though, that could roll the bottom and pick cars off one at a time.”

When those ahead of him migrated down to the low line late in the going, Brooks just went where they weren’t, moving to the outside and screaming past with a full head of steam.

“After they all sorted to the bottom, I just decided to comb the top and it got me all the way to second,” he noted. “(Crouch) made a couple of mistakes when I got to him and I was able to capitalize, but it was a battle there in the final laps.”

In a battle among drivers both trying to lock into the Chili Bowl’s championship feature for the first time, Brooks ultimately prevailed and gave Wood his second car in as many tries this week guaranteed to race for a Golden Driller Saturday night.

“It’s absolutely crazy,” said Brooks of being part of the Saturday field. “This whole team, I have to give it up to them. They don’t race midgets but one time a year – this race – but we come here to be competitive. Shane locked in on Monday, and I know how bad he wants to get (a win) after running second so many times … and now to do what we did in this one, I can’t believe it.

“I’ll remember this moment forever.”

Crouch’s runner-up finish was enough to lock him in for Saturday’s finale and give him a berth in the pole shuffle, but after leading 28 of the 30 laps, the Texan was still left wondering what could have been.

“I really was trying to stay focused on what was in front of me, you know?” Crouch tipped. “I can’t say thank you enough to this team for their efforts in this deal, especially for it being somewhat short notice, and to lead the laps we did shows that we can be in a contender in the big show.

“We just came up short on the one (lap) that mattered, but I’m glad we’re locked in and we’ll have a shot Saturday over 40 laps to come back and go one spot better.”

Two-time and defending Tuesday winner Buddy Kofoid rallied from a flip in his qualifier to race into Tuesday’s nightcap from the B-main before charging from 18th to third in his Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports No. 71. The effort will put Kofoid toward the front of a B-main Saturday night.

Corbin Rueschenberg earned a prelim night career-best of fourth, followed by 16-year-old Gunnar Setser.

Kameron Key, Hank Davis, Kaylee Bryson, Jake Bubak, and Derek Hagar closed the top 10.

Part-time driver and FloRacing analyst Clinton Boyles was running third and challenging for a lock-in spot midway through the feature, but tangled with a lap car and flipped with 14 to go.

He’ll land in an E-main Saturday as he chases his first championship feature start in 12 tries.

Boyles’ incident was one of five yellow flags during the Tuesday feature. The last of those waved when Thomas Meseraull lost the oil tank from his No. 7X and stalled in turn four, leading to the final restart.

Setser, Bubak, Kofoid, Nathan Crane, Mason Hannagan, Davis, Bryson, Brooks, and Brandt Twitty won their respective heat races to open the night, with Brooks going on to sweep his qualifier as well before the main event triumph.

Crouch, Stevie Sussex III, and Brad Sweet also won qualifiers, while Mike Hess and Caleb Stelzig topped the twin C-mains and Davis and Kofoid won their B-mains to lead the transfer cars into the nightcap.

One big name failing to make the cut was Zach Daum, a multi-time national midget champion and eight-time starter in the grand finale. Daum will line up in an E-main for the alphabet soup program.

Seventy-four drivers drew in for night two of the Chili Bowl, bringing the event total to 140, with the flip count rising to 24. All involved walked away uninjured.

Action from the Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink continues Wednesday night with York Plumbing 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; Warren CAT Qualifying Night; Tulsa (Okla.) Expo Raceway; Jan. 14, 2025

OERB Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. 43-Gunnar Setser [3]; 2. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg [5]; 3. 25V-Billy VanInwegen Jr. [6]; 4. 84K-Tom Harris [2]; 5. 55D-Nick Drake [7]; 6. 22-Troy Betts [1]; 7. 91B-Kevin Bayer [8]; 8. 3D-Darin Naida [9]; 9. 20X-Kyle Hawse [4].

OERB Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. 27B-Jake Bubak [6]; 2. 95K-Mitch Fabish [5]; 3. 19K-Riley Kreisel [9]; 4. 22P-Brant O'Banion [3]; 5. 97W-Alex Karpowicz [1]; 6. 80D-Corey Smith [7]; 7. 28B-Brandon Mattox [4]; 8. 121-Jason Bennett [2]; 9. 4-Adam Bolyard [8].

OERB Heat #3 (8 laps): 1. 71-Buddy Kofoid [5]; 2. 19R-Ricky Thornton Jr. [3]; 3. 88A-Austin Torgerson [1]; 4. 71P-Mat Williamson [4]; 5. 45S-Caleb Stelzig [2]; 6. 3K-Todd Kluever [6]; 7. 14F-Conner Morrell [8]; 8. 18K-Billy Rayburn [7].

OERB Heat #4 (8 laps): 1. 41J-Nathan Crane [1]; 2. 55X-Kevin Thomas Jr. [7]; 3. 7W-Brendon Wiseley [3]; 4. 32L-Connor Lee [5]; 5. 81-Ty Gibbs [8]; 6. 11H-Jori Hughes [4]; 7. 71J-Jeremy Huish [2]; 8. 27G-Steve Gresham [6].

OERB Heat #5 (8 laps): 1. 71H-Mason Hannagan [1]; 2. 11B-Clinton Boyles [7]; 3. 20Z-Stevie Sussex III [5]; 4. 28K-Austin Wood [6]; 5. 19S-Chase Porter [4]; 6. 7Z-Brian Peterson [2]; 7. 2ND-Darren Kauffman [3]; 8. 96-Cody Brewer (DNS).

OERB Heat #6 (8 laps): 1. 29S-Hank Davis [3]; 2. 6G-Garet Williamson [4]; 3. 7X-Thomas Meseraull [6]; 4. 1R-R.J. Johnson [8]; 5. 22G-Jack France [2]; 6. 7F-Joshua Tyre [5]; 7. 97L-Brandon Lewis [1]; 8. 84S-Shaun Shapel [7].

OERB Heat #7 (8 laps): 1. 57-Kaylee Bryson[1]; 2. 1C-Brenham Crouch[2]; 3. 8J-Jonathan Beason[8]; 4. 21J-Kameron Key[6]; 5. 1Z-Justin Zimmerman[7]; 6. 2WI-Tommy Colburn[3]; 7. (DNF) 92-Mike Hess[4]; 8. (DNF) 7U-Zach Daum[5]

OERB Heat #8 (8 laps): 1. 57W-Landon Brooks [1]; 2. 7MF-Chance Morton [7]; 3. 3T-Brad Sweet [5]; 4. 41D-Derek Hagar [4]; 5. 7R-Jadon Rogers [8]; 6. 23S-Kyle Simon [3]; 7. 48G-George Loux [2]; 8. 72W-Tye Wilke [6].

OERB Heat #9 (8 laps): 1. 4T-Brandt Twitty [1]; 2. 44-Colton Hardy [2]; 3. 73-Hunter Schuerenberg [8]; 4. 12A-A.J. Bender [3]; 5. 50C-Dane Culver [5]; 6. 321-Chad Winfrey [7]; 7. 25J-Nathan Moore [4]; 8. 5A-Adam Trimble [6].

C Feature #1 (12 laps, top four transfer): 1. 92-Mike Hess [10]; 2. 3D-Darin Naida [9]; 3. 50C-Dane Culver [1]; 4. 5A-Adam Trimble [15] / 5. 321-Chad Winfrey [2]; 6. 2WI-Tommy Colburn [7]; 7. 3K-Todd Kluever [4]; 8. 7F-Joshua Tyre [5]; 9. 48G-George Loux [12]; 10. 7Z-Brian Peterson [8]; 11. 84S-Shaun Shapel [13]; 12. 20X-Kyle Hawse [17]; 13. 4-Adam Bolyard [16]; 14. 14F-Conner Morrell [6]; 15. 2ND-Darren Kauffman [11]; 16. 27G-Steve Gresham [14]; 17. 22G-Jack France [3].

C Feature #2 (12 laps): 1. 45S-Caleb Stelzig [2]; 2. 7U-Zach Daum [13]; 3. 80D-Corey Smith [4]; 4. 23S-Kyle Simon [5] / 5. 97W-Alex Karpowicz [1]; 6. 72W-Tye Wilke [14]; 7. 71J-Jeremy Huish [9]; 8. 91B-Kevin Bayer [3]; 9. 28B-Brandon Mattox [7]; 10. 11H-Jori Hughes [6]; 11. 25J-Nathan Moore [10]; 12. 22-Troy Betts [8]; 13. 97L-Brandon Lewis [11]; 14. 18K-Billy Rayburn [12]; 15. 121-Jason Bennett [15]; 16. 19S-Chase Porter (DNS); 17. 96-Cody Brewer (DNS).

TRD Qualifier #1 (10 laps): 1. 1C-Brenham Crouch [7]; 2. 25V-Billy VanInwegen Jr. [3]; 3. 57-Kaylee Bryson [2]; 4. 41D-Derek Hagar [10]; 5. 29S-Hank Davis [4]; 6. 27B-Jake Bubak [6]; 7. 95K-Mitch Fabish [1]; 8. 81-Ty Gibbs [8]; 9. 88A-Austin Torgerson [9]; 10. 7MF-Chance Morton [5].

TRD Qualifier #2 (10 laps): 1. 57W-Landon Brooks [2]; 2. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg [4]; 3. 19R-Ricky Thornton Jr. [1]; 4. 55D-Nick Drake [9]; 5. 8J-Jonathan Beason [5]; 6. 7X-Thomas Meseraull [3]; 7. 71-Buddy Kofoid [6]; 8. 22P-Brant O'Banion [10]; 9. 7R-Jadon Rogers [8]; 10. 44-Colton Hardy [7].

TRD Qualifier #3 (10 laps): 1. 20Z-Stevie Sussex III [1]; 2. 73-Hunter Schuerenberg [5]; 3. 55X-Kevin Thomas Jr. [6]; 4. 1Z-Justin Zimmerman [9]; 5. 41J-Nathan Crane [3]; 6. 19K-Riley Kreisel [4]; 7. 4T-Brandt Twitty [2]; 8. 12A-A.J. Bender [10]; 9. 7W-Brendon Wiseley [8]; 10. 28K-Austin Wood [7].

TRD Qualifier #4 (10 laps): 1. 3T-Brad Sweet [1]; 2. 43-Gunnar Setser [5]; 3. 21J-Kameron Key [7]; 4. 11B-Clinton Boyles [6]; 5. 71P-Mat Williamson [9]; 6. 1R-R.J. Johnson [2]; 7. 84K-Tom Harris [10]; 8. 32L-Connor Lee [8]; 9. 71H-Mason Hannagan [3]; 10. 6G-Garet Williamson [4].

Ferguson Enterprises B Feature #1 (15 laps, top four transfer): 1. 29S-Hank Davis [2]; 2. 8J-Jonathan Beason [1]; 3. 1R-RJ Johnson [5]; 4. 6G-Garet Williamson [10] / 5. 71P-Mat Williamson [3]; 6. 84K-Tom Harris [6]; 7. 19K-Riley Kreisel [4]; 8. 5A-Adam Trimble [16]; 9. 32L-Connor Lee [9]; 10. 12A-A.J. Bender [8]; 11. 3D-Darin Naida [14]; 12. 50C-Dane Culver [15]; 13. 92-Mike Hess [13]; 14. 7W-Brendon Wiseley [11]; 15. 44-Colton Hardy [12]; DQ: 95K-Mitch Fabish [7].

Ferguson Enterprises B Feature 21 (15 laps, top four transfer): 1. 71-Buddy Kofoid [2]; 2. 7X-Thomas Meseraull [4]; 3. 7MF-Chance Morton [6]; 4. 19R-Ricky Thornton Jr. [1] / 5. 7U-Zach Daum [14]; 6. 45S-Caleb Stelzig [13]; 7. 71H-Mason Hannagan [9]; 8. 41J-Nathan Crane [3]; 9. 81-Ty Gibbs [8]; 10. 88A-Austin Torgerson [11]; 11. 7R-Jadon Rogers [10]; 12. 23S-Kyle Simon [16]; 13. 22P-Brant O'Banion [7]; 14. 28K-Austin Wood [12]; 15. 80D-Corey Smith [15]; 16. 4T-Brandt Twitty [5].

A Feature (30 laps): 1. 57W-Landon Brooks [7]; 2. 1C-Brenham Crouch [1]; 3. 71-Buddy Kofoid [18]; 4. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg [5]; 5. 43-Gunnar Setser [4]; 6. 21J-Kameron Key [11]; 7. 29S-Hank Davis [17]; 8. 57-Kaylee Bryson [16]; 9. 27B-Jake Bubak [12]; 10. 41D-Derek Hagar [13]; 11. 8J-Jonathan Beason [19]; 12. 19R-Ricky Thornton Jr. [24]; 13. 55X-Kevin Thomas Jr. [3]; 14. 25V-Billy VanInwegen Jr. [8]; 15. 6G-Garet Williamson [23]; 16. 20Z-Stevie Sussex III [9]; 17. 55D-Nick Drake [14]; 18. 73-Hunter Schuerenberg [2]; 19. 1R-R.J. Johnson [21]; 20. 7X-Thomas Meseraull [20]; 21. 7MF-Chance Morton [22]; 22. 11B-Clinton Boyles [6]; 23. 1Z-Justin Zimmerman [15]; 24. 3T-Brad Sweet [10].

Lap Leader(s): Brenham Crouch 1-27, Landon Brooks 28, Brenham Crouch 29, Landon Brooks 30.

Hard Charger: 71-Buddy Kofoid (+15)