Tanner Thorson Tops Thursday Night Thriller In Tulsa

TULSA, Okla. – In easily the most hotly contested preliminary night of the 39th Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink thus far, Tanner Thorson outdueled Christopher Bell to win on Hasty-Bake Qualifying Night Thursday inside the SageNet Center.

Thorson’s third career Chili Bowl preliminary night win was an instant classic, as he started from the pole and ceded the lead early on, but came roaring back to pass Bell with six laps left en route to victory.

The Minden, Nev., native took advantage when Bell broke momentum slightly on the bottom of turns three and four, surging past around the outside at the start-finish line moments before a yellow flag waved for the flipping car of Casey Shuman.

From there, Thorson never gave up control again, pulling away on a pair of late-race restarts en route to his second Thursday night triumph in the past three years.

It’s the fifth time in his past six Chili Bowls that Thorson has advanced directly to the Saturday finale through his prelim night, but this year’s fight was easily the most electric.

“That yellow came out, and I said to myself, ‘Man, [Christopher] Bell is the last person I want behind me on a restart,’ so I was looking for my guys to tell me kind of where to go … and I didn’t really know where to be at the end.

“I about gave it away when I thought Bell as to my inside, and it was [Ryan] Bernal,” he added. “That was a moment of, ‘Holy crap, we’re about to get our doors blown off.’ It was tricky, but thankfully we got it done.”

Thorson was the dominant driver for most of the night, racing from sixth to first in both his heat race and his qualifier to earn high-point honors and the feature pole position, but only led the first two laps before a hard-charging Karter Sarff came up to the lead in the Chase Briscoe Racing No. 5.

Sarff led laps three and four by ripping the top lane before a six-car melee in turn three brought out a yellow flag, setting up a restart where Thorson slid back to the lead in turn one.

Lap 10 was the next jaw-dropping moment, when Bell hit the bottom perfectly to pass both Thorson and Sarff, moving from third to first in one corner and appearing to take firm control of the 30-lap contest.

Past halfway, however, Bell got into traffic and struggled to make moves past slower cars. That conundrum allowed Thorson and Sarff to remain within striking distance and set the stage for a potentially wild run to the finish.

The chaos came true when Matt Sherrell flipped from 17th with nine to go, bunching the field back up but also clearing traffic out of the way for Bell. Ultimately, however, it didn’t end up mattering.

Bell got a great jump on the lap-22 restart, leaving Thorson, Sarff, and a rapidly-closing Ryan Bernal to scrap for the runner-up honors, but Thorson found the cushion again and methodically began to reel the NASCAR Cup Series star back in.

Finally, coming to complete the 25th lap, Thorson pounced. He roared around the outside of the third turn to build his momentum and used that surge to nip Bell at the line by inches for the top spot.

Shuman’s flip cast the die after that and sealed Thorson’s victory, but it also blew the battle for the second and final lock-in berth wide open.

The restart on lap 26 saw Bernal, Sarff, and Leary all get together in turn one, bouncing Sarff out of third place and back into the field as Leary appeared to become the next challenger for a top-two finish.

But Leary and Parker Jones crashed from third and fourth at the white flag, elevating Bernal to the podium and giving him a green-white-checkered overtime restart to try and advance.

Bell stayed on Thorson’s bumper to the white flag, but Bernal powered to the inside berm in the final two corners and came from nowhere with a huge run, nipping Bell for second by .068 seconds to lock into his fourth Chili Bowl finale and first since 2020.

It was a huge moment for the California firefighter and USAC West Coast Sprint Car Series mainstay, whose run of tough luck inside the SageNet Center over the past half decade has been well documented.

“I just committed,” said Bernal of the final lap. “I looked up at Shane (Golobic, crew chief and teammate at Matt Wood Racing) under the last caution and he signaled to me to just use my head.

“I think if I’d fully stuck the bottom (in turn one), I could have won the race, but I’m so proud of this team and the effort we’ve put in,” he added. “To have three cars locked in through four qualifying nights is amazing and I think we’ll have a real shot Saturday to do something special.”

Bell finished third and will start in a B-Main on Saturday night, the first time since 2015 he hasn’t been locked into the finale through his prelim program, but couldn’t even find it in himself to be disappointed after the race.

“That is why people come to the Chili Bowl right there,” he said of the wild finish. “That’s Expo magic.”

USAC veteran Matt Westfall was a career-best fourth in his 19th career prelim night main event, followed by Bell’s Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports teammate Jacob Denney.

Micro sprint veteran Frank Flud, Kyle Spence, Shane Cottle, and B-main transfers Brody Fuson and Brady Bacon closed the top 10. Bacon was in his 16th straight prelim night feature.

Sarff, who challenged for a lock-in spot all race long before the late contact with Bernal and Leary, had to pull off with mechanical trouble during the final caution and ended up 23rd. Instead of starting up front in a B-main Saturday, the 21-year-old Illinois native will line up in an E-main for the alphabet soup.

Bradley Fezard, Jeff Stasa, Cottle, Sarff, Bacon, Thorson, Bell, Chris Windom, and Bernal won heat races to open the program. Thorson, Sarff, and Bernal went on to sweep qualifiers as well, joined by Matt Sherrell as the fourth qualifier winner.

Elijah Gile and Jeffrey Newell won D-mains; Kade Morton and Spencer Bayston topped the C-mains; and Drake Edwards and Shuman collected B-main triumphs during the night.

Seventy-nine drivers drew in for competition Thursday, bringing the event total to 292 through four preliminary nights. The flip count swelled to 39, but all drivers walked away from their incidents.

Action from the Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink continues Friday night with Hard Rock Casino 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; Hasty-Bake Qualifying Night; Tulsa (Okla.) Expo Raceway; Jan. 16, 2025

OERB Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. 938-Bradley Fezard [3]; 2. 3P-Drake Edwards [5]; 3. 15D-Andrew Deal [1]; 4. 51F-Brody Fuson [9]; 5. 28J-Joe Perry [2]; 6. 3Z-Trey Zorn [4]; 7. 54C-Chance Hull [7]; 8. 14E-Jeffrey Newell [8]; 9. C71-Carter Jensrud [6].

OERB Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. 91-Jeff Stasa [2]; 2. 17X-Gage Laney [1]; 3. 71E-Mariah Ede [8]; 4. 77J-John Klabunde [3]; 5. 41W-Brad Wyatt [4]; 6. 00K-Scott Kreutter [7]; 7. 81G-Tony Helton [6]; 8. 07-Tim Kent [9]; 9. 98B-Joe Boyles [5].

OERB Heat #3 (8 laps): 1. 7M-Shane Cottle [2]; 2. 17-Sye Lynch [5]; 3. 55V-C.J. Leary [9]; 4. 24S-Rodney Westhafer [4]; 5. 10H-Ryder Laplante [6]; 6. 8M-Kade Morton [8]; 7. 20G-Jay Mallory [1]; 8. 17E-Cody Beard [7]; 9. 22S-A.J. Johnson [3].

OERB Heat #4 (8 laps): 1. 5-Karter Sarff [5]; 2. 8R-Ryker Pace [2]; 3. 55F-Johnny Kent [3]; 4. 14D-David Gasper [4]; 5. 51X-Joe Walker [8]; 6. 17L-Braxton Cummings [1]; 7. 11C-Mike Woodruff [6]; 8. 13-Brandon Boggs [7]; 9. 57R-Shelby Bosie (DNS).

OERB Heat #5 (8 laps): 1. 21H-Brady Bacon [5]; 2. 41P-Parker Jones [6]; 3. 54-Matt Westfall [9]; 4. 10C-Dalton Camfield [2]; 5. X-Dan Bennett [4]; 6. 31K-Kyle Beilman [7]; 7. 17H-Henry Chambers [8]; 8. 12-Katherine Legge [3]; 9. 21D-Justin Dickerson [1].

OERB Heat #6 (8 laps): 1. 88-Tanner Thorson [6]; 2. 9U-Kyle Spence [2]; 3. 81F-Frank Flud [1]; 4. 27X-Michael Hubert [5]; 5. 10X-Trevor Serbus [9*]; 6. 75G-Cole Garner [8]; 7. 15W-Danny Burke [4]; 8. 99K-Robert Carson [7]; 9. 4F-Chad Frewaldt [3].

Serbus was scheduled for the pole but went to the work area before the green and lost his passing points.

OERB Heat #7 (8 laps): 1. 71W-Christopher Bell [4]; 2. 21X-Casey Shuman [2]; 3. 1A-Cole Bodine [1]; 4. 91S-Jordon Mallett [6]; 5. 45H-Robbie Price [8]; 6. 1S-Spencer Bayston [7]; 7. 11K-Cole Parker [3]; 8. 53-Sean Robbins [5]; 9. 21B-Frank Beck III [9].

OERB Heat #8 (8 laps): 1. 89X-Chris Windom [3]; 2. 45B-Bradley Cox [5]; 3. 77D-Dalten Gabbard [1]; 4. 80H-Josh Hanna [2]; 5. 17A-Tom Dunkel [7]; 6. 7N-Kris Carroll [6]; 7. 11L-Landon Crawley [4]; 8. 1DM-Elijah Gile [8].

OERB Heat #9 (8 laps): 1. 87W-Ryan Bernal [2]; 2. 19M-Ethan Mitchell [4]; 3. 67W-Jacob Denney [3]; 4. 2D-Matt Sherrell [7]; 5. 35S-Ben Schmidt [5]; 6. 26J-Jacob Harris [1]; 7. 29K-Brian Harvey [6]; 8. 84J-Jesse Shapel [8].

Smileys Racing Products D Feature #1 (10 laps, top two transfer): 1. 1DM-Elijah Gile [3]; 2. 53-Sean Robbins [5] / 3. 17E-Cody Beard [4]; 4. 11K-Cole Parker [2]; 5. 12-Katherine Legge [6]; 6. 4F-Chad Frewaldt [7]; 7. 15W-Danny Burke [1]; 8. 99K-Robert Carson (DNS); 9. 98B-Joe Boyles (DNS); 10. 57R-Shelby Bosie (DNS).

Smileys Racing Products D Feature #2 (10 laps, top two transfer): 1. 14E-Jeffrey Newell [2]; 2. 11L-Landon Crawley [1] / 3. 22S-AJ Johnson [8]; 4. C71-Carter Jensrud [7]; 5. 20G-Jay Mallory [5]; 6. 13-Brandon Boggs [4]; 7. 84J-Jesse Shapel [3]; 8. 21B-Frank Beck III [6]; 9. 21D-Justin Dickerson [9].

Creek County Speedway C Feature #1 (12 laps, top four transfer): 1. 8M-Kade Morton [1]; 2. 7N-Kris Carroll [6]; 3. 3Z-Trey Zorn [7]; 4. 35S-Ben Schmidt [2] / 5. 53-Sean Robbins [12]; 6. 1DM-Elijah Gile [11]; 7. 17L-Braxton Cummings [8]; 8. X-Dan Bennett [3]; 9. 31K-Kyle Beilman [4]; 10. 81G-Tony Helton [9]; 11. 28J-Joe Perry [5]; 12. 29K-Brian Harvey [10].

Creek County Speedway C Feature #2 (12 laps, top four transfer): 1. 1S-Spencer Bayston [4]; 2. 41W-Brad Wyatt [2]; 3. 00K-Scott Kreutter [3]; 4. 14E-Jeffrey Newell [11] / 5. 54C-Chance Hull [7]; 6. 11L-Landon Crawley [12]; 7. 10X-Trevor Serbus [5]; 8. 75G-Cole Garner [1]; 9. 17H-Henry Chambers [6]; 10. 26J-Jacob Harris [8]; 11. 11C-Mike Woodruff [9]; 12. 07-Tim Kent [10].

TRD Qualifier #1 (10 laps): 1. 88-Tanner Thorson [6]; 2. 9U-Kyle Spence [1]; 3. 45B-Bradley Cox [3]; 4. 54-Matt Westfall [5]; 5. 938-Bradley Fezard [4]; 6. 77D-Dalten Gabbard [9]; 7. 77J-John Klabunde [10]; 8. 51X-Joe Walker [7]; 9. 27X-Michael Hubert [8]; 10. 51F-Brody Fuson [2].

TRD Qualifier #2 (10 laps): 1. 5-Karter Sarff [6]; 2. 71W-Christopher Bell [5]; 3. 21X-Casey Shuman [1]; 4. 19M-Ethan Mitchell [2]; 5. 89X-Chris Windom [4]; 6. 15D-Andrew Deal [8]; 7. 91-Jeff Stasa [3]; 8. 10H-Ryder Laplante [10]; 9. 45H-Robbie Price [7]; 10. 17A-Tom Dunkel [9].

TRD Qualifier #3 (10 laps): 1. 2D-Matt Sherrell [2]; 2. 7M-Shane Cottle [3]; 3. 41P-Parker Jones [5]; 4. 81F-Frank Flud [8]; 5. 3P-Drake Edwards [4]; 6. 24S-Rodney Westhafer [9]; 7. 10C-Dalton Camfield [10]; 8. 55F-Johnny Kent [7]; 9. 17X-Gage Laney [1]; 10. 21H-Brady Bacon [6].

TRD Qualifier #4 (10 laps): 1. 87W-Ryan Bernal [3]; 2. 55V-C.J. Leary [6]; 3. 67W-Jacob Denney [7]; 4. 8R-Ryker Pace [2]; 5. 91S-Jordon Mallett [1]; 6. 71E-Mariah Ede [5]; 7. 1A-Cole Bodine [8]; 8. 80H-Josh Hanna [10]; 9. 17-Sye Lynch [4]; 10. 14D-David Gasper [9].

Ferguson Enterprises B Feature #1 (15 laps, top four transfer): 1. 3P-Drake Edwards [1]; 2. 15D-Andrew Deal [4]; 3. 51F-Brody Fuson [10]; 4. 77D-Dalten Gabbard [3] / 5. 91S-Jordon Mallett [5]; 6. 71E-Mariah Ede [2]; 7. 3Z-Trey Zorn [15]; 8. 27X-Michael Hubert [11]; 9. 7N-Kris Carroll [14]; 10. 51X-Joe Walker [9]; 11. 1A-Cole Bodine [7]; 12. 8M-Kade Morton [13]; 13. 77J-John Klabunde [6]; 14. 17A-Tom Dunkel [12]; 15. 10H-Ryder Laplante [8]; 16. 35S-Ben Schmidt [16].

Ferguson Enterprises B Feature #2 (15 laps, top four transfer): 1. 21X-Casey Shuman [1]; 2. 1S-Spencer Bayston [11]; 3. 21H-Brady Bacon [5]; 4. 91-Jeff Stasa [4] / 5. 8R-Ryker Pace [2]; 6. 55F-Johnny Kent [9]; 7. 24S-Rodney Westhafer [3]; 8. 14E-Jeffrey Newell [15]; 9. 45H-Robbie Price [10]; 10. 00K-Scott Kreutter [13]; 11. 14D-David Gasper [12]; 12. 17-Sye Lynch [7]; 13. 80H-Josh Hanna [8]; 14. 41W-Brad Wyatt [14]; 15. 10C-Dalton Camfield [6]; 16. 17X-Gage Laney (DNS).

A Feature (30 laps): 1. 88-Tanner Thorson [1]; 2. 87W-Ryan Bernal [5]; 3. 71W-Christopher Bell [4]; 4. 54-Matt Westfall [8]; 5. 67W-Jacob Denney [11]; 6. 81F-Frank Flud [13]; 7. 9U-Kyle Spence [10]; 8. 7M-Shane Cottle [7]; 9. 51F-Brody Fuson [21]; 10. 21H-Brady Bacon [20]; 11. 89X-Chris Windom [15]; 12. 77D-Dalten Gabbard [23]; 13. 2D-Matt Sherrell [9]; 14. 91-Jeff Stasa [22]; 15. 1S-Spencer Bayston [18]; 16. 3P-Drake Edwards [17]; 17. 19M-Ethan Mitchell [14]; 18. 41P-Parker Jones [6]; 19. 15D-Andrew Deal [19]; 20. 938-Bradley Fezard [12]; 21. 45B-Bradley Cox [24]; 22. 55V-C.J. Leary [3]; 23. 5-Karter Sarff [2]; 24. 21X-Casey Shuman [16].

Lap Leader(s): Tanner Thorson 1-2, Karter Sarff 3-4, Tanner Thorson 5-9, Christopher Bell 10-24, Tanner Thorson 25-31

Hard Charger: 51F-Brody Fuson (+12)