Kyle Larson’s quest for his first Chili Bowl Nationals championship resumes tonight.
Larson, Alex Bowman and NBC Sports broadcaster Dillon Welch are among those scheduled to compete Tuesday, day two of the six-day event that concludes Saturday night at the River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“There’s a handful of events throughout the year that get me excited, but the Chili Bowl is right up there at the top,” Larson said at a press conference Monday. “It’s hard to believe that this is my 13th year competing in this event. It’s pretty incredible. I look forward to it more and more each year.”
Larson finished second to Christopher Bell in last year’s Chili Bowl Nationals after being passed by Bell on the final lap.
“It took a few days, for sure, it took longer than any other race to get over that I’ve had in my career,” Larson said at Monday’s press conference of last year’s defeat. “I think when you go through defeats like that, it just makes you want it that much more and work harder to get better and probably, hopefully, someday when I do win, it’s going to make it feel that much more special. I would have obviously liked to (have won) but made a mistake and allowed Chris to get by and those are things you learn from. Hopefully, I don’t ever make that mistake again.”
On Monday night, 17-year-old Cannon McIntosh won his heat, qualifier and the feature to advance to Saturday’s main event. McIntosh drives for Keith Kunz Motorsports, which has won the last five Chili Bowl Nationals (Rico Abreu won in 2015-16 and Bell won from 2017-19).
Tyler Courtney finished second to also advance to Saturday night’s 55-lap A main.
NASCAR Xfinity driver Chase Briscoe finished ninth in Monday night’s feature race.
Had a super fast car all night and in the feature completely missed the setup. Live and learn. Ended up 9th, we will have some work to do come Saturday.
— Chase Briscoe (@ChaseBriscoe_14) January 14, 2020
RESULTS >> Cannon McIntosh Rolls Undefeated On Cummins Qualifying Night! Find out more at https://t.co/0L20M8zYEU pic.twitter.com/GdFGDtQnCC
— Chili Bowl Nationals (@cbnationals) January 14, 2020