Chili Bowl: Bell Wins Race of Champions, Larson Wins Qualifier to Secure Place in Saturday’s Main
Tuesday night was a big night for a pair of NASCAR Cup Series drivers in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
First it was Christopher Bell, who reached paydirt. The 26-year old Oklahoma-native, who will enter his second NCS season in 2021, flat-out dominated the Chili Bowl Race of Champions.
In a race that featured Kyle Larson, Brad Sweet, Rico Abreu and more of the best of the best on dirt, Bell — who started sixth — crushed the competition to take his second-consecutive win in the event. When the checkered flag was displayed, Bell had a more than four-second advantage over Cannon McIntosh.
.@CBellRacing is your @vacuworx Invitational Race of Champions winner at the 2021 Lucas Oil @cbnationals!
Watch LIVE: https://t.co/WnpotL7nyB
Live Coverage Presented By @Lucas_Oil pic.twitter.com/1ogKxWOlcY
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) January 13, 2021
By snagging the win on Tuesday, Bell becomes just the second driver to ever win the Chili Bowl Race of Champions in back-to-back seasons, Sammy Swindell is the other to accomplish the feat in 2009 and 2010.
. @CBellRacing wins the race of champions. #ChiliBowl2021 pic.twitter.com/kWqCP81Liu
— DB3 INC (@DB3Inc) January 13, 2021
After Bell took center stage by winning the Race of Champions, Kyle Larson went to work on securing his place in Saturday’s main event.
Larson started by cruising to victory in his heat race as he won by a margin of more than five seconds.
The 28-year old, who had a season for the ages on dirt in 2020, followed his impressive heat race win with a victory in the Qualifying Night Feature race.
Larson narrowly held off Thomas Meseraull for the victory.
Kyle Larson WINS the Tuesday Qualifying Night Feature at the 2021 Lucas Oil @cbnationals!
Live Coverage Presented By @Lucas_Oil pic.twitter.com/zs5sQ14Fo5
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) January 13, 2021
Both Larson and Meseraull will advance to the starting field for Saturday’s Chili Bowl Nationals Feature by virtue of their finishing positions on Tuesday night. Everyone else will still have to claw their way in through the various preliminary events between now and Saturday.
Larson is looking for his second-consecutive win in the Chili Bowl Nationals as he finally captured the Golden Driller last year after numerous close calls through his career.
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Toby is the Founder, Editor and go-to man for TobyChristie.com. He is also the co-host of The Final Lap Weekly Podcast. Additionally, Toby is a NMPA (National Motorsports Press Association) award winning writer, and has followed NASCAR as a fan since 1993.