Tanner Thorson is finally a winner in the Chili Bowl Nationals, making the move for the win around polesitter Christopher Bell on a mid-race restart to capture his first victory in the prestigious event.
The 25-year-old was able to move around Christopher Bell on a restart in the middle section of the race and continued to hold the top spot as the leaders began to work through lap traffic.
At one point, Bell was able to get clear of Thorson to re-take the lead, before Brady Bacon and Colby Copeland had a gnarly accident in front of the leaders, which resulted in contact with Thorson. However, with scoring reverting to the previous lap, Bell was not credited with the lead.
Near disaster for the leaders when Brady Bacon goes for a ride in front of Christopher Bell and Tanner Thorson! There's just 6 laps to go in the Chili Bowl!#ChiliBowl2022 on #MAVTV @Lucas_Oil I @cbnationals I @GeneralTire pic.twitter.com/iYUnPVIAE8
— MAVTV (@MAVTV) January 16, 2022
The final restart of the race saw a tight battle between Thorson and Bell, until the iRacing sponsored machine jumped the cushion, in turn four, allowing the Minden, Nevada-native to extend his lead and capture his first golden driller trophy.
Bell would end up in the runner-up spot, after leading the opening 36 laps, with Rico Abreu, Michael ‘Buddy’ Kofoid, and Tanner Carrick rounding out a Keith Kunz Racing dominated top-five.
Kyle Larson finished an uncharacteristic sixth-place, with CJ Leary, Kevin Thomas Jr, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Thomas Meseraull rounding out the top-10.
Finishing in 18th-place was Kaylee Bryson, the fifth entry in the A-Feature for Keith Kunz Motorsports, making history by being the first woman to compete in the main event in the Chili Bowl Nationals.
