For the second straight year, and the ninth time in his career, Kyle Larson is the Monday Night Prelim winner at the Chili Bowl Nationals.
The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion is back in Tulsa, Oklahoma, this January, looking for his fourth victory in the prestigious Chili Bowl Nationals, and again this year, it starts with a positive result on his Prelim Night.
Back-to-back Monday victories for @KyleLarsonRacin after a great duel with @BriggsDanner78!
Both drivers lock into the Saturday A-Main for the 40th #ChiliBowl powered by @NosEnergyDrink. pic.twitter.com/Ng7j3poQQg
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) January 13, 2026
By virtue of his victory on Monday, the Elk Grove, California-native is now guaranteed a spot in the A-Main on Saturday. But to earn that record-tying ninth prelim victory, the Hendrick Motorsports driver had to put up a fight.
At first, it was just about getting his No. 1K to the front of the field, ripping the top line in the opening laps of the event after starting from fourth. However, Larson says the track position really “fell in his lap” once he remained clear of Shane Golobic.
Larson, by the one-third mark of the event, was able to get by Briggs Danner and Cannon MacIntosh to get the race-lead, and once lapped traffic started to come into play, the battle was fierce between the top three.
That was until Larson had a slight on-track mishap. Gage Wheldon, a lapped vehicle, switched lanes in Turn 3 while being lapped by the race leaders, causing Larson to tag him and spin him around, drawing one of only two cautions in the 30-lap feature.
When things got back going again, there was just enough time for Larson to catch lapped traffic again, which made the final laps extremely dicey as Briggs Danner, driving the No. 55 owned by Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman, attempted to make a dive at the end of the race and take the victory.
Danner would ultimately come home in second-place, which is enough to also secure his spot into the A-Main in Saturday’s 40th Chili Bowl Nationals at the Tulsa Expo Center.
Cannon McIntosh, after starting from the pole for the 30-lap A-Main, faded to third-place at the finish and will be relegated to a B-Main on Saturday, making his path to a Golden Driller a little more difficult.
Shane Golobic came home in fourth with Jerry Coons, Jr. rounding out the top five. Justin Peck, Kameron Key, Tanner Carrick, Jakeb Boxell, and Nick Hoffman rounded out the top-10.
Tanner Berryhill, a former NASCAR National Series driver, finished a disappointing 24th in the A-Main on Monday, although he went to Victory Lane in the B-Main. Todd Kleuever, also a former NASCAR driver, finished one spot ahead of him in 23rd.
Overall, Monday was a successful day for NASCAR drivers in the Tulsa Expo Center, with Christopher Bell, Larson’s fellow competitor in the NASCAR Cup Series, winning the Race of Champions earlier in the evening — which will provide him a provisional into Saturday’s A-Main Feature, if needed.
