Kyle Larson continues to cement his legacy as one of the best and most versatile racers in the history of motorsport. On Saturday night at the Tulsa Expo Raceway, Larson started from the pole position, and led all 40 laps as he marched to a third Chili Bowl Nationals win.
However, it wasn’t a cakewalk for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion as Larson was involved in two incidents through the 40-lap feature event. But through it all, he never lost the race lead.
“Yeah, it was just a very difficult racetrack to run the line that I was running. It comes with a lot of reward with the risk that you’re taking.”
The first trouble for Larson came in a multi-car stack up with 17 laps to go. Larson piled into the back of Brenham Crouch and Jacob Denney who collided ahead of Larson, who was trying to put them a lap down. Fortunately, a quick caution allowed Larson to maintain the lead.
? Chaos in lap traffic and leader @KyleLarsonRacin gets involved but keeps goin!!! Is his car ok!?#ChiliBowl powered by @NosEnergyDrink pic.twitter.com/kzeh3fXROp
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) January 19, 2025
“When Grant ran over Crouch, I had nowhere to go. I ran over him, and stalled, and when I landed, I’m like, ‘Please re-fire,’ and it refired. And so, yeah, we got a couple of lucky breaks there, but a good race car.”
On the ensuing restart, Larson again pulled away from the competition, and he appeared to be cruising to an easy win. But then, things got complicated with four laps to go, as Larson climbed the berm in Turn 1 and 2 and collided with the wall, which his No. 1K machine then climbed up on.
Larson’s car would slam back down onto the dirt, and he would keep rolling, and the caution would come out just as Daison Pursley attempted to blast past him.
What just happened!?! Yellow is out as the leader @KyleLarsonRacin is in trouble!#ChiliBowl powered by @NosEnergyDrink pic.twitter.com/9g2KO4C5XK
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) January 19, 2025
While the wall-ride was nearly a disastrous end to his Chili Bowl Nationals bid, Larson says the caution that came from it allowed him to catch his breath and ultimately helped him win the race.
“Yeah, I messed up on the straightaway a couple of times, but honestly I’m glad I kept going there because that caution really saved me,” Larson explained. “Allowed it to be a little bit easier run to the finish. I think if we stayed in traffic, Daison would have had a lot of opportunities to throw stuff at me.”
Larson would then hold off Pursley down the stretch as Pursley made one last-ditch dive bomb in Turn 4 with two laps to go, but the car didn’t stick, and he lost momentum and ground to Larson.
? @KyleLarsonRacin is a three time Chili Bowl Champion!!!
He wins the 39th #ChiliBowl Nationals powered by @NosEnergyDrink! pic.twitter.com/YhR7wrAeQl
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) January 19, 2025
Pursley would hang on to finish runner-up to Larson, while Shane Golobic, Ryan Bernal, and Landon Brooks rounded out the top-five finishers in the 2025 Chili Bowl Nationals.
Making his first Chili Bowl appearance in three years, Christopher Bell came home with a 10th-place finish.
2025 Chili Bowl Nationals Championship A-Main Results
| Fin | No. | Driver | Laps | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1K | Kyle Larson | 40 | -- |
| 2 | 86 | Daison Pursley | 40 | 0.365 |
| 3 | 17W | Shane Golobic | 40 | 2.523 |
| 4 | 87W | Ryan Bernal | 40 | 0.665 |
| 5 | 57W | Landon Brooks | 40 | 0.467 |
| 6 | 71 | Buddy Kofoid | 40 | 1.288 |
| 7 | 39 | Logan Seavey | 40 | 0.439 |
| 8 | 97 | Gavin Miller | 40 | 0.921 |
| 9 | 68K | Emerson Asxom | 40 | 0.614 |
| 10 | 71W | Christopher Bell | 40 | 0.683 |
| 11 | 41 | Corey Day | 40 | 0.739 |
| 12 | 29S | Hank Davis | 40 | 0.897 |
| 13 | 29 | Tim Buckwalter | 40 | 0.648 |
| 14 | 71K | Cannon McIntosh | 40 | 0.863 |
| 15 | 23C | Tyler Courtney | 40 | 0.744 |
| 16 | 81F | Frank Flud | 40 | 0.796 |
| 17 | 67W | Jacob Denney | 40 | 0.483 |
| 18 | 87 | Justin Grant | 40 | 0.611 |
| 19 | 1C | Brenham Crouch | 39 | 1 lap |
| 20 | 26 | Corbin Rueschenberg | 39 | 1 lap |
| 21 | 56E | Tyler Edwards | 38 | 2 laps |
| 22 | 97K | Kale Drake | 37 | 3 laps |
| 23 | 88 | Tanner Thorson | 36 | 4 laps |
| 24 | 8J | Jonathan Beason | 8 | 32 laps |
