TULSA, Okla. - Christopher Bell added his name to the history books yet again with his second Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals victory in as many years Saturday night at Oklahoma’s Tulsa Expo Raceway.
Despite the win, Bell – the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champ – felt a sense of disappointment after he regained the lead in the closing laps when fellow NASCAR driver Kyle Larson’s night ended with mechanical failure.
“It’s special to win the Chili Bowl,” Bell, who is an Oklahoma native, said. “With over 300 something cars, it’s always going to be special, but I’m disappointed. I feel like Kyle got robbed, I got robbed, and the fans got robbed. I wanted to race it out, and I know the fans wanted us to race it out too so I’m disappointed we didn’t get to do that, but I’d rather be lucky than good any day.”
Bell’s win also gave car Keith Kunz his seventh win as a car owner, and fourth consecutive since 2015. The race weekend included three preliminary night wins and a Saturday night podium sweep.
“Once in a lifetime. This week was once in a lifetime,” commented Kunz on his team’s achievement.
Chasing Larson through the first 10 laps as the freshly tilled clay of the Tulsa Expo Raceway began to evolve, a restart on lap 11 saw Bell charge on the high side for the lead off the fourth turn.
Following a caution on lap 17, Larson made the move on lap 26 to reclaim the top spot. Larson began steadily pulling away as Bell found himself mired behind slower cars, but saw his advantage evaporate with a caution flag on lap 34.
Back under green, Bell was unable to keep pace with Larson. But with 15 laps to go, Larson’s pace began to slow. With Bell closing, the reason for the drop in speed made itself known as Larson’s engine gave out a massive cloud of smoke on lap 41, ending Larson’s night.
From there, Bell went largely unchallenged to score his second consecutive Chili Bowl victory. Two-time winner Rico Abreu finished in second, some 3.162 seconds behind Bell.
Spencer Bayston finished in third, followed by Tanner Thorson in fourth and Ryan Bernal in fifth.
Brad Sweet, Justin Grant, Chase Johnson, Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Chad Boat rounded out the top ten.
The 33rd Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals is scheduled for January 14-19, 2019. For more information, visit ChiliBowl.com.
Chili Bowl Nationals
Tulsa Expo Raceway – Tulsa, OK
A-Feature Results – Jan. 14, 2018
1. 71W-Christopher Bell
2. 97-Rico Abreu
3. 97K-Spencer Bayston
4. 63-Tanner Thorson
5. 87-Ryan Bernal
6. 63D-Brad Sweet
7. 39BC-Justin Grant
8. 71R-Chase Johnson
9. 27K-Kevin Thomas, Jr.
10. 84X-Chad Boat
11. 71-Ryan Robinson
12. 7BC-Tyler Courtney
13. 35TE-Chris Windom
14. 67-Logan Seavey
15. 17W-Shane Golobic
16. 4-Tom Harris
17. 49ER-Caleb Armstrong
18. 77P-Billy Pauch, Jr.
19. (DNF) 01-Kyle Larson
20. (DNF) 37-Andrew Felker
21. (DNF) 91T-Tyler Thomas
22. (DNF) 24-Tracy Hines
23. (DNF) 1-Sammy Swindell
24. (DNF) 57BC-Giovanni Scelzi
