Larson Tops Daum For Preliminary Win at the Chili Bowl

Jonathan Beason, Kyle Larson, and Zach Daum (Serena Dalhamer photo)

By T.J. Buffenbarger

TULSA, Ok. (January 15, 2018) – Kyle Larson took another step towards a Chili Bowl Nationals title by winning the preliminary feature Tuesday during Warren CAT Qualifying nIght at the Tulsa Expo Raceway. Larson from Elk Grove, California drove the McDonalds sponsored Mike Larson/Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian owned entry to the lead around Zach Daum on lap six, avoided problems in slower traffic, and held off a late surge by Daum for the victory.

Larson was concerned at first about starting on the outside of the front row, but it turned out that he was able to keep pace and get in position early in the main to take the lead.

“I was nervous to start on the outside of the front row,” said Larson. “I knew they did a lot of track work and was worried that the bottom was going to be really good for the first couple of laps and I would fall back to third or fourth because I couldn’t get down. It worked out that I had pretty good grip and ran a few laps on the bottom and could see that Zach (Daum) started missing the center of the corner, so I moved up and was able to get by him quickly.

Daum and Larson started on the front row for the 25-lap feature with Daum getting the jump at the start to take the lead. Larson started working the top of the race track and quickly closed on Daum. Larson was able to get a run off turn four on lap five to pull along side Daum and take the lead coming off turn two.

Larson drove away from the field with Daum trying to keep pace while Tyler Courtney and Sam Hafertepe Jr. raced for the third spot. Behind them 10th starting Jonathan Beason was making his way through the field and worked his way into the top five.

The first caution occurred on lap 15 for a spin by Kyle Jones. Larson pulled away as Hafertepe dove under Daum for second, but Daum countered the move and retained the second position. By lap 18 Hafertepe found himself under siege by Beason, who had passed Courtney for the fourth position, and drove by Hafertepe for third on lap 18.

Slower traffic combined with his car getting better as the race went on allowed Daum to close in on Larson in the later stages of the feature. Then on lap 20 the factor of slower traffic was taken away from the race for the lead when the caution appeared for Larry Wight, who recovered from a flip in his heat race to make the feature, slowing with smoke coming from his car in turns one and two.

Larson drove away over the final five laps as Beason tried to find a way around Daum for the second and final position that would guarantee him a spot in Saturday’s finale. Beason lost ground as Daum was close enough for one dive at Larson for the lead but could not pull along side as Larson drove to the win. Daum claimed the second and final position to lock into Saturday’s A-Main. Beason, Michael Faccinto, and Hafertepe rounded out the top five.

Even after the win Larson felt he had more to give on Saturday, taking a conservative approach to make sure he maintained a position to lock into Saturday’s feature.

My car felt really good,” said Larson. “I didn’t run hard throughout that whole race. You don’t want to make any mistakes that could cost yourself a top two. Locking in is very important. I’m just happy to run a pretty clean race and Keith (Kunz) will tweak on the cars all week and they will just keep getting better, so I’m excited for Saturday.”

33rd Annual Chili Bowl Nationals
Warren CAT Qualifying Night
Tulsa Expo Raceway
Tulsa, OK
Tuesday January 15, 2018

Heat Race #1 (8 Laps):
1. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr [2]
2. 89 – Tanner Berryhill [4]
3. 18 – Tony Bruce Jr [7]
4. 32 – Gary Taylor [3]
5. 35 – Sterling Cling [8]
6. 15L – Merril Lamb [6]
7. 5J – Jeff Crook [1]
8. 77U – Chris Urish [5]

Heat Race #2 (8 Laps):
1. 99 – Larry Wight [1]
2. F5 – Tye Mihocko [4]
3. 7U – Kyle Jones [5]
4. 17D – Donovan Wise [3]
5. 20H – Noah Harris [6]
6. 91A – Chris Andrews [7]
7. 45 – Roger Crockett [2]
8. 84 – Jeremy Campbell [8]

Heat Race #3 (8 Laps):
1. 1K – Brayton Lynch [1]
2. 55X – Alex Bowman [6]
3. 15C – Carson Garrett [2]
4. 74M – Adam Pierson [5]
5. 41B – Brad Wyatt [4]
6. 37 – Terry Babb [7]
7. 3D – Dustin Gilbert [8]
8. 51W – Curtis Jones [3]

Heat Race #4 (8 Laps):
1. 75 – Bryan Stanfill [1]
2. 5D – Zach Daum [7]
3. 71 – Jesse Colwell [8]
4. 2W – Wyatt Burks [5]
5. 5B – Bobby Brewer [4]
6. 98B – Joe Boyles [3]
7. 7F – Travis Ashwood [6]
8. 14 – Harley Hollan [2]

Heat Race #5 (8 Laps):
1. 01 – Kyle Larson [4]
2. 29 – Tim Buckwalter [2]
3. 47B – Andrew Layser [6]
4. 31B – Michael Faccinto [5]
5. 21M – Michelle Melton [1]
6. 85 – Matt Johnson [7]
7. 17F – Devin Camfield [3]
8. PE3 – Andy Bradley [8]

Heat Race #6 (8 Laps):
1. 7C – Tyler Courtney [2]
2. 3S – Brian Shirley [3]
3. 44X – Wesley Smith [1]
4. 9JR – Derek Hagar [6]
5. 46 – Kenney Johnson [5]
6. 15W – Jeff Wimmenauer [4]
7. 44 – Don Droud Jr [7]
(DNS): 10J – John Hunt,

Heat Race #7 (8 Laps):
1. 2S – Travis Scott [1]
2. 7M – Brody Roa [5]
3. 4F – Chad Frewaldt [4]
4. 3T – Taylor Peterson [2]
5. 45K – Kyle Hammer [3]
6. 84M – Alex DeCamp [7]
7. 27Z – Zane Hendricks [6]

Heat Race #8 (8 Laps):
1. 8J – Jonathan Beason [2]
2. 25S – Frank Flud [3]
3. 27J – Jake Bubak [5]
4. 17E – Blake Edwards [7]
5. 7AU – Mark Cooper [6]
6. 23X – Billy Lawhead [1]
7. 88A – Andy Michner [4]

C-Main #1 (12 Laps):
1. 84M-Alex DeCamp [4]
2. 77U-Chris Urish [11]
3. 21M-Michelle Melton [5]
4. 9U-Doug McCune [1]
5. 45-Roger Crockett [12]
6. 5B-Bobby Brewer [2]
7. 98B-Joe Boyles [7]
8. 17F-Devin Camfield [9]
9. 14-Harley Hollan [13]
10. 23X-Billy Lawhead [8]
11. 3D-Dustin Gilbert [6]
12. 88A-Andy Michner [10]
13. 37-Terry Babb [3]
DNS: 7F-Travis Ashwood
DNS: 10J-John Hunt,

C-Main #2 (12 Laps):
1. 91A-Chris Andrews [2]
2. 15W-Jeff Wimmenauer [6]
3. 44-Don Droud Jr [7]
4. 85-Matt Johnson [3]
5. 45K-Kyle Hammer [4]
6. 44D-Evan Turner [8]
7. 15L-Merril Lamb [5]
8. 51W-Curtis Jones [11]
9. 41B-Brad Wyatt [1]
10. PE3-Andy Bradley [10]
11. 94K-Christopher Polvoorde [9]
DNS: 5J-Jeff Crook
DNS: 27Z-Zane Hendricks
DNS: 84-Jeremy Campbell,

Qualifier #1:
1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr [4]
2. 5D-Zach Daum [6]
3. 71-Jesse Colwell [5]
4. 89-Tanner Berryhill [3]
5. 44X-Wesley Smith [9]
6. 25S-Frank Flud [1]
7. 29-Tim Buckwalter [7]
8. 20H-Noah Harris [10]
9. 1K-Brayton Lynch [2]
10. 15C-Carson Garrett [8]

Qualifier #2:
1. 7C-Tyler Courtney [4]
2. 01-Kyle Larson [6]
3. 7U-Kyle Jones [1]
4. F5-Tye Mihocko [3]
5. 7M-Brody Roa [5]
6. 32-Gary Taylor [9]
7. 7AU-Mark Cooper [10]
8. 74M-Adam Pierson [8]
9. 75-Bryan Stanfill [2]
10. 4F-Chad Frewaldt [7]

Qualifier #3:
1. 27J-Jake Bubak [1]
2. 18-Tony Bruce Jr [5]
3. 8J-Jonathan Beason [4]
4. 47B-Andrew Layser [3]
5. 55X-Alex Bowman [6]
6. 2S-Travis Scott [2]
7. 9JR-Derek Hagar [7]
8. 2W-Wyatt Burks [8]
9. 3T-Taylor Peterson [10]
10. 17D-Donovan Wise [9]

Qualifier #4:
1. 31B-Michael Faccinto [8]
2. 99P-Dillon Welch [4]
3. 17E-Blake Edwards [1]
4. 3S-Brian Shirley [2]
5. 42-Chris Cochran [5]
6. 35-Sterling Cling [7]
7. 51M-Slater Helt [9]
8. 2B-Jason Grady [6]
9. 99-Larry Wight [3]
10. 46-Kenney Johnson [10]

VIROC XI (20 Laps):
1. 3C-Tanner Thorson [2]
2. 01-Kyle Larson [4]
3. 71W-Christopher Bell [15]
4. 39-Ryan Bernal [1]
5. 2J-J.J. Yeley [3]
6. 67-Logan Seavey [5]
7. 47-Danny Stratton [6]
8. 9-Tim McCreadie [11]
9. 97-Rico Abreu [14]
10. 67Z-Kasey Kahne [7]
11. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer [10]
12. 05-Brad Loyet [17]
13. 1-Sammy Swindell [16]
14. 84X-Chad Boat [13]
15. 11-Tracy Hines [9]
16. 36-Dave Darland [12]
17. 92-Aaron Reutzel [8]
18. 1R-Brad Sweet [19]
19. 22-John Heydenreich [20]
20. 71G-Damion Gardner [18]

·
B-Main #1 (12 Laps):
1. 99-Larry Wight [9]
2. 74M-Adam Pierson [8]
3. 25S-Frank Flud [5]
4. 84M-Alex DeCamp [13]
5. 4F-Chad Frewaldt [11]
6. 2B-Jason Grady [3]
7. 32-Gary Taylor [4]
8. 77U-Chris Urish [14]
9. 9U-Doug McCune [16]
10. 75-Bryan Stanfill [10]
11. 17D-Donovan Wise [12]
12. 21M-Michelle Melton [15]
13. 44X-Wesley Smith [2]
14. 7AU-Mark Cooper [6]
15. 42-Chris Cochran [1]
16. 51M-Slater Helt [7]

B-Main #2 (15 Laps)
1. 17E – Blake Edwards [1]
2. 3S – Brian Shirley [2]
3. 9JR – Derek Hagar [6]
4. 29 – Tim Buckwalter [5]
5. 2S – Travis Scott [3]
6. 2W – Wyatt Burks [8]
7. 1K – Brayton Lynch [9]
8. 46 – Kenney Johnson [12]
9. 15W – Jeff Wimmenauer [14]
10. 85 – Matt Johnson [16]
11. 15C – Carson Garrett [11]
12. 35 – Sterling Cling [4]
13. 20H – Noah Harris [7]
14. 44 – Don Droud Jr [15]
15. 3T – Taylor Peterson [10]
16. 91A – Chris Andrews [13]

A-Main (25 Laps):
1. 01 – Kyle Larson [2]
2. 5D – Zach Daum [1]
3. 8J – Jonathan Beason [10]
4. 31B – Michael Faccinto [5]
5. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr [3]
6. 7C – Tyler Courtney [4]
7. 99P – Dillon Welch [7]
8. 71 – Jesse Colwell [8]
9. 55X – Alex Bowman [11]
10. 89 – Tanner Berryhill [12]
11. 47B – Andrew Layser [16]
12. 74M – Adam Pierson [19]
13. 7M – Brody Roa [14]
14. 29 – Tim Buckwalter [24]
15. 7U – Kyle Jones [15]
16. 17E – Blake Edwards [18]
17. 18 – Tony Bruce Jr [6]
18. 25S – Frank Flud [21]
19. 9JR – Derek Hagar [22]
20. 84M – Alex DeCamp [23]
21. 3S – Brian Shirley [20]
22. F5 – Tye Mihocko [13]
23. 99 – Larry Wight [17]
24. 27J – Jake Bubak [9]