By T.J. Buffenbarger
TULSA, OK (January 11, 2022) — TULSA, OK (January 11, 2022) – Buddy Kofoid passed Kyle Larson in the closing stages of the main event to win the preliminary featuring Tuesday during Warren CAT Qualifying Night at the 36th Chili Bowl Nationals at the Tulsa Expo Raceway.
Kofoid, from Penngrove, California, diced with his California counterpart Larson for the lead throughout the 30 lap feature, driving by Larson on a late race restart. Kofoid then had to hold off multiple challenges from Larson in the closing stages for the victory.
“Shit, that was tough!” Kofoid exclaimed after exiting the car. “ The curb was treacherous, exactly how I like it. I don’t even know what to say. We had a really good race car. All day I could execute really well, and it felt like it did what I needed it to do every time.”
Kofoid and his Keith Kunz Motorsports team bounced back from a crash during the VIROC event Monday night, and was quick to credit his team for making repairs.
“I can’t thank Jared, Brandon, Kaz, Chuck, and Brandon enough. This thing was bent this morning and pretty much had a seat and a front end, and now it’s got all new parts and this thing runs good bent.
Larson and Kofoid started on the front row of the main event with Larson driving to the lead while Kofoid traded second place with his Keith Kunz Racing teammate Kaylee Bryson. Kofoid secured second by lap three using the top of the racetrack. Larson moved from running the bottom up to the top of the track.
The first caution flag of the event appeared with six laps compete when Sam Hafertepe Jr. slowed with a right front tire that came off the wheel. Hafertepe’s crew was able to change the tire and join the tail of the field for the restart.
During the restart Kofoid was able look under Larson on the bottom of turns three and four, but Larson used his momentum on the top side of the track to hold the lead. Larson then adjusted his line to keep Kofoid at bay.
Further back in the field Kaylee Bryson, Chris Windom, and Jake Swanson were dicing for the third position. Swanson was able to get by Bryson for third position on lap 13, with Windom following him by Bryson one lap later.
Larson began to overtake slower traffic at the halfway point in the main event and used the slower cars to open some distance between himself and Kofoid. Larson’s advantage was erased by a caution on lap 21 when Alex Bright did a 360 degree spin in turn four, but stayed under power.
After another caution on lap 22 for Kaidon Brown slower with a flat right rear tire on the backstretch, Kofoid continued to pressure Larson for the lead with a slide job, but Larson was able to maintain the top position. The caution appeared one more time on lap 23 when Jake Neuman, Zach Daum, and Cody Brewer were involved in an incident on the back straightaway.
The final restart is when Kofoid ratcheted up the pressure on Larson, driving by him on the outside for the lead. Kofoid’s pass seemed to trigger another gear for Larson as he tried to slide by Kofoid in turns one and two but couldn’t make the pass.
Larson tried two more slide jobs on Kofoid but could not clear Kofoid and momentarily lost the second and final position to lock into Saturday’s finale to Chris Windom. Larson was able to fight back and regain second, but up front it was all Kofoid picking up the preliminary feature victory over Larson, Windom, Swanson, and Thomas Meseraull.
After the race Larson was disappointed to not pick up the win but was aware of the bigger picture of locking into Saturday’s finale.
“We’re still in the hunt for Saturday that’s all it matters. I’d like to win but there’s so that pull shuffle and get a good pill draw and line up in a good bracket and you try and put yourself in a good spot for the feature on Saturday.”
36th Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire
Warren CAT Qualifying Night
Tulsa Expo Raceway
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Monday, January 11, 2022
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 1K-Brayton Lynch[1]
2. 41X-Howard Moore[3]
3. 96-Cody Brewer[4]
4. 3N-Jake Neuman[6]
5. 8J-Jonathan Beason[9]
6. 7TX-Anthony Pope[5]
7. 2T-Tanner Allen[8]
8. 22J-Taylor Kuehl[2]
9. 4G-Paxton Gregory[7]
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 67-Michael Kofoid[4]
2. 92-Derek Hagar[2]
3. 4R-Nick Barger[3]
4. 3-Roy Larkin[5]
5. 2ND-Jeb Sessums[7]
6. 17R-Chris Crowder[8]
7. 251-Johnny Brown Jr[1]
8. 11H-Jori Hughes[6]
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 89-Chris Windom[1]
2. 01-Kyle Larson[6]
3. 71-Steven Snyder Jr[5]
4. 6A-AJ Bender[4]
5. 27-Briggs Danner[2]
6. 71T-Zac Taylor[7]
7. 21M-Michelle Parson[3]
DNS: 7W-Brendon Wiseley
Heat Race #4 (8 Laps)
1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[1]
2. 7X-Thomas Meseraull[6]
3. 40-Colton Hardy[5]
4. 57W-Kaidon Brown[8]
5. 54-Matt Westfall[3]
6. 97A-Will Armitage[2]
7. 11K-David Gasper[7]
8. 3L-Jesse Little[4]
Heat Race #5 (8 Laps)
1. 73H-Hunter Schuerenberg[4]
2. 27B-Jake Bubak[7]
3. 11T-Tyler Baran[3]
4. 22W-Curtis Jones[5]
5. 10-Kort Morgan[8]
6. 11M-Jeff Schindler[2]
7. 84S-Shaun Shapel[1]
8. 5B-Bobby Brewer[6]
Heat Race #6 (8 Laps)
1. 7U-Kyle Jones[1]
2. 55A-Jake Swanson[5]
3. 47-Zach Daum[3]
4. 21G-Casey Tillman[4]
5. 68B-Jason Martin[6]
6. 21B-Travis Braden[2]
7. 4S-AJ Gilbert[8]
8. 17C-Devin Camfield[7]
Heat Race #7 (8 Laps)
1. 71K-Kaylee Bryson[3]
2. 7MF-Chance Morton[6]
3. 22B-Troy Betts[1]
4. 75A-Bryan Stanfill[4]
5. 2MD-Gray Leadbetter[5]
6. 17K-Michael Koontz[8]
7. 34C-Cameron Willhite[7]
8. 4J-Josh Hodge[2]
Heat Race #8 (8 Laps)
1. 19B-Alex Bright[2]
2. 15-Donny Schatz[1]
3. 19K-Riley Kreisel[4]
4. 9T-Tim McCreadie[5]
5. 29S-Hank Davis[8]
6. 3W-Brandon Waelti[7]
7. 5X-Kevin Douglas[6]
8. 7DK-Darren Kauffman[3]
Heat Race #9 (8 Laps)
1. 7T-TJ Smith[1]
2. 45X-Roger Crockett[4]
3. 8W-Kaleb Montgomery[7]
4. 91A-Chris Andrews[2]
5. 4X-Carson Sousa[6]
6. 06-Rylan Gray[5]
7. 68S-Corby Scherb[8]
8. 14H-Mike Hess[3]
C-Main #1 (12 Laps)
1. 4X-Carson Sousa[1]
2. 27-Briggs Danner[5]
3. 97A-Will Armitage[8]
4. 21M-Michelle Parson[11]
5. 06-Rylan Gray[6]
6. 14H-Mike Hess[15]
7. 251-Johnny Brown Jr[12]
8. 4S-AJ Gilbert[7]
9. 21B-Travis Braden[9]
10. 3L-Jesse Little[14]
11. 34C-Cameron Willhite[10]
12. 4J-Josh Hodge[16]
13. 11H-Jori Hughes[13]
14. 3W-Brandon Waelti[4]
15. 17R-Chris Crowder[2]
16. 2MD-Gray Leadbetter[3]
C-Main #2 (12 Laps)
1. 71T-Zac Taylor[3]
2. 54-Matt Westfall[4]
3. 91A-Chris Andrews[1]
4. 68S-Corby Scherb[7]
5. 11K-David Gasper[9]
6. 2T-Tanner Allen[6]
7. 7TX-Anthony Pope[5]
8. 4G-Paxton Gregory[16]
9. 17C-Devin Camfield[11]
10. 5X-Kevin Douglas[10]
11. 84S-Shaun Shapel[12]
12. 11M-Jeff Schindler[8]
13. 22J-Taylor Kuehl[15]
14. 7DK-Darren Kauffman[14]
15. 17K-Michael Koontz[2]
16. 5B-Bobby Brewer[13]
Qualifier #1 (10 Laps)
1. 89-Chris Windom[3]
2. 57W-Kaidon Brown[2]
3. 19K-Riley Kreisel[7]
4. 27B-Jake Bubak[6]
5. 7X-Thomas Meseraull[5]
6. 92-Derek Hagar[1]
7. 22W-Curtis Jones[9]
8. 4R-Nick Barger[8]
9. 8W-Kaleb Montgomery[4]
10. 6A-AJ Bender[10]
Qualifier #2 (10 Laps)
1. 8J-Jonathan Beason[1]
2. 67-Michael Kofoid[6]
3. 19B-Alex Bright[4]
4. 3N-Jake Neuman[7]
5. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[3]
6. 7MF-Chance Morton[5]
7. 9T-Tim McCreadie[9]
8. 41X-Howard Moore[2]
9. 11T-Tyler Baran[8]
10. 21G-Casey Tillman[10]
Qualifier #3 (10 Laps)
1. 7U-Kyle Jones[3]
2. 71K-Kaylee Bryson[5]
3. 15-Donny Schatz[1]
4. 47-Zach Daum[8]
5. 45X-Roger Crockett[4]
6. 75A-Bryan Stanfill[10]
7. 22B-Troy Betts[9]
8. 10-Kort Morgan[7]
9. 73H-Hunter Schuerenberg[6]
10. 71-Steven Snyder Jr[2]
Qualifier #4 (10 Laps)
1. 01-Kyle Larson[6]
2. 96-Cody Brewer[1]
3. 7T-TJ Smith[3]
4. 55A-Jake Swanson[5]
5. 29S-Hank Davis[7]
6. 2ND-Jeb Sessums[9]
7. 1K-Brayton Lynch[4]
8. 40-Colton Hardy[2]
9. 68B-Jason Martin[10]
10. 3-Roy Larkin[8]
B-Main #1 (15 Laps)
1. 29S-Hank Davis[3]
2. 45X-Roger Crockett[2]
3. 27-Briggs Danner[14]
4. 9T-Tim McCreadie[6]
5. 6A-AJ Bender[12]
6. 92-Derek Hagar[7]
7. 97A-Will Armitage[15]
8. 41X-Howard Moore[8]
9. 7MF-Chance Morton[1]
10. 4R-Nick Barger[9]
11. 1K-Brayton Lynch[5]
12. 21M-Michelle Parson[16]
13. 11T-Tyler Baran[10]
14. 2ND-Jeb Sessums[4]
15. 4X-Carson Sousa[13]
16. (DQ) 71-Steven Snyder Jr[11]
B-Main #2 (15 Laps)
1. 73H-Hunter Schuerenberg[4]
2. 15-Donny Schatz[1]
3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[2]
4. 40-Colton Hardy[8]
5. 8W-Kaleb Montgomery[7]
6. 22W-Curtis Jones[5]
7. 21G-Casey Tillman[12]
8. 54-Matt Westfall[14]
9. 71T-Zac Taylor[13]
10. 22B-Troy Betts[6]
11. 10-Kort Morgan[9]
12. 68S-Corby Scherb[16]
13. 91A-Chris Andrews[15]
14. 68B-Jason Martin[10]
15. 75A-Bryan Stanfill[3]
16. 3-Roy Larkin[11]
A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 67-Michael Kofoid[2]
2. 01-Kyle Larson[1]
3. 89-Chris Windom[4]
4. 55A-Jake Swanson[11]
5. 7X-Thomas Meseraull[13]
6. 71K-Kaylee Bryson[3]
7. 27B-Jake Bubak[6]
8. 8J-Jonathan Beason[10]
9. 7U-Kyle Jones[5]
10. 9T-Tim McCreadie[23]
11. 45X-Roger Crockett[19]
12. 73H-Hunter Schuerenberg[18]
13. 19K-Riley Kreisel[7]
14. 19B-Alex Bright[8]
15. 15-Donny Schatz[20]
16. 47-Zach Daum[14]
17. 27-Briggs Danner[21]
18. 29S-Hank Davis[17]
19. 40-Colton Hardy[24]
20. 7T-TJ Smith[12]
21. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[22]
22. 3N-Jake Neuman[15]
23. 96-Cody Brewer[16]
24. 57W-Kaidon Brown[9]