By T.J. Buffenbarger
TULSA, Okla. (January 10, 2023) — Hank Davis scored the biggest win of his young career Tuesday night winning the Warren CAT Qualifying Night qualifying night feature during the 37th Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire.
Davis, who lives about 20 minutes from the Tulsa Expo Center in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, overcame heavy contact early in the race while racing for second position with Michael Pickens before taking over the lead from Buddy Kofoid after Kofoid was swept into a crash while in the lead. David finished off his upset triumph by holding off Monday’s Race of Champions winner Spencer Bayston over the final two laps for the victory.
“I promise you I couldn’t have even dreamed of this day,” Davis said in victory lane, still in shock over his upset victory. “I really feel bad for getting into Pickens there. I checked up for him a little earlier in the race so I really apologize to him and Dave Mack and all those guys, I don’t want to tear up any race cars but man, I really can’t believe it. I can’t think Matt Seymour and all those guys enough.”
The eventful 30-lap feature introduced chaos early with Daison Pursley leading the opening lap racing with Buddy Kofoid for the lead. While exchanging the top stop Pursley got sideways between turns three and four and collected Alex Bowman, Devon Borden, and Darin Naida. Pursley and Borden rejoined the field for the restart while Bowman and Naida were unable to make repair.
Kofoid dove away up front while Michael Pickens and slid Davis for second with Davis having to check up. After a red flag for Borden flipping on the backstretch, Davis returned the favor in turns three and four the next lap with Pickens not backing down, resulting in contact and Pickens getting upside down, ending his run in the main event.
Kofoid continued to lead until disaster struck on lap seven when Damion Gardner and Daison Pursley got together in turns one and two. Unable to avoid the crash, Kofoid slid into the fence and damaged the front end on his car bad enough that repairs were not made in time for him to rejoin the field, handing the lead to Davis.
Dave pulled away while Bayston, Jade Avedisian, Kyle Jonies, Jonathan Beason, and Kaylee Bryson all diced for second on back exchanging positions with wild slide jobs.
Bayston eventually took over the second spot and started to run down Davis for the lead. With two laps to go Bayston was on Davis’ back bumper but could not make the pass with Davis driving his Matt Seymour Racing entry to victory. Bayston held on for the second and final position to automatically lock into Saturday’s finale while Avedisian set a record for the highest finishing female in a Chili Bowl preliminary night with her third-place finish.
37th Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire
Warren CAT Qualifying Night
Tulsa Expo Raceway
Tuesday, January 10, 2023
OERB Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 71-Kaylee Bryson[1]
2. 71W-Michael Kofoid[9]
3. 71G-Damion Gardner[5]
4. 44-Colton Hardy[7]
5. 23-Patrick Ryan[6]
6. 19K-Riley Kreisel[3]
7. 75X-Alex Vande Voort[8]
8. 46-Adam Andretti[4]
9. 11H-Jori Hughes[2]
OERB Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 15F-Kinzer Edwards[3]
2. 5LK-Jordan Kinser[8]
3. 39T-Tim McCreadie[5]
4. 26-Chance Crum[7]
5. 7C-Josh Bilicki[1]
6. 51-Curtis Jones[4]
7. 34C-Cameron Willhite[2]
8. 21B-Trey Burke[6]
9. 7TX-Anthony Pope[9]
OERB Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 1S-Spencer Bayston[3]
2. 1K-Brayton Lynch[2]
3. 71E-Mariah Ede[4]
4. 4X-Michael Pickens[9]
5. 21A-Austin Langenstein[5]
6. 45S-Shon Deskins[6]
7. 17L-Cody Trammell[8]
8. 251-Johnny Brown Jr[7]
9. 19X-Dylan Archer[1]
OERB Heat Race #4 (8 Laps)
1. 57W-Devon Borden[2]
2. 29S-Hank Davis[5]
3. 8R-Randi Pankratz[3]
4. 22B-Troy Betts[1]
5. 1Z-Justin Zimmerman[7]
6. 31B-Kyle Beilman[4]
7. 11N-Nick Baran[8]
8. 6D-Isaac Chapple[9]
9. 80-Jarrod Jennings[6]
OERB Heat Race #5 (8 Laps)
1. 55X-Alex Bowman[5]
2. 84-Jade Avedisian[6]
3. 3P-Darin Naida[4]
4. 14X-KJ Snow[3]
5. 4G-Drake Edwards[1]
6. 23S-Steve Irwin[7]
7. 96-Cody Brewer[8]
8. 68S-Corby Scherb[2]
OERB Heat Race #6 (8 Laps)
1. 27B-Jake Bubak[1]
2. 118-Scott Evans[4]
3. 22G-John Murdie[3]
4. 00G-Braedon Enos[8]
5. 715-Robert Bell[2]
6. 12H-Jared Hood[5]
7. 6K-Jesse Denome[7]
8. 14R-Brody Petrie[6]
OERB Heat Race #7 (8 Laps)
1. 88J-Jonathan Beason[7]
2. 7B-Cody Beard[1]
3. 23P-Preston Lattomus[4]
4. 7W-Brendon Wiseley[5]
5. 2ND-Jeb Sessums[8]
6. 71H-Austin Ervine[2]
7. 28M-Gray Leadbetter[3]
8. 84S-Shaun Shapel[6]
OERB Heat Race #8 (8 Laps)
1. 19A-Daison Pursley[4]
2. 21J-Kameron Key[5]
3. 7U-Kyle Jones[8]
4. 47-Zach Daum[6]
5. 5V-AJ Bender[1]
6. 37X-Blake Edwards[7]
7. 7E-Joseph Wray IV[3]
8. 22P-Marcus Kennedy[2]
C-Main #1 (12 Laps)
1. 19K-Riley Kreisel[6]
2. 4G-Drake Edwards[1]
3. 45S-Shon Deskins[2]
4. 21B-Trey Burke[10]
5. 28M-Gray Leadbetter[8]
6. 51-Curtis Jones[5]
7. 11H-Jori Hughes[13]
8. 34C-Cameron Willhite[9]
9. 75X-Alex Vande Voort[3]
10. 7TX-Anthony Pope[12]
11. 22P-Marcus Kennedy[11]
12. 6K-Jesse Denome[7]
13. 11N-Nick Baran[4]
DNS: 84S-Shaun Shapel
C-Main #2 (12 Laps)
1. 5V-AJ Bender[1]
2. 17L-Cody Trammell[3]
3. 71H-Austin Ervine[6]
4. 96-Cody Brewer[4]
5. 6D-Isaac Chapple[7]
6. 251-Johnny Brown Jr[9]
7. 14R-Brody Petrie[10]
8. 80-Jarrod Jennings[13]
9. 31B-Kyle Beilman[5]
10. 7E-Joseph Wray IV[8]
11. 68S-Corby Scherb[12]
12. 19X-Dylan Archer[14]
13. 46-Adam Andretti[11]
DNS: 12H-Jared Hood
Toyota Qualifier #1 (10 Laps)
1. 4X-Michael Pickens[3]
2. 19A-Daison Pursley[5]
3. 1S-Spencer Bayston[4]
4. 26-Chance Crum[1]
5. 88J-Jonathan Beason[6]
6. 3P-Darin Naida[7]
7. 14X-KJ Snow[9]
8. 8R-Randi Pankratz[8]
9. 23S-Steve Irwin[10]
10. 00G-Braedon Enos[2]
Toyota Qualifier #2 (10 Laps)
1. 29S-Hank Davis[4]
2. 71W-Michael Kofoid[6]
3. 84-Jade Avedisian[5]
4. 23P-Preston Lattomus[7]
5. 71G-Damion Gardner[2]
6. 118-Scott Evans[3]
7. 37X-Blake Edwards[10]
8. 23-Patrick Ryan[9]
9. 22G-John Murdie[8]
10. 1K-Brayton Lynch[1]
Toyota Qualifier #3 (10 Laps)
1. 71-Kaylee Bryson[3]
2. 21J-Kameron Key[4]
3. 39T-Tim McCreadie[2]
4. 7U-Kyle Jones[5]
5. 5LK-Jordan Kinser[6]
6. 47-Zach Daum[7]
7. 7W-Brendon Wiseley[8]
8. 22B-Troy Betts[9]
9. 7B-Cody Beard[1]
10. 715-Robert Bell[10]
Toyota Qualifier #4 (10 Laps)
1. 27B-Jake Bubak[3]
2. 57W-Devon Borden[4]
3. 55X-Alex Bowman[6]
4. 1Z-Justin Zimmerman[8]
5. 71E-Mariah Ede[1]
6. 15F-Kinzer Edwards[5]
7. 44-Colton Hardy[2]
8. 7C-Josh Bilicki[10]
9. 21A-Austin Langenstein[9]
10. 2ND-Jeb Sessums[7]
Davecom B-Main #1 (15 Laps)
1. 47-Zach Daum[4]
2. 26-Chance Crum[2]
3. 39T-Tim McCreadie[1]
4. 7W-Brendon Wiseley[5]
5. 19K-Riley Kreisel[13]
6. 8R-Randi Pankratz[7]
7. 45S-Shon Deskins[15]
8. 21B-Trey Burke[16]
9. 118-Scott Evans[3]
10. 23S-Steve Irwin[11]
11. 22B-Troy Betts[8]
12. 44-Colton Hardy[6]
13. 4G-Drake Edwards[14]
14. 21A-Austin Langenstein[12]
15. 7B-Cody Beard[10]
16. 7C-Josh Bilicki[9]
Davecom B-Main #2 (15 Laps)
1. 3P-Darin Naida[3]
2. 71G-Damion Gardner[2]
3. 5V-AJ Bender[13]
4. 71E-Mariah Ede[4]
5. 17L-Cody Trammell[14]
6. 2ND-Jeb Sessums[10]
7. 1K-Brayton Lynch[11]
8. 715-Robert Bell[12]
9. 23-Patrick Ryan[7]
10. 96-Cody Brewer[16]
11. 14X-KJ Snow[5]
12. 37X-Blake Edwards[6]
13. 00G-Braedon Enos[9]
14. 15F-Kinzer Edwards[1]
15. 71H-Austin Ervine[15]
16. 22G-John Murdie[8]
Warren CAT A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 29S-Hank Davis[3]
2. 1S-Spencer Bayston[12]
3. 84-Jade Avedisian[9]
4. 7U-Kyle Jones[14]
5. 88J-Jonathan Beason[11]
6. 71-Kaylee Bryson[7]
7. 26-Chance Crum[19]
8. 39T-Tim McCreadie[21]
9. 47-Zach Daum[17]
10. 21J-Kameron Key[6]
11. 5LK-Jordan Kinser[13]
12. 19A-Daison Pursley[2]
13. 27B-Jake Bubak[8]
14. 1Z-Justin Zimmerman[16]
15. 71E-Mariah Ede[24]
16. 23P-Preston Lattomus[15]
17. 5V-AJ Bender[22]
18. 7W-Brendon Wiseley[23]
19. 71G-Damion Gardner[20]
20. 71W-Michael Kofoid[1]
21. 4X-Michael Pickens[5]
22. 57W-Devon Borden[10]
23. 55X-Alex Bowman[4]
24. 3P-Darin Naida[18]