By T.J. Buffenbarger
TULSA, OK (January 12, 2026) – Kyle Larson began his quest to add another golden driller trophy to his mantle to match the trio from his previous triumphs by winning the feature event during 2nd Opinion Auto Center Qualifying Night at the 40th Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink.
Larson traversed the top of the Tulsa Expo Raceway to drive from fourth to first position in 10 laps and was able to pace himself in slower traffic at the end while holding off a rapidly closing Briggs Danner at the finish.
Getting to the top lane before one of Larson’s counterparts, Shane Golobic, ended up being a key moment early in the race that allowed his surge from first to fourth in the first 1/3 of the main event.
“From the beginning, I had to commit to the top, and which is not a bad place to be, because you can get it cleaned off,” said Larson. I knew I had to keep Shane (Golobic) from clearing up in front of me, because he had the same ideas as me. If (Golobic) could just get in front of me, he’d get ringing the top and probably get to the lead, so it was important to stay in front of him.”
Larson indicated after the feature that being patient in the closing stages was one of the keys to keeping Danner at bay and securing the victory to lock into Saturday’s finale.
“It was just starting to get slick below the curb there, and then you’re sliding to it more. And I wasn’t quite ready to, you know, start ramping the wall yet. And then, yeah, I know, you know, Briggs is getting close to me there but just trying to play it as safe as I could, to not, you know, make big mistakes. And, you know, back my pace down. So, yeah, just executed on the prelim night once again. So, you know, good to be back in position for Saturday.
For Larson it was his ninth preliminary victory at the Chili Bowl and second in a row during Monday night’s program.
Cannon McIntosh and Danner on the front row for the 30-lap main event with McIntosh taking the lead at the start with Danner, Golobic, and Larson in tow.
Larson was able to get up to the top quickly and move forward passing Golobic for third on lap three, Danner for second on lap seven, and around McIntosh on lap 10 as the lead trio entered slower traffic.
McIntosh and Danner kept Larson in site through the slower cars with McIntosh getting a look to the bottom for the lead on lap 17 but could not make the pass.
While overtaking slower cars Larson got together with Gaige Weldon in turn four with Weldon spinning out. Travis Berryhill was also collected in the incident to bring out the caution flag, giving Larson a clear racetrack.
Larson was able to drive away on the restart while Danner and McIntosh exchanged the second position with Golobic on their bumpers in fourth, creating a three-car race for second position when the caution came out on lap 18 for debris on the front stretch.
McIntosh and Danner continued to battle for second position while Larson opened some breathing distance in the lead. Danner took over the position on lap 21 and set out after Larson for the lead.
Danner continued to close over the final 10 laps on Larson’s back bumper. With three laps to go the leaders entered traffic This allowed Larson to get away for the victory over Briggs Danner, Cannon McIntosh, Shane Golobic, and Jerry Coons Jr. rounding out the top five.
For Danner, locking in was redemption after being in the same position last year on his preliminary night before crashing out of the feature event.
“It definitely feels good,” said Danner post-race. “Big shout out to Alex, Mickey, John, C.J, everybody that’s made this whole deal possible for us. The car was so good, and after last year, I’ve probably thought about that prelim feature every day since. I just knew I couldn’t make that mistake again. To track down Kyle is a feat in itself. I felt really good. I didn’t even really feel like I was pushing super hard after I got by (McIntosh), I just knew I had to keep my head on my shoulders and run a clean race. It would have been really nice to win, but to lock into Saturday makes the whole rest of the week a lot easier, and still gives us a good shot to run well.”
40th Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink
2nd Opinion Auto Center Qualifying Night
Tulsa Expo Raceway
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Monday, January 12, 2026
JUGO Super Foods Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 2H-Nick Hoffman[1]
2. 27-Keith Rauch[2]
3. 51B-Joe B Miller[4]
4. 9B-Brian Schwabauer[3]
5. 25-Blaine Baxter[5]
6. 50-Daniel Adler[7]
7. 56-Bill Johnson[6]
8. 44J-Corey Mullins[8]
JUGO Super Foods Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 3Z-Trey Zorn[4]
2. 39H-Sam Hinds[3]
3. 20H-Noah Harris[5]
4. 32A-Alex Sewell[8]
5. 5L-Matt Lux[6]
6. 11G-Hayden Mabe[7]
7. 16K-Billy Rayburn[1]
8. 99-Jan Evans[2]
JUGO Super Foods Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 71K-Cannon McIntosh[6]
2. 55K-Todd Kluever[1]
3. 55D-Nick Drake[3]
4. 83-Drake Edwards[4]
5. 2B-Tanner Berryhill[7]
6. 57F-Blake Green[2]
7. P1-Paul White[5]
8. 2N-Broddy Enter[8]
JUGO Super Foods Heat Race #4 (8 Laps)
1. 60X-Dillon Welch[3]
2. 71G-Zach Hampton[5]
3. 77A-Preston Norbury[6]
4. 3P-Justin Peck[8]
5. 68D-Eric Blumer[1]
6. 23-Jack France[4]
7. 8D-Colin Deming[7]
8. 8X-Jeff Schindler[2]
JUGO Super Foods Heat Race #5 (8 Laps)
1. 32T-Trey Marcham[1]
2. 55I-Briggs Danner[7]
3. 93-Ryder McCutcheon[2]
4. 80A-Taylor Courtney[3]
5. 118-Tyler Hewitt[8]
6. 44X-Bryson Smith[5]
7. 9E-Andy Eickhoff[6]
8. P92-Jimmy Light[4]
JUGO Super Foods Heat Race #6 (8 Laps)
1. 32-Gary Taylor[3]
2. 68W-Jake Andreotti[8]
3. 1K-Kyle Larson[6]
4. 44K-Jakeb Boxell[7]
5. 9-Emilio Hoover[4]
6. 40J-Dave Collins Jr[5]
7. 86C-David Camfield Sr[1]
8. 3-Gage Trube[2]
JUGO Super Foods Heat Race #7 (8 Laps)
1. 9U-Kameron Key[6]
2. 31K-Jesse Schlotfeldt[1]
3. 17-John Barnard[7]
4. 8XL-Christian Miller[4]
5. 7B-Garrett Benson[5]
6. 25GP-Dustin Morris[2]
7. 5F-Danny Frye III[3]
JUGO Super Foods Heat Race #8 (8 Laps)
1. 17W-Shane Golobic[4]
2. 35L-Gaige Weldon[2]
3. 45H-Logan Prickett[6]
4. 7J-Shawn Jackson[1]
5. 8M-Kade Morton[5]
6. 3V-Jim Vanzant[7]
7. 17K-Cole Parker[3]
JUGO Super Foods Heat Race #9 (8 Laps)
1. 98-Tanner Carrick[2]
2. 85-Jerry Coons Jr[4]
3. 7D-Michelle Decker[6]
4. 6B-Brylee Kilmer[3]
5. 31C-Nathan Crane[7]
6. 27G-Steve Gresham[1]
7. 14L-Mack Leopard[5]
C-Main (12 Laps)
1. 25-Blaine Baxter[1]
2. 50-Daniel Adler[3]
3. 8M-Kade Morton[2]
4. 44X-Bryson Smith[5]
5. 23-Jack France[6]
6. 25GP-Dustin Morris[7]
7. 3V-Jim Vanzant[4]
8. 14L-Mack Leopard[15]
9. 86C-David Camfield Sr[11]
10. 3-Gage Trube[13]
11. 17K-Cole Parker[10]
12. 99-Jan Evans[14]
13. 9E-Andy Eickhoff[9]
14. 2N-Broddy Enter[12]
15. 27G-Steve Gresham[8]
C-Main 2 (12 Laps)
1. 9-Emilio Hoover[2]
2. 7B-Garrett Benson[1]
3. P1-Paul White[9]
4. 11G-Hayden Mabe[3]
5. 8D-Colin Deming[7]
6. 57F-Blake Green[6]
7. 44J-Corey Mullins[11]
8. 8X-Jeff Schindler[14]
9. 16K-Billy Rayburn[12]
10. 68D-Eric Blumer[4]
11. 56-Bill Johnson[8]
12. 40J-Dave Collins Jr[5]
13. P92-Jimmy Light[13]
14. 5F-Danny Frye III[10]
TRD Qualifier #1 (10 Laps)
1. 1K-Kyle Larson[3]
2. 71K-Cannon McIntosh[6]
3. 32T-Trey Marcham[2]
4. 71G-Zach Hampton[4]
5. 20H-Noah Harris[1]
6. 3Z-Trey Zorn[5]
7. 55K-Todd Kluever[7]
8. 31C-Nathan Crane[9]
9. 118-Tyler Hewitt[8]
10. 80A-Taylor Courtney[10]
TRD Qualifier #2 (10 Laps)
1. 44K-Jakeb Boxell[1]
2. 17W-Shane Golobic[5]
3. 98-Tanner Carrick[4]
4. 32A-Alex Sewell[2]
5. 9U-Kameron Key[6]
6. 55D-Nick Drake[8]
7. 31K-Jesse Schlotfeldt[7]
8. 83-Drake Edwards[9]
9. 6B-Brylee Kilmer[10]
10. 45H-Logan Prickett[3]
TRD Qualifier #3 (10 Laps)
1. 3P-Justin Peck[2]
2. 85-Jerry Coons Jr[4]
3. 60X-Dillon Welch[5]
4. 51B-Joe B Miller[7]
5. 27-Keith Rauch[1]
6. 93-Ryder McCutcheon[8]
7. 5L-Matt Lux[10]
8. 7D-Michelle Decker[3]
9. 8XL-Christian Miller[9]
10. 68W-Jake Andreotti[6]
TRD Qualifier #4 (10 Laps)
1. 35L-Gaige Weldon[1]
2. 55I-Briggs Danner[6]
3. 2H-Nick Hoffman[3]
4. 32-Gary Taylor[5]
5. 2B-Tanner Berryhill[8]
6. 17-John Barnard[7]
7. 77A-Preston Norbury[4]
8. 7J-Shawn Jackson[10]
9. 9B-Brian Schwabauer[9]
10. 39H-Sam Hinds[2]
Ferguson Supply B-Main (15 Laps)
1. 2B-Tanner Berryhill[2]
2. 3Z-Trey Zorn[1]
3. 55D-Nick Drake[3]
4. 93-Ryder McCutcheon[4]
5. 25-Blaine Baxter[13]
6. 50-Daniel Adler[14]
7. 31K-Jesse Schlotfeldt[7]
8. 83-Drake Edwards[9]
9. 9B-Brian Schwabauer[12]
10. 5L-Matt Lux[6]
11. 45H-Logan Prickett[10]
12. 77A-Preston Norbury[5]
13. 44X-Bryson Smith[16]
14. 8XL-Christian Miller[11]
15. 31C-Nathan Crane[8]
16. 8M-Kade Morton[15]
Ferguson Supply B-Main 2 (15 Laps)
1. 68W-Jake Andreotti[5]
2. 32A-Alex Sewell[1]
3. 55K-Todd Kluever[6]
4. 20H-Noah Harris[2]
5. 27-Keith Rauch[4]
6. P1-Paul White[15]
7. 17-John Barnard[3]
8. 80A-Taylor Courtney[12]
9. 39H-Sam Hinds[11]
10. 7B-Garrett Benson[14]
11. 9-Emilio Hoover[13]
12. 11G-Hayden Mabe[16]
13. 7J-Shawn Jackson[8]
14. 7D-Michelle Decker[7]
15. 118-Tyler Hewitt[9]
16. 6B-Brylee Kilmer[10]
JST Motorsports A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 1K-Kyle Larson[4]
2. 55I-Briggs Danner[2]
3. 71K-Cannon McIntosh[1]
4. 17W-Shane Golobic[3]
5. 85-Jerry Coons Jr[5]
6. 3P-Justin Peck[7]
7. 9U-Kameron Key[8]
8. 98-Tanner Carrick[9]
9. 44K-Jakeb Boxell[10]
10. 2H-Nick Hoffman[14]
11. 32-Gary Taylor[11]
12. 32T-Trey Marcham[16]
13. 3Z-Trey Zorn[19]
14. 35L-Gaige Weldon[12]
15. 68W-Jake Andreotti[18]
16. 60X-Dillon Welch[6]
17. 51B-Joe B Miller[15]
18. 71G-Zach Hampton[13]
19. 93-Ryder McCutcheon[23]
20. 32A-Alex Sewell[20]
21. 20H-Noah Harris[24]
22. 55D-Nick Drake[21]
23. 55K-Todd Kluever[22]
24. 2B-Tanner Berryhill[17]