By T.J. Buffenbarger
(January 12, 2026) — The Chili Bowl Nationals is the only time of year where I actively make predictions, other than the Knoxville Nationals, of who might lock in or win a preliminary night of a major event. For better (or most of the time worse) look for these predictions each day before the preliminary night races at the Tulsa Expo Raceway.
Here are the drivers I’ll feel are going to have strong showings to open the 40th edition of the Chili Bowl Nationals.
Drivers I feel have the best shot at locking into Saturday’s A-Main…
• Kyle Larson: The Defending Chili Bowl Champion won his preliminary night in 2025 in route to winning the Saturday night finale for the fourth time in his career. If you are familiar with short track open wheel racing, or motorsports in general, I don’t have to go into pages of text to describe how good Kyle Larson is. Baring any kind of misfortune, Larson locking into Saturday is a safe assumption.
• Shane Golobic: Shane Golobic has finished in second position over the the past three years on his preliminary night at the Chili Bowl Nationals. Since 2016 Golobic has made the feature on his preliminary night every year and has only finished outside the top five once during that time span.
• Cannon McIntosh: Since 2019 McIntosh has not finished any lower than sixth in his preliminary night feature and has three victories in that timespan. Last year McIntosh finished third on his preliminary night, just one spot out of a transfer. McIntosh consistently finds the front on preliminary nights at the Chili Bowl and is a strong favorite to log into Saturday’s finale through tonight’s main event.
• Tanner Carrick: With two preliminary night features over the past five years at Tulsa, Carrick also has feature event finishes of 18th, fifth, and 11th over the past five years. Carrick knows his way around the Tulsa Expo Raceway and if he can avoid issues will be near a transfer position.
• Briggs Danner: Danner does not have as strong of a history at Tulsa with only one top five finish in his preliminary night feature at the Chili Bowl but has made the preliminary main his past four attempts. Danner is still improving each season and if he can avoid some of the pitfalls that have placed him 24th on two occasions and 17th one time during preliminary mains, he should be in contention to finish near the front on Monday.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see this group of drivers land in the top five….
• Jakeb Boxell: The rookie from Zanesville, Indiana has shown speed at times and is with a strong team in 4-Kings Racing for his rookie effort at Tulsa. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Boxell make a good impression on his preliminary night at the Chili Bowl.
• Justin Peck: I prefer choosing people with midget racing experience at the Chili Bowl to run up front in their preliminary nights. Peck grew up racing midgets before becoming a full-time winged sprint car driver. While Peck has been around the back end of the top 10 three of the past five preliminary nights at Tulsa, he is making the features and is due for a strong finish on a preliminary night. Teaming up with Rossi/Petty Racing should help that effort.
• Joe B Miller: Miller has a lot of laps around Tulsa and has made the preliminary feature the past six years on his qualifying night, never finishing worse than 14th. Catching the right brakes, Miller could be sniffing around a top five finish like he did in 2021 with a fifth-place finish.
• Drake Edwards: Edwards has one 16th place finish to his credit on his preliminary night at the Chili Bowl. With a year of experience and CB Industries behind him Edwards should be able to improve upon that finish on Monday night.
Other notable entries for Monday include….
• Late model and modified standout Nick Hoffman, who has made his preliminary night the past three years including a top five finish in 2022.
• Veteran Colorado midget racer Keith Rauch who made his preliminary feature last year for the first time since 2009.
• Driver and full-time race car mechanic Gary Taylor who has made his preliminary feature event the past six years at the Chili Bowl Nationals.
• Motorsports commentator and pit reporter Dillon Welch, who makes the most of his rare driving opportunities these days finishing in the top 10 in his Chili Bowl preliminary nights the past four years.
• Jerry Coons Jr. spends most of his time recently overseeing his son Cale’s career also makes the most of his Chili Bowl efforts making the preliminary feature the past six years and almost cracked the top five last year with a sixth-place finish.