TULSA, OK (January 14, 2026) — For the second year in a row Emerson Axsom was victorious during Hasty Bake Qualifying Night during the Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink. Emerson, from Franklin, Indiana, took the lead from Colby Copeland on lap 19 and held off a charging Daison Pursley over the final six laps for the feature victory, locking himself into Saturday night’s Chili Bowl finale.
Axsom, who had dropped back to fifth position nine laps into the 30-lap feature event, rallied back to take the runner up position from Colby Copeland on lap 24, producing a three car race for the lead hounding Axsom in the closing stages of the feature event until stumbling on the cushion between turns one and two with two laps to go, allowing Axsom to open some breathing room to maintain the lead until the finish with a 1.052 second advantage at the finish.
Copeland, Thomas Meseraull, and Kevin Thomas Jr. rounded out the top five.
40th Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink
Hasty Bake Qualifying Night
Tulsa Expo Raceway
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Friday, January 16, 2026
JUGO Super Foods Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 41-Corey Day[4]
2. 8K-KJ Snow[5]
3. 1R-RJ Johnson[8]
4. 76-Chris Murray[7]
5. 80M-Steve Miller[2]
6. 75H-Hunter Wilson[1]
7. 00H-John Heitzman[6]
8. 2T-Eli Geidel[3]
DNS: 42-Matt Carr
JUGO Super Foods Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 22X-Steven Shebester[1]
2. 32W-Alex Bright[2]
3. 68T-TJ Smith[8]
4. 19F-Chad Davis[4]
5. 75X-Kaleb Johnson[7]
6. 5A-Austin Hawkins[3]
7. 19M-Isaiah Vasquez[5]
8. 7C-Stuart Snyder[9]
9. 7K-Whit Gastineau[6]
JUGO Super Foods Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 84UK-Tom Harris[2]
2. 3N-Jake Neuman[4]
3. 05-Alex Midkiff[1]
4. 31B-Jake Swanson[5]
5. 78-Brody Wake[3]
6. 7P-Cap Henry[6]
7. 19K-Riley Kreisel[8]
8. 51T-Cole Tinsley[7]
JUGO Super Foods Heat Race #4 (8 Laps)
1. 88A-Austin Torgerson[2]
2. 29-Tim Buckwalter[3]
3. 5X-Jacob Dykstra[5]
4. 75A-Will Armitage[6]
5. 7RM-Ryan Marshall[4]
6. 44R-Branigan Roark[7]
7. 1X-Jake Scott[1]
8. 1-Sammy Swindell[8]
JUGO Super Foods Heat Race #5 (8 Laps)
1. 19T-Mitchel Moles[3]
2. 14K-Kevin Thomas Jr[8]
3. 4B-Chelby Hinton[6]
4. 12C-Colby Stubblefield[5]
5. 16C-David Camfield Jr[7]
6. 77K-Kevin Cook[1]
7. 32J-Jason Tessier[4]
8. 3W-Brandon Waelti[2]
JUGO Super Foods Heat Race #6 (8 Laps)
1. 7AU-Harry Stewart[1]
2. 71X-Aiden Price[4]
3. 67K-Colton Robinson[6]
4. 4KD-Kale Drake[7]
5. 77B-Bret Klabunde[2]
6. 17G-Gage Rucker[5]
7. 91J-Jimmy Sivia[8]
8. 3VZ-Grant Schaadt[3]
JUGO Super Foods Heat Race #7 (8 Laps)
1. 27W-Colby Copeland[2]
2. 45B-Bradley Cox[1]
3. 7X-Thomas Meseraull[8]
4. 45S-Caleb Stelzig[5]
5. 121-Cord Kisthardt[3]
6. 80D-Heath Nestrick[6]
7. 18C-Sean Cleavland[7]
8. 33W-Rece Wommack[4]
JUGO Super Foods Heat Race #8 (8 Laps)
1. 39A-Emerson Axsom[4]
2. 25B-Steve Buckwalter[2]
3. 08-Jeffrey Newell[3]
4. 71CR-Gunnar Pike[6]
5. 91X-Danny Wood[5]
6. 42K-Kevin Battefeld[8]
7. 70-Cade Cowles[1]
8. 715-Robert Bell[7]
JUGO Super Foods Heat Race #9 (8 Laps)
1. 86-Daison Pursley[5]
2. 35-Tyler Robbins[1]
3. 251-Johnny Brown Jr[2]
4. 40S-Jace Sparks[7]
5. 32X-Jordan Hermansader[3]
6. 2F-Casey Friedrichsen[6]
7. 29R-Ritchie Burcik[8]
8. 4A-Kermit Burnam Jr[4]
C-Main #1 (12 Laps)
1. 78-Brody Wake[2]
2. 7P-Cap Henry[5]
3. 17G-Gage Rucker[7]
4. 7RM-Ryan Marshall[1]
5. 2F-Casey Friedrichsen[6]
6. 32X-Jordan Hermansader[3]
7. 70-Cade Cowles[12]
8. 3VZ-Grant Schaadt[14]
9. 91J-Jimmy Sivia[8]
10. 75H-Hunter Wilson[9]
11. 00H-John Heitzman[10]
12. 2T-Eli Geidel[13]
13. 715-Robert Bell[11]
14. 80M-Steve Miller[4]
DNS: 1-Sammy Swindell
DNS: 33W-Rece Wommack
DNS: 7K-Whit Gastineau
C-Main #2 (12 Laps)
1. 19K-Riley Kreisel[6]
2. 51T-Cole Tinsley[10]
3. 44R-Branigan Roark[1]
4. 3W-Brandon Waelti[14]
5. 4A-Kermit Burnam Jr[12]
6. 77K-Kevin Cook[8]
7. 29R-Ritchie Burcik[11]
8. 80D-Heath Nestrick[5]
9. 5A-Austin Hawkins[13]
10. 77B-Bret Klabunde[4]
11. 18C-Sean Cleavland[7]
12. 121-Cord Kisthardt[2]
13. 7C-Stuart Snyder[3]
14. 32J-Jason Tessier[9]
DNS: 19M-Isaiah Vasquez
DNS: 1X-Jake Scott
DNS: 42-Matt Carr
Toyota Qualifier #1 (10 Laps)
1. 14K-Kevin Thomas Jr[6]
2. 3N-Jake Neuman[3]
3. 22X-Steven Shebester[2]
4. 76-Chris Murray[1]
5. 8K-KJ Snow[4]
6. 25B-Steve Buckwalter[7]
7. 1R-RJ Johnson[5]
8. 12C-Colby Stubblefield[9]
9. 16C-David Camfield Jr[10]
10. 71CR-Gunnar Pike[8]
Toyota Qualifier #2 (10 Laps)
1. 4KD-Kale Drake[1]
2. 7AU-Harry Stewart[2]
3. 86-Daison Pursley[6]
4. 71X-Aiden Price[3]
5. 68T-TJ Smith[5]
6. 45B-Bradley Cox[7]
7. 45S-Caleb Stelzig[9]
8. 84UK-Tom Harris[4]
9. 08-Jeffrey Newell[8]
10. 19F-Chad Davis[10]
Toyota Qualifier #3 (10 Laps)
1. 29-Tim Buckwalter[2]
2. 4B-Chelby Hinton[3]
3. 7X-Thomas Meseraull[5]
4. 41-Corey Day[6]
5. 88A-Austin Torgerson[4]
6. 40S-Jace Sparks[1]
7. 35-Tyler Robbins[7]
8. 05-Alex Midkiff[9]
9. 251-Johnny Brown Jr[8]
10. 42K-Kevin Battefeld[10]
Toyota Qualifier #4 (10 Laps)
1. 39A-Emerson Axsom[6]
2. 27W-Colby Copeland[4]
3. 19T-Mitchel Moles[5]
4. 32W-Alex Bright[1]
5. 31B-Jake Swanson[8]
6. 67K-Colton Robinson[3]
7. 5X-Jacob Dykstra[2]
8. 91X-Danny Wood[10]
9. 75X-Kaleb Johnson[9]
10. 75A-Will Armitage[7]
Ferguson Supply B-Main #1 (15 Laps)
1. 45B-Bradley Cox[4]
2. 88A-Austin Torgerson[1]
3. 45S-Caleb Stelzig[5]
4. 1R-RJ Johnson[3]
5. 84UK-Tom Harris[6]
6. 7P-Cap Henry[14]
7. 05-Alex Midkiff[8]
8. 78-Brody Wake[13]
9. 71CR-Gunnar Pike[11]
10. 7RM-Ryan Marshall[16]
11. 5X-Jacob Dykstra[7]
12. 16C-David Camfield Jr[9]
13. 17G-Gage Rucker[15]
14. 76-Chris Murray[2]
15. 251-Johnny Brown Jr[10]
16. 19F-Chad Davis[12]
Ferguson Supply B-Main #2 (15 Laps)
1. 31B-Jake Swanson[1]
2. 32W-Alex Bright[2]
3. 67K-Colton Robinson[4]
4. 12C-Colby Stubblefield[7]
5. 25B-Steve Buckwalter[3]
6. 08-Jeffrey Newell[9]
7. 19K-Riley Kreisel[11]
8. 40S-Jace Sparks[5]
9. 91X-Danny Wood[8]
10. 75X-Kaleb Johnson[10]
11. 35-Tyler Robbins[6]
12. 51T-Cole Tinsley[14]
13. 3W-Brandon Waelti[15]
14. 44R-Branigan Roark[13]
15. 42K-Kevin Battefeld[12]
DNS: 75A-Will Armitage
JST Motorsports A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 39A-Emerson Axsom[2]
2. 86-Daison Pursley[3]
3. 27W-Colby Copeland[4]
4. 7X-Thomas Meseraull[5]
5. 14K-Kevin Thomas Jr[1]
6. 41-Corey Day[7]
7. 19T-Mitchel Moles[6]
8. 29-Tim Buckwalter[8]
9. 4B-Chelby Hinton[10]
10. 31B-Jake Swanson[18]
11. 67K-Colton Robinson[22]
12. 45B-Bradley Cox[17]
13. 32W-Alex Bright[20]
14. 7AU-Harry Stewart[12]
15. 45S-Caleb Stelzig[21]
16. 4KD-Kale Drake[11]
17. 3N-Jake Neuman[9]
18. 22X-Steven Shebester[13]
19. 88A-Austin Torgerson[19]
20. 1R-RJ Johnson[23]
21. 8K-KJ Snow[16]
22. 12C-Colby Stubblefield[24]
23. 68T-TJ Smith[14]
24. 71X-Aiden Price[15]