Tanner Thorson, a former Camping World Truck Series driver, won the Chili Bowl Nationals on Saturday, holding off NASCAR Cup racer Christopher Bell in the final laps.
Thorson’s victory ended Bell and reigning Cup winner Kyle Larson’s five-year winning streak. Bell has won three races in a row. Larson had won the previous two years.
Rico Abreu was third, Michael Kofoid was fourth, and Tanner Carrick was fifth. Larson finished sixth in the 55-lap race at Tulsa, Oklahoma.
C.J. Leary, who drives for Alex Bowman’s team, finished sixth. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished ninth. Kaylee Bryson, the first woman to run the A main in Chili Bowl history, finished 18th. Dillon Welch, an NBC Sports broadcaster, came in 22nd place.
Thorson, who competed in 11 Truck races in 2018, was severely injured in a fiery highway incident in 2019. In the incident, he sustained a broken left arm, a cracked sternum, broken ribs, and a punctured lung.
Thorson finished fifth in the USAC national midget rankings last season.
Bell began on the pole and led for the majority of the race until Thorson passed him with roughly 20 laps to go. Thorson passed Bell temporarily on the restart with five circuits to go, but Thorson quickly passed him and went on to win.
“This is pretty awesome,” Thorson told MavTV after the race.
Bell told MavTV: “We’ll try again next year.”
Former Cup winner Chase Elliott flipped in his F feature race earlier Saturday and finished 19th.
“I’m fine,” Elliott told FloRacing. “Those guys kind of checked up, and (I) jumped a wheel and went for a ride. Feel good. We’ll try again and hopefully be better next year.”
Here’s how other NASCAR drivers performed on Saturday:
Alex Bowman placed second in his C feature and advanced to the B. He finished 11th in that race and was not qualified for the A main.
Chase Briscoe placed sixth in his C feature, one position short of advancing to the B feature.
Ryan Newman came in 13th place in his C main and did not advance.
Kasey Kahne, a former NASCAR driver, was eliminated after finishing tenth in his B main.
Jesse Love came in 17th place after failing to move from the D feature.
JJ Yeley placed third in his F feature to earn a spot in the E main event. He finished 11th after failing to move further.
Carson Hocevar was the second player to advance to the I feature from the J feature. He finished tenth and did not advance in that race.
In the L main, Ryan Ellis finished 11th and did not advance.
In the M feature, Jesse Little finished ninth and did not advance.
The uniforms of NASCAR racing drivers are currently available at the following websites for a reasonable price:
