Kyle Larson is going to race the 38th annual Chili Bowl Midget Nationals after all.
Surprise!
In a story detailed by broadcaster FloRacing, Larson called longtime friend and frequent collaborator Keith Kunz on Tuesday morning at 8:52 a.m. and asked if he had a spare car available to enter into the Tulsa Expo Center.
As it so happens, as detailed in this story here, Kunz had a second car built for Tanner Carrick to race in the Invitational Race of Champions on Monday night. Chili Bowl officials ultimately disappointed Carrick and Kunz by not selecting them for the race and the car was just going to sit there all week.
Dressed up but with no dance partner.
Larson will fly in after racing a Late Model on Wednesday in night three of the Wild West Shootout at Vado Speedway Park to compete in a Thursday prelim night that also features Tanner Thorson, Spencer Bayston, Brady Bacon, Ryan Bernal, Jesse Love, Kaylee Bryson, Ricky Thornton Jr. and CJ Leary.
If he locks into his 11th feature appearance, by finishing top-two in the Thursday feature, he would plan to race on Saturday evening at Vado and then fly to Tulsa to compete in the main event, which notoriously starts after midnight anyway.
The entry list has been updated to reflect Larson as driving a No. 98k with sponsorship from DH Horton, FloRacing and Hendrickcars.com.
Larson is a two-time winner of the event, with wins in 2020 and 2021. Doing the Double is apparently his theme of 2024 as he is also scheduled to compete in the Memorial Day Weekend Indianapolis 500, Coca-Cola 600 weekend this season as well.
The entire week of Chili Bowl airs live for those with a FloRacing subscription.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.