Kyle Larson gave it an earnest go on Thursday in the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals but his impromptu attempt was doomed from the start.
The two-time race winner and 2021 Cup Series champion was attempting to race his way into the Chili Bowl on Thursday because it would allow him to race a Super Late Model the rest of the week in New Mexico but still make it back to Tulsa in time for the feature on Saturday night.
It was ambitious but the logistics proved to be the least of his problems.
Larson immediately found trouble just a few laps into his heat race when he ran into a crash with Christopher Townsend that unfolded in front of him. He flipped and was forced to restart at the rear, finishing fifth, which is exactly where he started.
That means he scored no passing points and it meant he would have to start the night of features from the pole of C2. He won that race and then finished second in B2 and would need to finish first or second in the feature to automatically advance into the Saturday night main event.
He started passing cars immediately from 16th in the first corner, but clipped teammate Gavan Boschele and gave them all right back. He had worked himself up to 11th when seven laps to go but needed some cautions to make progress.
Unfortunately, he was the caution, digging into the Turn 4 cushion and flipping down the frontstretch for the second time in four hours. With that, his run at a dirt double on Saturday night had ended.
“Everything about tonight was self-inflicted,” Larson said. “I could have done a lot different, I’m sure. The heat was a mess for me. I wasn’t quite comfortable yet, and you saw it, I entered too straight and not running hard enough. I hot myself in bad spots and ultimately fell way back and was just trying to get aggressive. I made contact with that guy on exit of 2 and we both went flipping.
“I had to grind from there. Thought I was going to have an okay night. I needed some cautions in the feature. The start, got through 1 and 2 and passed a few cars and was going to pass a few more in 3 and 4, and (Gavan) Boschele biked and I hit his right rear. Hit the wall and lost all the spots I just gained.
“I got stuck behind him the rest of the race and I was done from there. Finally got clear of him and went to run harder, slapped the cushion off 4, hung my right front in the wall and tumbled a little bit.”
So now Larson is headed back to Vado, to drive a Late Model for Kevin Rumley on Friday, Saturday and Sunday but he feels as though it was a worthwhile endeavor no matter how it ended.
“It was,” he said. “It was fun to work with Keith (Kunz), Chuckey (Gurney) and Beau (Binder), guys that were there when I started racing with Keith in 2011. This organization has grown so big that it almost feels like two teams but this side of the team feels like it did back in 2011. It was fun to work with them
“I didn’t feel any pressure tonight either. With how many times and I crashed and how much I tore up, it probably looked like I was under pressure but I didn’t feel like I was. I was just here to do the best that I could and if it didn’t go well, it is what it is.”
Larson skipped Chili Bowl in 2023 so he could race the Rumley Super Late Model in earnest while also racing for Chili Bowl money six times in nine nights. Larson said the Chili Bowl should pay more given the revenue it appears to generate.
The purse was raised in 2024, the amount to win doubled from $10,000-to-$20,000, but that wasn’t the entirety of his reasons for doing something else.
To wit, Larson is expected to race Sprint Cars in December and/or January next year, which may or may not exclude him from returning to the Chili Bowl in 2025.
“It’s just so far away,” he said. “I definitely want to go to Australia. There is a lot to work out there. If I’m going to do it, I don’t want to do it with anyone other than Paul (Silva, team owner and crew chief) and the No. 57. But that takes a lot of work and organizing. I don’t know many people down there and he doesn’t either.
“It takes a lot financially and just everything to make it work. I don’t want to spend three weeks down there like Brad (Sweet) is right now. Brad and Rico is down there for six weeks. I don’t want to be there for that long. I can’t be there for that long.
“Maybe that opens the door to come home a little early and race Chili Bowl, but again, it’s a long way away.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.