TULSA, Okla. - Leave it to Kyle Larson to survive not one, but two crashes and never lose the lead.
Larson's resilience isn't limited to just NASCAR Cup Series competition, and he proved that yet again on Saturday night, leading all 40 laps from the poll to win the A-Feature race in the Chili Bowl Nationals, his third career title in one of dirt racing's premier events.
"It was just a very difficult race track to run the line that I was running," Larson said. "We got a couple of lucky breaks there, but a great race car.
"Love being back here."
One of the biggest moments of Saturday night actually occurred the day prior, when Larson locked up the pole position for the event. That allowed him to get a jump on the field on restarts and the cushion he built from the lead certainly proved pivotal, twice.
The first time came on lap 23 as the lapped cars of Brenham Crouch and Jacob Denney got together. Suddenly, with nowhere to go, Larson plowed over the front of Crouch's car with Larson's machine stalling in mid-air.
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"When it was getting ready to land, I was like, ‘Please, please, please re-fire,’" Larson grinned. "It re-fired, so I thought I would only get one break, not two.”
The caution flew before Larson lost the lead and from there, he looked poised to cruise to victory. However, with four laps remaining, Larson caught the wall coming out of turn 4, turning his car completely sideways. But at the same time, a banner came loose from the wall on the front stretch, necessitating a caution flag. With Larson still leading at the time of caution, he restarted at the front and survived two more restarts to finish the job.
"It's really cool," Larson said. "It took me 13 years to win that first one, just mentally was tough to get over that hill. I feel like since winning that first Chili Bowl it's really helped my career out and staying calm in moments like that. That was a good one. Then the second one we won, we were on defense really the whole race. This one, the track was just so unique that it was a challenge just to run laps by yourself."
Newly signed Hendrick Motorsports driver, Corey Day, also made the A-Feature and came home 11th. Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon served as the event's grand marshal while Alex Bowman was an owner for four entries in the event.
The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season is set to start with the running of the NASCAR Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 2.