One of the best race car drivers on the planet will compete this week in the world’s biggest midget car racing event — though that wasn’t the initial plan.
Kyle Larson announced Tuesday he will race in the 2024 Chili Bowl Nationals. The two-time Chili Bowl champion (2020 and 2021) and driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series will compete on Thursday’s preliminary night at the SageNet Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma in an effort to qualify for Saturday’s championship feature.
According to FloRacing, Larson called famed midget car owner Keith Kunz early Tuesday morning. After congratulating Kunz on driver Tanner Carrick’s Monday night preliminary A-Main feature victory, Larson asked if another ride was available for the week.
A positive response and a travel arrangement scramble later, Larson is set to wheel the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports No. 98K sponsored by DH Horton, FloRacing and HendrickCars.com.
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If all goes well Thursday, Larson could be in for a busy Saturday. Via FloRacing:
“If he locks-in to his 11th Chili Bowl Championship A-Main – via a top-two finish on Thursday – Larson plans to do the dirt double. He’ll race first that afternoon at Vado Speedway Park for the Wild West Shootout in Kevin Rumley’s Dirt Late Model, and then fly straight to Tulsa to drive the KKM No. 98K in the 55-lap main event with his third Golden Driller on the line.”
Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, won his first Chili Bowl title in 2020 after 13 attempts. He went back-to-back with another victory in 2021, and in 2022, he finished sixth in the championship feature. He did not enter last year’s Chili Bowl.
All 2024 Chili Bowl racing action, including Larson’s run Thursday night, can be seen live on FloRacing, the streaming home of all NASCAR Roots racing.