Racin’ Today » Kofoid Takes Down Cup Champ at Chili Bowl

Kofoid Takes Down Cup Champ at Chili Bowl

John Sturbin | Senior Writer, RacinToday.com Thursday, January 13 2022

Michael “Buddy” Kofoid chased down and passed two-time/reigning Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals champion Kyle Larson to win Tuesday’s Warren CAT Qualifying Night prelim at Tulsa Expo Raceway.

Kofoid broke Larson’s four-year streak of prelim night victories in Oklahoma behind the wheel of the Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian No. 67. Larson began defense of his consecutive Golden Driller Award trophies by leading the opening 24 laps of the 30-lapper in his FloRacing.com No. 01, keeping Kofoid at-bay through a series of early cautions.

“I was trying to stay close to him in traffic,” Kofoid said of Larson, a fellow-Californian who is the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion. “All the lappers were running their own race side-by-side, so you kind of had to pick through and be able to be there. The opportunity never really came in traffic like I thought, and the top side started getting really treacherous in (Turns) 3 and 4.”

Following a caution on Lap 20, Kofoid dove low on the restart but was unable to advance before another caution flew working Lap 23. Reverting to Lap 22, the pair traded lines at both ends of the quarter-mile clay oval, only to have caution again halt the action.

Taking the bottom for what proved to be the decisive run, Kofoid railed the cushion and into the lead off Turn 2 on Lap 25. Larson threw a barrage of slide jobs at Kofoid during the closing laps and briefly cleared the nose of the No. 67. Slamming off the Turn 2 cushion on Lap 28, Kofoid raced to victory by 1.738-seconds over Larson, the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion at Hendrick Motorsports.

Kofoid and Larson have secured starting spots in Saturday night’s 55-lap championship A-Feature. MAVTV will broadcast Saturday’s feature events beginning with opening ceremonies at 7:30 p.m. (CST).

Chris Windom settled for third, with Jake Swanson moving up seven spots to fourth. Racing from 13th, Thomas Meseraull completed the top-five. Muskogee’s Kaylee Bryson was sixth, followed by Jake Bubak. Eighth went to Jonathan Beason, with Kyle Hones ninth. Hard Charger from 23rd, Tim McCreadie completed the top-10.

Tuesday added 73 more drivers to the 36th annual edition of “The Super Bowl of Midget Racing,” increasing the total inside River Spirit Expo Center to 142 thus far. The World Wide Technology Raceway Flip Count made it to 18, with everyone able to walk away.

Racing continues Wednesday with Hard Rock Hotel Casino Qualifying Night. Hot Laps are scheduled for 4 p.m. (CST) with racing beginning at 5.

Live coverage can be found on http://www.floracing.com. Continued updates on the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire can be accessed by fans via Social Media (@cbnationals) and at http://www.chilibowl.com.

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Teen-ager Carson Hocevar will make his Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals debut Wednesday night in the No. 31X Beilman Motorsports entry with sponsorship from Niece Motorsports and Dave.com.

“I’m so excited and grateful for this opportunity,” said Hocevar, 18, one of 11 NASCAR national series drivers competing in this year’s 36th annual event. “Thanks to everyone at Beilman Motorsports for making this happen. Another big thank you to Al Niece for letting me come race in Tulsa, and for the sponsorship support from Niece Motorsports and Dave.com. It takes so much effort from so many people to get a race car to the racetrack, and I’m appreciative of every one of them.

“This is a different animal, but I’m really looking forward to the challenge. I just love racing and getting to participate in the Chili Bowl is really a dream come true for me. I hope we’re able to get 2022 started off on the right foot.”

Owned by Marine Corps veteran Al Niece, Niece Motorsports is entering its seventh season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2022. Niece also owns Niece Equipment, which provides water and fuel/lube trucks engineered for the construction and mining industries.

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36th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals

Tuesday Results/Warren CAT Qualifying Night

OERB Heat Races: Top 40 in passing points advance to Qualifiers

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1K-Brayton Lynch[1]; 2. 41X-Howard Moore[3]; 3. 96-Cody Brewer[4]; 4. 3N-Jake Neuman[6]; 5. 8J-Jonathan Beason[9]; 6. 7TX-Anthony Pope[5]; 7. 2T-Tanner Allen[8]; 8. 22J-Taylor Kuehl[2]; 9. 4G-Paxton Gregory[7].

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 67-Michael Kofoid[4]; 2. 92-Derek Hagar[2]; 3. 4R-Nick Barger[3]; 4. 3-Roy Larkin[5]; 5. 2ND-Jeb Sessums[7]; 6. 17R-Chris Crowder[8]; 7. 251-Johnny Brown Jr.[1]; 8. 11H-Jori Hughes[6].

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 89-Chris Windom[1]; 2. 01-Kyle Larson[6]; 3. 71-Steven Snyder Jr[5]; 4. 6A-AJ Bender[4]; 5. 27-Briggs Danner[2]; 6. 71T-Zac Taylor[7]; 7. 21M-Michelle Parson[3]; 8. (DNS) 7W-Brendon Wiseley.

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[1]; 2. 7X-Thomas Meseraull[6]; 3. 40-Colton Hardy[5]; 4. 57W-Kaidon Brown[8]; 5. 54-Matt Westfall[3]; 6. 97A-Will Armitage[2]; 7. 11K-David Gasper[7]; 8. 3L-Jesse Little[4].

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 73H-Hunter Schuerenberg[4]; 2. 27B-Jake Bubak[7]; 3. 11T-Tyler Baran[3]; 4. 22W-Curtis Jones[5]; 5. 10-Kort Morgan[8]; 6. 11M-Jeff Schindler[2]; 7. 84S-Shaun Shapel[1]; 8. (DNF) 5B-Bobby Brewer[6].

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 7U-Kyle Jones[1]; 2. 55A-Jake Swanson[5]; 3. 47-Zach Daum[3]; 4. 21G-Casey Tillman[4]; 5. 68B-Jason Martin[6]; 6. 21B-Travis Braden[2]; 7. 4S-AJ Gilbert[8]; 8. 17C-Devin Camfield[7].

Heat 7 (8 Laps): 1. 71K-Kaylee Bryson[3]; 2. 7MF-Chance Morton[6]; 3. 22B-Troy Betts[1]; 4. 75A-Bryan Stanfill[4]; 5. 2MD-Gray Leadbetter[5]; 6. 17K-Michael Koontz[8]; 7. 34C-Cameron Willhite[7]; 8. 4J-Josh Hodge[2].

Heat 8 (8 Laps): 1. 19B-Alex Bright[2]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz[1]; 3. 19K-Riley Kreisel[4]; 4. 9T-Tim McCreadie[5]; 5. 29S-Hank Davis[8]; 6. 3W-Brandon Waelti[7]; 7. 5X-Kevin Douglas[6]; 8. 7DK-Darren Kauffman[3].

Heat 9 (8 Laps): 1. 7T-TJ Smith[1]; 2. 45X-Roger Crockett[4]; 3. 8W-Kaleb Montgomery[7]; 4. 91A-Chris Andrews[2]; 5. 4X-Carson Sousa[6]; 6. 06-Rylan Gray[5]; 7. 68S-Corby Scherb[8]; 8. 14H-Mike Hess[3].

C-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding B-Feature

C-Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 4X-Carson Sousa[1]; 2. 27-Briggs Danner[5]; 3. 97A-Will Armitage[8]; 4. 21M-Michelle Parson[11]; 5. 06-Rylan Gray[6]; 6. 14H-Mike Hess[15]; 7. 251-Johnny Brown Jr.[12]; 8. 4S-AJ Gilbert[7]; 9. 21B-Travis Braden[9]; 10. 3L-Jesse Little[14]; 11. 34C-Cameron Willhite[10]; 12. (DNF) 4J-Josh Hodge[16]; 13. (DNF) 11H-Jori Hughes[13]; 14. (DNF) 3W-Brandon Waelti[4]; 15. (DNF) 17R-Chris Crowder[2]; 16. (DNF) 2MD-Gray Leadbetter[3].

C-Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 71T-Zac Taylor[3]; 2. 54-Matt Westfall[4]; 3. 91A-Chris Andrews[1]; 4. 68S-Corby Scherb[7]; 5. 11K-David Gasper[9]; 6. 2T-Tanner Allen[6]; 7. 7TX-Anthony Pope[5]; 8. 4G-Paxton Gregory[16]; 9. 17C-Devin Camfield[11]; 10. 5X-Kevin Douglas[10]; 11. 84S-Shaun Shapel[12]; 12. 11M-Jeff Schindler[8]; 13. 22J-Taylor Kuehl[15]; 14. 7DK-Darren Kauffman[14]; 15. (DNF) 17K-Michael Koontz[2]; 16. (DNF) 5B-Bobby Brewer[13].

Team Toyota Qualifiers: Top 16 in combined passing points advance to the A-Feature

Qualifier 1 (10 Laps): 1. 89-Chris Windom[3]; 2. 57W-Kaidon Brown[2]; 3. 19K-Riley Kreisel[7]; 4. 27B-Jake Bubak[6]; 5. 7X-Thomas Meseraull[5]; 6. 92-Derek Hagar[1]; 7. 22W-Curtis Jones[9]; 8. 4R-Nick Barger[8]; 9. 8W-Kaleb Montgomery[4]; 10. 6A-AJ Bender[10].

Qualifier 2 (10 Laps): 1. 8J-Jonathan Beason[1]; 2. 67-Michael Kofoid[6]; 3. 19B-Alex Bright[4]; 4. 3N-Jake Neuman[7]; 5. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[3]; 6. 7MF-Chance Morton[5]; 7. 9T-Tim McCreadie[9]; 8. 41X-Howard Moore[2]; 9. 11T-Tyler Baran[8]; 10. 21G-Casey Tillman[10].

Qualifier 3 (10 Laps): 1. 7U-Kyle Jones[3]; 2. 71K-Kaylee Bryson[5]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz[1]; 4. 47-Zach Daum[8]; 5. 45X-Roger Crockett[4]; 6. 75A-Bryan Stanfill[10]; 7. 22B-Troy Betts[9]; 8. 10-Kort Morgan[7]; 9. 73H-Hunter Schuerenberg[6]; 10. (DNF) 71-Steven Snyder Jr.[2].

Qualifier 4 (10 Laps): 1. 01-Kyle Larson[6]; 2. 96-Cody Brewer[1]; 3. 7T-TJ Smith[3]; 4. 55A-Jake Swanson[5]; 5. 29S-Hank Davis[7]; 6. 2ND-Jeb Sessums[9]; 7. 1K-Brayton Lynch[4]; 8. 40-Colton Hardy[2]; 9. 68B-Jason Martin[10]; 10. 3-Roy Larkin[8].

Dave.com B-Features: Top 4 advance to the A-Feature.

B-Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 29S-Hank Davis[3]; 2. 45X-Roger Crockett[2]; 3. 27-Briggs Danner[14]; 4. 9T-Tim McCreadie[6]; 5. 6A-AJ Bender[12]; 6. 92-Derek Hagar[7]; 7. 97A-Will Armitage[15]; 8. 41X-Howard Moore[8]; 9. 7MF-Chance Morton[1]; 10. 4R-Nick Barger[9]; 11. 1K-Brayton Lynch[5]; 12. 21M-Michelle Parson[16]; 13. (DNF) 11T-Tyler Baran[10]; 14. (DNF) 2ND-Jeb Sessums[4]; 15. (DNF) 4X-Carson Sousa[13]; 16. (DQ) 71-Steven Snyder Jr[11] **Snyder disqualified for rough driving.

B-Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 73H-Hunter Schuerenberg[4]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz[1]; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[2]; 4. 40-Colton Hardy[8]; 5. 8W-Kaleb Montgomery[7]; 6. 22W-Curtis Jones[5]; 7. 21G-Casey Tillman[12]; 8. 54-Matt Westfall[14]; 9. 71T-Zac Taylor[13]; 10. 22B-Troy Betts[6]; 11. 10-Kort Morgan[9]; 12. 68S-Corby Scherb[16]; 13. 91A-Chris Andrews[15]; 14. 68B-Jason Martin[10]; 15. 75A-Bryan Stanfill[3]; 16. 3-Roy Larkin[11].

A-Feature: Top 2 advance to Saturday’s A-Feature

A-Feature (30 Laps): 1. 67-Michael Kofoid[2]; 2. 01-Kyle Larson[1]; 3. 89-Chris Windom[4]; 4. 55A-Jake Swanson[11]; 5. 7X-Thomas Meseraull[13]; 6. 71K-Kaylee Bryson[3]; 7. 27B-Jake Bubak[6]; 8. 8J-Jonathan Beason[10]; 9. 7U-Kyle Jones[5]; 10. 9T-Tim McCreadie[23]; 11. 45X-Roger Crockett[19]; 12. 73H-Hunter Schuerenberg[18]; 13. 19K-Riley Kreisel[7]; 14. 19B-Alex Bright[8]; 15. 15-Donny Schatz[20]; 16. 47-Zach Daum[14]; 17. 27-Briggs Danner[21]; 18. 29S-Hank Davis[17]; 19. 40-Colton Hardy[24]; 20. 7T-TJ Smith[12]; 21. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[22]; 22. 3N-Jake Neuman[15]; 23. 96-Cody Brewer[16]; 24. (DNF) 57W-Kaidon Brown[9]

Lap Leader(s): Kyle Larson 1-24; Michael “Buddy” Kofoid 25-30.

Hard Charger: Tim McCreadie, plus-13

Chili Bowl Nationals Champions

1987_Rich Vogler

1988 _ Scott Hatton

1989 _ Sammy Swindell

1990 _ Johnny Heydenreich

1991 _ Lealand McSpadden

1992 _ Sammy Swindell (2)

1993 _ Dave Blaney

1994 _ Andy Hillenburg

1995 _ Donnie Beechler