Breaking news
Midget
Bell wins third straight Chili Bowl with last lap pass on Larson
Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson certainly put on a show in the 33rd running of the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals.
Nick DeGroot
Published: Jan 20, 2019, 6:46 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Kyle Larson seemed to finally be closing in on that elusive Chili Bowl win, but the dream slipped away on the final lap of the 55-lap feature.
His Keith Kunz Motorsports teammate Christopher Bell closed what was at one point a one-second gap and saw on opportunity at the white flag. Larson slipped up off the bottom and Bell dove under him, making contact as he muscled his way by. Larson tried to respond with a massive charge down into Turn 3 making more contact, but was unable to take it back, allowing Bell to claim the Golden Driller for the third consecutive year. The final margin of victory was 0.350 seconds.
Justin Grant was third, Brady Bacon fourth and Zach Daum fifth.
"I don't think it gets any better than that right there. That right there is why we love the Chili Bowl. It always surprises me. Man, it never disappoints ... I didn't know if I was going to get there on that one. I just kept struggling and struggling and I was losing a bit of time (on the top), but when I found the bottom I started to make up some time on him.
Regarding the contact, he said, "I just committed myself to bottom because I didn't have anything to lose. It got really slick down there and Kyle tried to stick it down there on the last lap, but he just hadn't run any laps down there. I knew what I needed to do to get it to stick and get off the corner good. "
Larson blamed himself for the victory slipping through his fingers, visibly dejected after coming so close to sealing the deal..
"Coming to the white, I missed the bottom and allowed Christopher to get a run," he explained to MavTV. "I saw on the big screen he was close and I thought about sliding myself. I didn't really know what he was going to do. I figured at the last minute that he was going to try and stick the bottom and I just missed it a little bit and allowed him to get by. I ran 53 and 1/2 good laps and just didn't close it out ... Just disappoingting to be close to winning a race like this and feeling like I did everything I could up until the very end there. Just gave it away.
"We'll come back next year and try again."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Teretonga TRS track activity cancelled on safety grounds
Next article A rare insight into why Verstappen is so good
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Nick DeGroot
Tim Clark wants NASCAR to be better storytellers to counter "brand perception problem"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup 1 h
Tim Clark wants NASCAR to be better storytellers to counter "brand perception problem"
Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup 2 h
Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"
9/11 after 25 years: How NASCAR went back racing following September 11 attacks
Feature
NASCAR Cup
Feature
NASCAR Cup
9/11 after 25 years: How NASCAR went back racing following September 11 attacks
More from
Christopher Bell
Winners and losers from NASCAR Cup at Charlotte after dramatic finish
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
Winners and losers from NASCAR Cup at Charlotte after dramatic finish
Christopher Bell reacts to photo finish: “We’re not teammates running to the line"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
Christopher Bell reacts to photo finish: “We’re not teammates running to the line"
Chase Briscoe beats Christopher Bell by 0.029s in stunning NASCAR Cup photo finish
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
Chase Briscoe beats Christopher Bell by 0.029s in stunning NASCAR Cup photo finish
Latest news
Esteban Ocon responds to Haas signing Rafael Camara for F1 2027
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
37 min
Esteban Ocon responds to Haas signing Rafael Camara for F1 2027
Tim Clark wants NASCAR to be better storytellers to counter "brand perception problem"
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 1 h
Tim Clark wants NASCAR to be better storytellers to counter "brand perception problem"
Why NASCAR's Zane Smith fine for Carson Hocevar contact was consistent
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
2 h
Why NASCAR's Zane Smith fine for Carson Hocevar contact was consistent
Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 2 h
Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe