Kyle Larson has revealed that he had “no doubt in his mind” that Justin Grant would ‘beat him’ at the 2021 Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals. It was held in January of this year.
In an interview with FloRacing, Kyle Larson discussed how Justin Grant being on his rear bumper kept him under pressure for the majority of the race. He said:
“In this camera angle, we can all see the same exact thing on the big screen into Turn 1 and I could just see (Justin (Grant) was on my rear bumper the whole time. So, I was like ‘Well, he is really good here’.”
Kyle Larson, however, also had belief in his own abilities. He added:
“I know the track is going to go through some changes. You just gotta make the right decisions and change lanes at the right time. And I was thankfully able to get some cautions here in the early portions to feel out different lanes and feel when we’ll be able to move up. I felt pressure from him for about the whole race.”
In the end, Kyle Larson held on to secure victory in the 2021 Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals. In the process, Kyle Larson made it back-to-back wins after he emerged victorious in January 2020 as well.
The 2022 Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals is set to take place at the Tulsa Expo Centre in Tulsa, Oklahoma sometime in January.
Kyle Larson will aim to make it three Chili Bowl wins in a row in 2022
Kyle Larson will attempt to make it three wins in three when he participates in the 2022 Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals in early January.
The 29-year-old Larson has wins in 2020 and 2021 in the indoor midget car race so far. A third win would see him join Christopher Bell on the record table. He will be one behind Kevin Swindell and two behind all-time leader Sammy Swindell.
Christopher Bell won three successive Chili Bowls in 2017, 2018 and 2019 so a win for Kyle Larson would see him emulate that feat as well.
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The Chili Bowl is an indoor midget car race and is considered the biggest of its kind by NASCAR.