Christopher Bell Takes Second Chili Bowl Victory

One of Oklahoma’s own has become a 2-time champion at the chili bowl.

Pretty early on in Saturday’s A-main final, it was clear it was a two-man show with Kyle Larson and defending champ Christopher Bell.

Then, around lap 42, Larson had some issues.

"Two laps before it blew up, I noticed a sour pitch. From that point on, I just stopped trying to attack him. Next thing you know, it was up in smoke," said Bell. 

The result was Bell all but coasting to his second straight Golden Driller, becoming the first Oklahoman to ever win back-to-back Chili Bowls. 

He said while of course he's excited and thrilled to win again this year, the way this one came about was almost disappointing.

"Kyle got robbed, I got robbed, and the fans got robbed. I wanted to race it out. I'm sure he wanted to race it out, and the fans wanted us to race it out, too," Bell said. 

"It's really special. To win the Chili Bowl with 300-something cars, it's always going to be special," Bell said. 

Bell has won 12 of the last 15 midget races he's entered. Individual dominance and team dominance from Keith Kunz Motorsports, which swept the top 5.

"I think all the Kunz cars have a mark on them, just because they have so much success," said Rico Abreu. 

As for Bell, he may have been bummed he didn't get his match race with Kyle Larson, but he said, “rather be lucky than good any day."