Former Camping World Truck Series driver Tanner Thorson scored his first Chili Bowl Nationals win Saturday, holding off NASCAR Cup driver Christopher Bell in the final laps.
Thorson’s win snapped the five-year streak by Bell and reigning Cup champion Kyle Larson. Bell had won three in a row. Larson had won the past two years.
Rico Abreu finished third, Michael Kofoid placed fourth and Tanner Carrick was fifth. Larson placed sixth in the 55-lap race in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
C.J. Leary, who drives for Alex Bowman’s team, was seventh. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished ninth. Kaylee Bryson, who became the first woman to run the A main in Chili Bowl history, was 18th. NBC Sports broadcaster Dillon Welch was 22nd.
MORE: Results of Saturday’s Chili Bowl races
Thorson, who ran 11 Truck races in 2018, suffered serious injuries in a fiery highway crash in 2019. He suffered a broken left arm, cracked sternum, broken ribs and a punctured lung in the incident.
Thorson finished fifth in the USAC national midget standings last season.
Bell started on the pole and led much of the race until Thorson got by with about 20 laps to go. Bell got by Thorson briefly on restart with five laps to go but Thorson quickly got by and went on to win.
“This is pretty awesome,” Thorson told MavTV after the race.
Bell told MavTV: “We’ll try again next year.”
Earlier Saturday, former Cup champion Chase Elliott flipped in his F feature race and did not finish, placing 19th.
“I’m fine,” Elliott told FloRacing. “Those guys kind of checked up, and (I) jumped a wheel and went for a ride. Feel good. We’ll try again and hopefully be better next year.”
Unreal slow-motion shot of @chaseelliott's wild ride. 🤯
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) January 15, 2022
🎥: @loudpedaltv pic.twitter.com/7qevZ9w2tQ
Here is how other NASCAR competitors did Saturday:
Alex Bowman finished second in his C feature and moved to the B feature. He placed 11th in that race and did not advance to the A main.
Chase Briscoe finished sixth in his C feature and missed advancing to the B feature by one spot.
Ryan Newman finished 13th in his C main and did not advance.
Former NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne finished ninth in his B main and did not advance.
Jesse Love failed to advance from his D feature, placing 17th.
JJ Yeley finished third in his F feature to advance to the E main. He failed to advance beyond that, placing 11th.
Carson Hocevar was second in the J feature to move on to the I feature. He placed 10th in that race and did not advance.
Ryan Ellis placed 11th in the L main and did not advance.
Jesse Little finished ninth in the M feature and did not advance.