Cummins holds off Stenhouse while Grant takes Friday Night

Cummins holds off Stenhouse while Grant takes Friday Night
Justin Grant poses with Kyle Cummins and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in Chili Bowl victory lane on Friday. Photo by Jacob Seelman, Special to Always Race Day.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.‘s night was upended from the start.

He got taken out in his heat race in partial thanks to a driver who had no dirt racing experience trying to do too much with his car. It forced Stenhouse Jr. back to the C-Main where he knew he’d have something to prove.

Stenhouse worked his way through the C before winning his B-Main later in the night to secure a starting spot in the feature, albeit near the back.

If it weren’t for Kyle Cummins, too, he would have ran all the way through the feature and transferred to the A. He was just one spot short.

“I was just going wherever I could to get our car to drive forward,” Stenhouse Jr. said on FloRacing. “We dug ourselves a whole there at that start but I’m really happy with how we finished. I’m looking forward to the B-Main.”

Cummins, instead will lock himself into the feature as well as the pole shuffle after making the last-minute decision to come race.

His wife is at home expecting the arrival of their child and she convinced him to come to Tulsa.

He nearly made a late race upset on eventual winner Justin Grant.

“At the beginning the car just wasn’t handling,” Cummins said. “It was all over the place. Once the track got cleaned off, all of the sudden it just took off. I thought I had Justin there, that was going to be great.”

Grant was out front by a lot in that one, so it makes sense as to why he thought it’s the best he’s ever felt in Tulsa.

“That’s as good around the cushion as I’ve felt in this building and that’s normally what it takes to win on Saturday.”

All of the action from this week culminates to Saturday. The action kicks off at 10:00 a.m. CT on FloRacing and will continue throughout the day.

Chili Bowl Friday Prelim Feature Results 
1. Justin Grant
2. Kyle Cummins
3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
4. Tanner Thorson
5. Daryn Pittman
6. Damion Gardner
7. Jesse Love Jr.
8. Aaron Reutzel
9. J.J. Yeley
10. Ronnie Gardner
11. Casey Shuman
12. Ethan Mitchell
13. Ace McCarthy
14. Kasey Kahne
15. Tucker Klaasmeyer
16. Cody Jessop
17. Bill Balog
18. Wesley Smith
19. Tyler Edwards
20. Kinzer Edwards
21. Brent Beauchamp
22. Lane Goodman
23. Luke Icke
24. Jesse Colwell

Locked In
Below we will continue to update the drivers who are locked in to each of the final five feature races on Saturday night in Tulsa – determined by their respective finishing positions in their preliminary nights.

Saturday’s Chili Bowl A-Main (Prelim Top 2 Finishers)
– Cannon McIntosh
– Tyler Courtney
– Kyle Larson
– Thomas Meseraull
– Brad Sweet
– Alex Bright
– Christopher Bell
– Buddy Kofoid
– Justin Grant
– Kyle Cummins

B-Mains (Prelim P3-P8 Finishers)
– Blake Hahn
– Chris Windom
– David Gravel
– Jacob Denny
– Chase Briscoe
– Tim McCreadie
– Zach Daum
– Cole Bodine
– Danny Stratton
– Derek Hagar
– Chase Johnson
– Hank Davis
– Brad Sweet
– Jake Neuman
– Colby Copeland
– Kevin Thomas Jr.
– Jake Swanson
– Daniel Robinson
– Spencer Bayston
– Brady Bacon
– Joe B. Miller
– Logan Seavey
– Tim Buckwalter
– Trey Gropp
– Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
– Tanner Thorson
– Daryn Pittman
– Damion Gardner
– Jesse Love Jr.
– Aaron Reutzel

C-Main (Prelim P9-P14 Finishers)
– Trey Marcham
– Carson Macedo
– Alex Sewell
– Gary Taylor
– Stephen Schnapf
– Kory Schudy
– Daison Pursley
– Frank Flud
– Kyle Jones
– Nick Drake
– Michael Faccinto
– Jonathan Beason
– Parker Price-Miller
– Gio Scelzi
– Sammy Swindell
– Brian Carber
– Brandon Waelti
– Emerson Axsom
– Andrew Deal
– Matt Sherrell
– Kaylee Bryson
– Frankie Guerrini
– Carson Garrett
– Andrew Felker
– J.J. Yeley
– Ronnie Gardner
– Casey Shuman
– Ethan Mitchell
– Ace McCarthy
– Kasey Kahne

D-Main (Prelim P15-P20 Finishers)
– Roger Crockett
– CJ Leary
– Steven Russell
– Kade Morton
– Riley Kreisel
– Mitchel Moles
– Noah Harris
– Anton Hernandez
– Mitchell Davis
– Tanner Carrick
– Aiden Purdue
– Shane Cottle
– Tyler Thomas
– Colten Cottle
– Steven Shebaster
– Brett Moffitt
– Max Adams
– Jeff Stasa
– Chance Crum
– Sam Hafertepe Jr.
– Noah Gass
– Kyle Bellm
– Don Droud Jr.
– Brody Roa
– Tucker Klaasmeyer
– Cody Jessop
– Bill Balog
– Wesley Smith
– Tyler Edwards
– Kinzer Edwards

E-Main (Prelim P21-P24 Finishers)
– Clinton Boyles
– Jerry Coons Jr
– Ryan Bernal
– Kevin Bayer
– Carson Kvapil
– Shane Golobic
– Brody Fuson
– Curtis Jones
– Robert Dalby
– Chase Randall
– Kameron Key
– A.J. Hopkins
– Steve Buckwalter
– Cody Ledger
– Zeb Wise
– Austin Prock
– Brent Beauchamp
– Lane Goodman
– Luke Icke
– Jesse Colwell