There’s a new face to the Golden Driller down in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Tanner Thorson, out of Minden, Nevada came home with his first career Chili Bowl Nationals victory on Saturday night at the SageNet Center.
It came while battling around the last three Chili Bowl winners and the USAC Midget champion, too.
“Man,” Thorson said postrace on MAVTV. “Hell yeah. Man, this is badass, I don’t even know what to damn say. Holy shit my guys gave me a badass race car.”
The Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports driver was able to get by Christopher Bell, who paced the first 30 laps of the race until Thorson made his move.
Once he did, he looked like the best car on the track. He attributes it to the SR11 engine in his car.
“My guys worked all week to give me a car that could be winning,” Thorson said on the broadcast. “We were put against Bell – one of the best. I had to work… I don’t know what to say. I was trying to blow that motor up, but that SR11 is one badass piece.”
It started with the Pole Shuffle early on in the night. Thorson passed all the way through the final shuffle race and nearly took the pole from Bell.
The A-Main almost looked similar – a methodic, and fast, drive from Thorson.
Kyle Larson did all he could, throwing sliders all evening long. Bell went for the longshot on the final restart with five laps to go. Nothing was doing.
Thorson drove the teal-and-white 19 machine to a W, and it might be the sweetest of his entire career to date.
36th Chili Bowl Nationals A-Main Results
1. Tanner Thorson
2. Christopher Bell
3. Rico Abreu
4. Buddy Kofoid
5. Tanner Carrick
6. Kyle Larson
7. CJ Leary
8. Kevin Thomas Jr.
9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
10. Thomas Meseraull
11. Tyler Courtney
12. Blake Hahn
13. Shane Golobic
14. Chris Windom
15. Zeb Wise
16. Justin Grant
17. Corey Day
18. Kaylee Bryson
19. Tim Buckwalter
20. Jonathan Beason
21. Colby Copeland
22. Dillon Welch
23. Chase Johnson
24. Brady Bacon
