Through three nights at the Chili Bowl Nationals, the week is turning into a generational clash between the stars of recent years and those that paved the way directly before them.
Look at this way:
Race of Champions: Christopher Bell
Monday locks: Kyle Larson, Shane Golobic
Tuesday locks: Landon Brooks, Brenham Crouch
Wednesday locks: Emerson Axsom, Daison Pursley
The first two nights were a continuation of the status quo with Larson and Golobic locking in as they are prone to do and Bell winning Race of Champions ahead of his qualifying night on Thursday.
Anyone who had Brooks and Croch advancing ahead of championship feature mainstays Buddy Kofoid, Hank Davis and Thomas Meseraull picked them by accident or are likely lying. Sure, Brooks was a sneaky underdog but Crouch hadn’t even raced in Tulsa since 2023 and admitted that his past year was not flattering.
Nevertheless, they’re in and will be joined by Axsom and Pursley, who are both locked in through a prelim for the first time in their respective careers. Both are fine drivers, who are going to race each other for 410 Sprint Car wins for years to come, but they topped a field that included 2024 lock-n Corey Day, two-time feature starter Tim Buckwalter and building greats JJ Yeley and Sammy Swindell.
It’s turning into a generational clash. This is again a premature conversation as there are still two more prelim nights to set the final four lock in positions but it’s already an interesting group. There’s no guarantee that recent trends will continue the rest of the week either with Tanner Thorson and Logan Seavey expressing some frustration after their Race of Champions.
The trends suggest that a surprise winner might not be out of the question. Typically, it takes a long time to win this race and it requires losing the race several times before breaking through.
Kevin Swindell: Won in his fifth try
Rico Abreu: Won in his fifth try
Christopher Bell: Won in his seventh try
Kyle Larson: Won in his 13th try
Point being, it’s just hard to win this race but there are a lot of surprise options with Brooks in his third feature, Crouch in his third, Pursley in his fourth and Axsom in his fifth.
At the same time, there’s going to be some really good cars coming up through the field from just outside the top-10 assuming Kofoid, Day, Cannon McIntosh and Brent Crews all in Bs right now with two nights remaining,
As for Wednesday specifically, Axsom grabbed the lead from Pursley on lap 4 and led the rest of the way for both of their career best prelim night performances. Despite unloading with the same package as the one he took to a prelim win and main event podium last year, Day could only drive from eighth to third by the end of the night.
“It’s cool to beat Daison and Corey because they were in Race of Champions, and I wasn’t but I was able to watch the track and see how good their cars were,” Axsom said.
For his part, Pursley needed to overcome a disaster of a prelim night last year to drive from a D feature to fourth by the end of the night.
“I still have to pass some cars in the pole shuffle if I intend to make a good run at it,” Pursley said. “We’re definitely going to have a better starting spot but it just sucks to lose this race from the pole. I’ll go to work to see what I need to do to be better on Saturday.”
For his part, full circle, Axsom feels like he can be the next first-time and kind of under-the-radar winner.
“The guys who have won the past couple of years, like Logan Seavey and Tanner Thorson, they’re great race car drivers but they’re definitely beatable,” Axsom said. “I have raced with them guys the past four years of my life I feel like.
“I used to come in this building and think they are unbeatable but you have to believe they beatable. I got the monkey off my back here and I think it’s because I came here with the mindset that I have raced Daison since I was 16, racing micros with that kid. He had a great outdoor season and I’ve been racing Day since I was like 15. I have raced with them and beaten them and if you take that mindset in here, it helps you a lot.”