Former champion and BA resident Tanner Thorson advances at Chili Bowl

Broken Arrow resident Tanner Thorson won the Hasty Bake Qualifying Night A-Feature at the 39th Annual Chili Bowl Nationals, edging out Ryan Bernal and Christopher Bell in a thrilling final lap. Last night's race was a wild one for the former champion.

"I got the lead there early. Carter Bernal got by me, and I kind of was just riding and I had a feeling his car was really good there at the start and I was just kind of waiting for him to kind of, you know, slow his pace back up. Then Christopher Bell went by, and the next thing I know, I was like kind of in a in a pickle, you know, I'm like, great, this is the last guy you wanna let by you. So we rode we rode with him for a minute and I was able to kind of tune on my shocks a little bit there on one of the yellows (caution flags) and gained a lot more speed. So once we did that, I got back by him and the yellow came out and we we kind of just went for it. So, you know, I just kind of had to go with what my gut was telling me, and and it l played off."

The race saw a strong challenge from Karter Sarff, who briefly led laps 3-4 before Thorson regained the lead on lap 5. Bell took over the lead on lap 10, with Thorson battling back after a caution with 9 laps to go. As the final lap approached, a late restart set up a three-way fight for the win. Thorson managed to hold off Bernal, who nearly snagged a spot in Saturday's A-Feature by just 0.068 seconds.

Not many people know one of the best dirt track drivers in the country lives in Broken Arrow. Thorson's wife Shaylee is from here. "Yeah, so my wife's from from here, her father raced sprint cars and he's actually the owner of Smith Titanium that builds all the fasteners and breaks on our cars," said Thorson. "I met her and I lived in Indiana and I was racing out there, and then, you know, it was this kind of time to get up and move this way and I love it here, man. It's great."

Being a resident makes the Chili Bowl event that much more special for the 2022 winner of the Golden Driller. "Yeah, it's I feel like this is home, right? This is a this is a place I love coming to. It's, an event that, you know, I want to be a part of for, you know, the rest of my life. So, you know, I'm obviously not from here, but I I feel like I am and, you know, I have all the locals that, I feel like, you know, I'm one of their guys now, so it's it's pretty cool. I'm I'm happy about it and, you know, I look at this event, like I said, as, you know, one of my favorite events."

Thorson’s win marked his third preliminary night victory in 12 starts. Matt Westfall finished fourth, while Jacob Denney rounded out the top five. With 79 drivers competing Thursday, the event brought the total to 292, with another 86 drivers set for Friday.