WATCH: Kyle Larson crashes twice at Chilly Bowl Nationals and ruins his ‘dirt double’ attempt

Kyle Larson's ‘double dirt’ attempt wasn’t executed properly.

WATCH: Kyle Larson crashes twice at Chilly Bowl Nationals and ruins his ‘dirt double’ attempt

Kyle Larson's car flipped at Chilly Bowl (Via Floracing, Screenshot)

2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson surprised the racing community after he announced a surprise entry into the 2024 Chilly Bowl Nationals. He previously had confirmed his absence and was scheduled to race at Vado for another event during the same time frame. But Larson had another plan.

He decided to attempt a dirt double and race at Tulsa and Vado. Larson’s plan was simple: he would attempt qualifying for the main event at Chilly Bowl after securing it on his first attempt and would fly to race at the Wild West Shootout before returning to Tulsa yet again for the main event.  He was searching for a third Chilly Bowl Nationals win to give him another Golden Drill.

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But all his pans went south after the first heat race. He had two crashes in the event; the first came in the heat race and the second in the A-Main qualification race. Larson was bumped from the back, and he crashed out. He was able to progress to B-main after winning C-main. But in the A-Main, he could only secure a grid position at the back due to P2 finish in B-Main.

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Larson had a tough race in the A-Main event as he started at P20. In the final half of the race, he was racing at P11 when an aggressive move in the turn-4 caused contact with the wall, and his car went airborne. He flipped twice before and was awarded a P24 finish. He can still qualify for the next event but won’t be able to do it since he has commitments at Nex Mexico.

Kyle Larson didn’t have the best start even before getting to the Chilly Bowl

Larson won the Golden Drill in 2020 and 2021 but decided to sit out in the 2022 edition of the event. He was joined by fellow NASCAR racer and three-time Chilly Bowl winner Christopher Bell. They decided because the prize pool was too small for such a mega event.

Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson (Via IMAGO)
Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson (Via IMAGO)

So, Larson’s entry was a big surprise, and it was a quick decision on the driver’s part as well, as he forgot his racing gear in New Mexico while flying to Oklahoma for the event. Alongside the hectic double duty, he had the headache of fading the suitable accessories to race.

This won’t be Larson’s sole double duty of 2024 as he has a big task ahead of him at the Labor Day weekend, where he will have to race for 1100 miles. As he is running in the Indy 500 with Arrow McLaren, he has to first race in an IndyCar event before racing 600 miles in the Coco-Cola 600.

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