When you merge NASCAR with dirt racing, there is only one name that you get in the current Cup Series field: Kyle Larson. The Hendrick Motorsports driver owns the High Limit Racing Series and is also a strong competitor in it. But more importantly, he regularly participates in the Chili Bowl Nationals. Larson is a three-time winner and has made it to the Saturday championship feature 12 times. This time too, he entered with the same drive, starting from the pole.

However, luck wasn’t with the two-time NASCAR champion, as his dreams for another title got crushed within 15 laps. There is a new winner in town, and if it’s any consolation to Larson, even the man who beat him feels he is still the toughest out there.

Kyle Larson was the only threat the 2026 Golden Driller winner had

“This is, for sure, the best day of my life,” said a young 21-year-old Emerson Axsom on beating the best in the business and taking home the 2026 Chili Bowl Nationals title.

Just like any other year, the 40th Chili Bowl Nationals was quite heated by the time of the final race. Without a surprise, Kyle Larson had managed to get himself into the final race and started in the front row, managing to lead. In fact, his lead seemed so easy for Axsom that he felt Larson didn’t have to push as hard as he had to.

“His 90 percent is my 110 percent,” Axsom said, speaking of Larson after the race.

The reigning Cup Series champion seemed to be on his way to take home his fourth Golden Driller. He led the initial laps of the race after starting out, but Axsom was able to sweep past him after lap three. Yet, Larson mounted quite some pressure on him.

“I figured he [Larson] would have been waiting. He’s a very smart racer, like he would have been waiting on me to mess up,” he said.

However, Kyle Larson’s run came to an abrupt end after contact with a slow car, which saw him flipped, eliminating him from the race. While this was understandably frustrating for the HMS driver, Axsom was calm once he had witnessed the wreck. His statement reflected that Larson was the only driver who could have overtaken him.

“Once I’d seen him wrecked, I kind of felt like he was the only guy that had a shot against me early. When I was watching the screen, he was the only guy that seemed to be really close. So, it took a little bit of weight off my shoulders that I like didn’t have to be stressed about being perfect every lap,” he added.

Larson had been delivering strongly throughout the week. There seemed to be nothing coming his way to clinch the fourth Golden Driller. He won the preliminary feature on Monday after having finished seventh in the Race of Champions. It was Christopher Bell who won the latter, and it was also he who seemed to be the only challenge that Larson could’ve faced.

These two drivers have been operating at the Chili Bowl Nationals’ top level, both having won it thrice. Their rivalry, more than NASCAR, is what amplified the excitement of the Chili Bowl, as per a veteran driver.

Top Stories

NASCAR Fans Rally Behind Brad Keselowski As He Outlines Ambitious Retirement Goal

NASCAR Fans Rally Behind Female Driver as Trolls Dissect Her Daytona Return

Kevin Harvick’s No-Mercy Moment Stuns CARS Tour Crowd in Another Wild Confrontation With His Own Son

Kyle Larson’s Chili Bowl Aspirations Go Upside Down With Major On-Track Incident

Fans Cheer as Denny Hamlin Goes Against Joe Gibbs to Give Champion Driver His Long-Awaited NASCAR Path

Kenny Wallace’s bold statement on the Larson-Bell rivalry at the Chili Bowl

Kenny Wallace has seen enough Chili Bowl Nationals throughout his career to deliver a strong statement. The event in itself is exciting enough; there seems to be nothing quite like it. The level of aggression that the drivers show, the brawls they have, and how they put everything at stake to take home the Golden Driller, it showcases how important the event is in the motorsports industry.

Despite close to 400 drivers entering the event to fight for the final 24 positions, Wallace feels that if there is something that will keep the excitement alive in the Chili Bowl is Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell’s rivalry.

“In the press conference early this week, they asked Kyle Larson about racing in the Chili Bowl, and the question was brought up about Christopher Bell. Kyle Larson said, ‘I want to get that fourth Chili Bowl win before Christopher Bell does.’ I thought it was awesome, because now the fans will get involved, and they will make this event more exciting as the years go on,” Wallace said on Coffee with Kenny.

There is no doubt about it. Kyle Larson is one of the strongest performers that the Chili Bowl Nationals has ever had, and to have a competitor like Christopher Bell only amplifies the competition. Yet, the two-time NASCAR champion has proven himself in the dirt.

Emerson Axsom clearly explained how Larson was the only driver who stressed him out throughout the race as he followed him for 12 laps before wrecking. While the Golden Driller didn’t go his way, can Larson carry his momentum from 2025 in the Cup Series and dominate in the new Chase format?