January 16, 2026 | By Bryan Hulbert

Christopher Bell victorious at Chili Bowl On Hasty Bake Qualifying Night

TULSA, Okla.—A late race caution turned into a late race charge for the win, as Oklahoma’s Christopher Bell rolled the hub of the Tulsa Expo Raceway to Victory Lane during Thursday’s Hasty Bake Qualifying Night at the 40th annual Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink.

Already a winner during Monday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Invitational Race of Champions, Bell’s Thursday win is his ninth in JST Motorsports preliminary A-Feature competition.

“I didn’t think I was going to get there,” said Bell when asked about how hard he had to work for the win.

“When the yellow came out, I didn’t know how far away those guys were, but I really just didn’t have the pace, and everyone was really committed to the top, and I wasn’t able to keep up, so when the yellow came out, I knew I was going to have to do something different.”

Starting the JST Motorsports A-Feature from eighth, the front was commanded by Indiana’s C.J. Leary as Bayston, Bernal, and Windom all battled NOS livery for the runner-up spot. Working into traffic, Leary’s challenger took the form of Ryan Bernal, with both wrestling a monster cushion, with Bernal finally getting the run for the lead with seven laps to run. Able to reclaim the point, the caution flew before Leary was able to get back around to complete the lap.

Caution again with five laps to run, and Bell up two spots since the previous restart, the Rheem No. 21cb was quick to get around Leary and set sights on Bernal.

Low line to three to go, Bell pulled up quickly and threw the slide in the first and second turns. Breaking Bernal’s momentum, the Bell shot back to the hub, and from there, pulled away by 0.778-seconds.

Battling his way by the NOS Energy Drink No. 87w, C.J. Leary punched his ticket into Saturday’s JST Motorsports A-Feature for the fifth time in his career. Bernal settled for third with Spencer Bayston and Kyle Cummins completing the top five.

Thursday’s Hasty Bake Qualifying Night saw a field of 82 drivers on hand to bring the week’s total to 304 through the first four nights, putting the 381 attendance record in 2022 in reach of being broken with 85 on the docket for Friday’s Hard Rock Hotel Casino, Tulsa Qualifying Night, with cars on track at 4:00 P.M. for Hot Laps. The night’s racing program begins at 5:00 P.M. (CT). General Admission is available at the event.

The 40th annual Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink takes place January 12-17, 2026, under the giant roof of the SageNet Center in Tulsa, Okla. Fans unable to attend the Chili Bowl Nationals can watch every lap live at http://www.floracing.com.

For continued updates on the Chili Bowl Nationals, fans can follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with @CBNationals. All official press, updates, and results on the Chili Bowl Nationals can be found online at http://www.chilibowl.com.


RACE RESULTS:

40th annual Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS
Tulsa Expo Raceway (Tulsa, Okla.)

Hasty Bake Qualifying Night

Thursday, January 15, 2026

Car Count: 82

Overall Count: 304

JUGO Super Foods Heat Races (Top 40 in passing points advance to Qualifiers)

JUGO Super Foods Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 81F-Frank Flud[1]; 2. 89-Chris Windom[6]; 3. 97P-Ryker Pace[4]; 4. 23T-Ashton Thompson[2]; 5. 71B-Braxton Cummings[5]; 6. 2D-Matt Sherrell[8]; 7. 77J-John Klabunde[3]; 8. 57K-Kevin Studley[10]; 9. 06-Mike Sullivan[7]; 10. (DNF) 25GS-Eric Guyot[9]

JUGO Super Foods Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21H-Brady Bacon[4]; 2. 7-Shannon McQueen[1]; 3. 1M-Dodge Carlbert[2]; 4. 19-Joel Myers Jr[6]; 5. 23S-Kyle Simon[5]; 6. 28J-Joe Perry[3]; 7. 9K-Jake Johnson[8]; 8. 28B-Brandon Mattox[7]; 9. 23D-Devon Dobie[9]

JUGO Super Foods Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 39G-Kyle Cummins[1]; 2. 20Q-Brecken Reese[4]; 3. 55X-CJ Leary[9]; 4. 55F-Johnny Kent[8]; 5. 22M-Abby Hohlbein[2]; 6. 111-Trevor Serbus[5]; 7. 8L-Cooper Miller[7]; 8. (DNF) 07-Tim Kent[6]; 9. (DNF) 53-Sean Robbins[3]

JUGO Super Foods Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 14T-Caden Sarale[4]; 2. 87W-Ryan Bernal[6]; 3. 67-Jacob Denney[9]; 4. 21S-Tim Creech II[2]; 5. 7S-Donnie Gentry[8]; 6. 20W-Cody Weisensel[5]; 7. 80H-Josh Hanna[3]; 8. 35S-Chris Hartman[1]; 9. (DNF) 1H-Henry Chambers[7]

JUGO Super Foods Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 21CB-Christopher Bell[1]; 2. 12H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[3]; 3. 67A-Ashton Torgerson[8]; 4. 51F-Braden Chiaramonte[5]; 5. 55T-Trevor Cline[6]; 6. 98B-Joe Boyles[2]; 7. 85J-Logan Julien[7]; 8. 31T-Tommy Colburn[4]; 9. (DNS) 4F-Chad Frewaldt

JUGO Super Foods Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 1S-Spencer Bayston[3]; 2. 5P-Cameron La Rose[2]; 3. 5-Karter Sarff[6]; 4. 41J-Parker Jones[5]; 5. 7R-Chance Crum[7]; 6. 33R-Cameron Hagin[4]; 7. C71-Carter Jensrud[8]; 8. 17E-Cody Beard[9]; 9. (DNF) 11P-Jon Padilla[1]

JUGO Super Foods Heat 7 (8 Laps): 1. 27X-Kalib Henry[1]; 2. 8B-Jeffrey Abbey[4]; 3. 91-Jeff Stasa[3]; 4. 91S-Xavier Doney[8]; 5. 73-Cole Wakim[6]; 6. 20S-Shon Deskins[2]; 7. 30-Matt Johnson[5]; 8. 10-Caleb Padgett[9]; 9. (DNF) 1V-Alex Vande Voort[7]

JUGO Super Foods Heat 8 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Jacob Hughes[1]; 2. 47-Danny Stratton[3]; 3. 14F-Brant Woods[4]; 4. 10J-Sam Henderson[2]; 5. 41W-Brad Wyatt[5]; 6. 40B-Josh Bilicki[8]; 7. 51X-Joe Walker[7]; 8. 5G-PJ Gargiulo[9]; 9. 81C-Colten Cottle[6]

JUGO Super Foods Heat 9 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Tanner Thorson[4]; 2. 15D-Andrew Deal[6]; 3. 57A-Matthew Rechek[9]; 4. 67R-Ryan Roulette[1]; 5. 99K-Robert Carson[7]; 6. 88P-Tony Penick[3]; 7. 21R-Brady Ransom[5]; 8. (DNF) 3U-Kevin Newton[8]; 9. (DNF) 44-Danny Sams III[2]


Toyota Racing Development Qualifiers (Top 16 in combined Heat/Qualifier passing points advance to the A-Feature)

Toyota Qualifier 1 (10 Laps): 1. 21CB-Christopher Bell[2]; 2. 55X-CJ Leary[6]; 3. 15D-Andrew Deal[4]; 4. 8B-Jeffrey Abbey[3]; 5. 91S-Xavier Doney[1]; 6. 14T-Caden Sarale[5]; 7. 41J-Parker Jones[9]; 8. 7-Shannon McQueen[7]; 9. 7S-Donnie Gentry[8]; 10. 73-Cole Wakim[10]

Toyota Qualifier 2 (10 Laps): 1. 67A-Ashton Torgerson[4]; 2. 5-Karter Sarff[3]; 3. 88-Tanner Thorson[5]; 4. 67-Jacob Denney[6]; 5. 12H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[1]; 6. 97P-Ryker Pace[7]; 7. 7R-Chance Crum[9]; 8. 27X-Kalib Henry[2]; 9. 91-Jeff Stasa[8]; 10. 23T-Ashton Thompson[10]

Toyota Qualifier 3 (10 Laps): 1. 1S-Spencer Bayston[4]; 2. 89-Chris Windom[5]; 3. 81F-Frank Flud[3]; 4. 47-Danny Stratton[1]; 5. 14F-Brant Woods[7]; 6. 11-Jacob Hughes[2]; 7. 1M-Dodge Carlbert[8]; 8. 21S-Tim Creech II[10]; 9. 99K-Robert Carson[9]; 10. (DNF) 57A-Matthew Rechek[6]

Toyota Qualifier 4 (10 Laps): 1. 39G-Kyle Cummins[3]; 2. 87W-Ryan Bernal[5]; 3. 19-Joel Myers Jr[7]; 4. 20Q-Brecken Reese[4]; 5. 55T-Trevor Cline[9]; 6. 21H-Brady Bacon[6]; 7. 5P-Cameron La Rose[1]; 8. 55F-Johnny Kent[2]; 9. 10J-Sam Henderson[10]; 10. 51F-Braden Chiaramonte[8]


Smiley's Racing Products D-Features (Top 2 advance to the C-Feature)

Smileys Racing Products D Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 28B-Brandon Mattox[3]; 2. 5G-PJ Gargiulo[2]; 3. 31T-Tommy Colburn[6]; 4. 17E-Cody Beard[1]; 5. 06-Mike Sullivan[5]; 6. 21R-Brady Ransom[10]; 7. (DNF) 53-Sean Robbins[7]; 8. (DNF) 1V-Alex Vande Voort[8]; 9. (DNF) 80H-Josh Hanna[4]; 10. (DNF) 11P-Jon Padilla[9]; 11. (DNS) 81C-Colten Cottle

Smileys Racing Products D Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 77J-John Klabunde[3]; 2. 3U-Kevin Newton[4]; 3. 30-Matt Johnson[2]; 4. 10-Caleb Padgett[1]; 5. 35S-Chris Hartman[5]; 6. 4F-Chad Frewaldt[6]; 7. (DNS) 07-Tim Kent; 8. (DNS) 23D-Devon Dobie; 9. (DNS) 1H-Henry Chambers; 10. (DNS) 25GS-Eric Guyot; 11. (DNS) 44-Danny Sams III


Creek County Speedway C-Features (Top 4 advance to the B-Feature)

Creek Co Speedway C Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 2D-Matt Sherrell[1]; 2. 23S-Kyle Simon[3]; 3. C71-Carter Jensrud[6]; 4. 20W-Cody Weisensel[5]; 5. 28B-Brandon Mattox[11]; 6. 85J-Logan Julien[10]; 7. 5G-PJ Gargiulo[12]; 8. 67R-Ryan Roulette[2]; 9. 20S-Shon Deskins[9]; 10. 22M-Abby Hohlbein[4]; 11. 57K-Kevin Studley[7]; 12. 88P-Tony Penick[8]

Creek Co Speedway C Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 8L-Cooper Miller[9]; 2. 41W-Brad Wyatt[3]; 3. 40B-Josh Bilicki[1]; 4. 71B-Braxton Cummings[2]; 5. 111-Trevor Serbus[4]; 6. 33R-Cameron Hagin[6]; 7. 51X-Joe Walker[10]; 8. 77J-John Klabunde[11]; 9. 98B-Joe Boyles[8]; 10. 9K-Jake Johnson[5]; 11. 3U-Kevin Newton[12]; 12. (DNF) 28J-Joe Perry[7]


Ferguson Enterprises B-Features (Top 4 advance to the A-Feature)

Ferguson Enterprises B Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 2D-Matt Sherrell[13]; 2. 41J-Parker Jones[5]; 3. 27X-Kalib Henry[7]; 4. 23S-Kyle Simon[14]; 5. 91-Jeff Stasa[10]; 6. 73-Cole Wakim[12]; 7. 20W-Cody Weisensel[16]; 8. 97P-Ryker Pace[4]; 9. 21S-Tim Creech II[9]; 10. 10J-Sam Henderson[11]; 11. 7-Shannon McQueen[8]; 12. 91S-Xavier Doney[3]; 13. 1M-Dodge Carlbert[6]; 14. 14T-Caden Sarale[1]; 15. (DNF) 47-Danny Stratton[2]; 16. (DNF) C71-Carter Jensrud[15]

Ferguson Enterprises B Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 55T-Trevor Cline[2]; 2. 14F-Brant Woods[1]; 3. 41W-Brad Wyatt[14]; 4. 11-Jacob Hughes[4]; 5. 7R-Chance Crum[5]; 6. 8L-Cooper Miller[11]; 7. 5P-Cameron La Rose[7]; 8. 55F-Johnny Kent[8]; 9. 71B-Braxton Cummings[15]; 10. 40B-Josh Bilicki[13]; 11. 57A-Matthew Rechek[6]; 12. 23T-Ashton Thompson[12]; 13. 99K-Robert Carson[10]; 14. (DNF) 12H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[3]; 15. (DNF) 7S-Donnie Gentry[9]; 16. (DNS) 51F-Braden Chiaramonte


JST Motorsports A-Feature (Top 2 lock into Saturday's A-Main)

JST Motorsports A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 21CB-Christopher Bell[8]; 2. 55X-CJ Leary[1]; 3. 87W-Ryan Bernal[5]; 4. 1S-Spencer Bayston[3]; 5. 39G-Kyle Cummins[7]; 6. 88-Tanner Thorson[6]; 7. 89-Chris Windom[4]; 8. 5-Karter Sarff[11]; 9. 67-Jacob Denney[9]; 10. 67A-Ashton Torgerson[2]; 11. 2D-Matt Sherrell[17]; 12. 81F-Frank Flud[13]; 13. 21H-Brady Bacon[14]; 14. 55T-Trevor Cline[16]; 15. 19-Joel Myers Jr[10]; 16. 20Q-Brecken Reese[12]; 17. 41J-Parker Jones[19]; 18. 27X-Kalib Henry[21]; 19. 8B-Jeffrey Abbey[15]; 20. 23S-Kyle Simon[23]; 21. 41W-Brad Wyatt[20]; 22. 14F-Brant Woods[18]; 23. 11-Jacob Hughes[22]; 24. (DNS) 15D-Andrew Deal

Lap Leader(s): C.J. Leary 1-22; Ryan Bernal 23-26; Christopher Bell 27-30