“Dad Was a Star But…” – Chase Elliott Snubbed Father for Tony Stewart Support for This Reason Before Taking Part in Kyle Larson Dominated Affair

With the NASCAR season done and dusted, and no more Cup Series or Xfinity Series races to look forward to, drivers and fans will shift their gaze to other formats and series. Among those are the Super Bowl of Midget Racing and the Chili Bowl Nationals. But could we end up missing out on one of Chili Bowl’s most dominating drivers – Kyle Larson?

Last year, in the week leading to the race in Tulsa, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott sat down for an interview on The Loudpedal Podcast. Elliott was asked, “Why the Chili Bowl? What about this race has perked your interest enough to want to run it?”

“I really enjoyed this race, been a fan of the event for probably like 5-6 years or so. I paid pretty close attention to it over last 5-6 years. Just think it’s a really cool event for one but not just the Chili Bowl. Grew up big Tony Stewart fan, so obviously he kind of wanted me to do that stuff, I felt like as a kid,” said Chase.

He also added, “My dad was a star at the time but you know, you’re always looking outside of that too, outside of him. Tony was having a lot of success and he was just really kind to me. I knew he was really involved I think you know he would send me like you know little diecast sprint cars and stuff at Christmas…”

“I have, you know, he sent me t-shirts and stuff of all of his dirt guys so just that was really the big thing. I just felt like he was kinder than most for whatever reason and I respected that.”

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The 2020 Cup Series champion admittedly had a “blast” at his Chili Bowl debut in 2021. But things since then have only been getting worse.

What have Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott got themselves into?

The 2021 Chili Bowl was an interesting event. Kyle Larson made it 2 in 2 for him at the event, winning the race emphatically in his midget car. On the other hand, Elliott was involved in a dramatic (and dangerous) flip in the air that had spectators out of their seats.

But from what it looks like at the moment, there isn’t going to be a repeat of those moments in 2022. In an interview with Racing America, Larson said “So, I’ve been going to the Chili Bowl for 15 years, it’s a great event and I love it. I’ve spent half of my life going there. But now that I’ve started racing in these other big events, against big names, and they just feel like a bigger deal to me than the Chili Bowl.”

“I just don’t see the race as one of the biggest ones like I used to because it hasn’t grown like other big races have. I’m just at the point where I want to see the purse grow a lot. So, for the time being, and unless that happens, I won’t be running it this year and I know there are a lot of racers that feel the same way.”

A similar kind of emotion has been echoed by Elliott, and the route taken by him, Larson, and Christopher Bell irked the promoter of the race, Emmett Hahn. He said, “Bell started this crap two years ago and it’s just a shame because no one has called me. They have my number. Chase Elliott has my number. I’m really easy to get a hold of, and I would have this conversation with them too but they’ve all gone straight to the media.”

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Given the tone and tenor of Hahn’s statements, it looks very unlikely that the Golden Driller will see Elliott and Larson in 2022.