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After he put in one of the most successful seasons by a racecar driver in American motorsports history in 2021, it seems Kyle Larson is set to start 2022 on the same road with the same end in mind. And the first stop on that road for the NASCAR Champion is the Chili Bowl Nationals.

Larson enters the ‘crown jewel’ of dirt racing as a defending champion. And if the air leading up to the weekend is to be believed, the 29-year-old is up against long-time competitor Christopher Bell.

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But despite their history together, Kyle Larson simply doesn’t know “how to answer” any questions about the beef between him and Bell. Instead, he described how Bell helped him to become a better driver.

Larson said, “He’s challenged me to become a better race car driver. Because he probably beat me in every dirt race, I ran for three years, even outside of Chili Bowl. So that really aided me a lot and made me want to work harder to get better. I respect him a lot for that.”

“I think he is one of the best, if not the best,” Larson added.

Kyle Larson predicts a ‘tougher’ Chili Bowl

The reigning champion described how the 2022 competition could prove to be tougher than before. “This year it’ll be a little bit tougher than others. It seems like everyone’s equipment keeps getting better,” Larson said.

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“So I feel like that kinda opens the door for others..of having a really good chance of winning,” he added.

And one of those ‘others’ is his own teammate from NASCAR, Chase Elliott. The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion is entering his second Chili Bowl Nationals in as many years, and this time he’d hope to at least do better than last year.

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So let’s see whether Kyle Larson repeats his result from a year before and how he manages to withstand the challenge of an old rival from outside and a new rival from inside.

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