The 2025 NASCAR season may be a month away. Yet some drivers are hiking up the excitement prematurely at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. The much-awaited event is witnessing Cup Series stars like Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, and Kyle Larson. While Busch is making his debut, the other two are seasoned veterans. They are proving their Chili Bowl expertise – and Larson’s attempt is peppered with passion.

The 2021 Cup Series champion is a prolific dirt racer as well. Larson has already got two Chili Bowl championships under his belt – in 2020 and 2021. His rival Christopher Bell owns three (2017-19). So Larson is determined in his quest to match his rival’s stats – and that is almost tipping him over into a rivalry.

Kyle Larson admits to his boiling mindset

Well, the motorsports legend is ambitious about all his racing pursuits. Kyle Larson won the 2024 Merced Midget Madness for the first time. Then on his trip to Perth, Australia, Larson bagged the High Limit International 410 Sprint car race with a prize of $100,000. So the speedster wants to continue this streak of success at the Chili Bowl Nationals. What is more, his Cup Series and dirt racing rival Christopher Bell is there to beat. The latter already dazzled – he won the O’Reilly Invitational Race of Champions, leading every single lap en route to his third win.

Kyle Larson also showed his prowess – he wheeled the No. 1K Toyota to victory at the A-Main Preliminary Action event. However, his glorious path could easily have been derailed by runner-up finisher Shane Golobc. Post-race, Larson admitted that had that happened, he would have lost his temper. “I probably would have been more p–sed because he is such a good racer. And I would have been like, dumbfounded and surprised that he did that.”

Kyle Larson did not have the quickest vehicle, but he laid back and watched others make mistakes. Then he made a late-race push after a caution, carving his way around Cannon McIntosh and fighting against Golobic. Eventually, Larson prevailed – and admitted his relief that Golobic did not get foolish ideas. “But yeah, so I didn’t know where he was at behind me, I didn’t know if he was trying to run the wall to get around to clear me, get behind me or anything. I didn’t know that he slid across with me. But I’m glad he didn’t turn me.”

Meanwhile, another podium finisher is feeling down as he could not follow his streak.

No luck yet again?

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Well, Kyle Larson may be the highlight of the event. However, several talented racers have been trying their luck at the Chili Bowl Nationals for years. Cannon McIntosh is one of them – 2025 marks his 7th appearance at the Super Bowl of Midget Racing. In his previous six attempts, McIntosh bagged three preliminary wins and 3 top-five finishes. McIntosh fervently believed that the pieces were in place for him to finally go for the coveted Chili Bowl victory. He did not let anything deter him – not even the expletive bombs dropped by rival Thomas Meseraull. However, McIntosh is already losing pace.

During the A-Main Preliminary, Kyle Larson prevailed over Shane Golobic. Meanwhile, McIntosh lagged behind in third place despite being the winningest driver in Prelim history. Thereby he missed out on a guaranteed spot in Saturday’s 40-lap feature. The Keith Kunz Motorsports driver said post-race: “It was an up-and-down day. We rebounded well after getting upside down in our heat race. I thought mid-race that we had enough to win it. I just slowed the pace down too much trying not to take ourselves out and they were able to capitalize. I think we know what we need to do on Saturday.”

With Cup Series legends like Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell in his way, McIntosh has his work cut out for him. Let us wait and see if he can prevail or not.