Unless something drastically changes with the purse structure for the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals, Kyle Larson will not race in the Tulsa Expo Center this coming January and he might not be the only notable absence.
The two-time winner of the Golden Driller and 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion has long been an advocate of increasing the purse throughout the field but also to win the prestigious event as it only pays $10,000.
Having won $50,000 in the Prairie Dirt Classic, $150,000 in the Knoxville Nationals and $175,000 in the Kings Royal, the $10,000 payout just doesn‘t strike Larson as a payout commensurate to the growing prestige of the event.
“So, I’ve been going to the Chili Bowl for 15 years, it’s a great event and I love it,” Larson told Racing America on Wednesday. “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.”
— Racing America —
