40th Annual Chili Bowl Prelim Night Lineups Are Stocked With NASCAR, USAC, and Sprint Car Stars
Officials have released the 2026 Chili Bowl Nationals preliminary night lineups. See who is racing when in the week leading up to the main event.
Entries for the 40th annual Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy, AKA “The World’s Greatest Midget Race,” currently stand at 385 drivers. It’s a new record for the event, as the previous mark was 381 entries in 2022.
Everything starts on Sunday with practice for all entries. Then, Monday through Friday, event organizers split drivers into five groups vying for a spot in the $20,000-to-win 55-lap feature. Saturday will see the over 300 drivers who have yet to qualify for the feature duke it out in the last-chance races.
Among the entries in 2026 are several NASCAR drivers, including Kyle Larson (a three-time winner of the event), Christopher Bell (also a three-time Chili Bowl champ), Ty Gibbs, J.J. Yeley, and Josh Bilicki. Jess Love, the 2025 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion, and Sheldon Creed, the 2020 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, will also be competing.
Santino Ferrucci
Six former Chili Bowl champions, including Larson and Bell, are returning to try again. 23 returning starters from the 2025 feature event are also back for one more attempt at winning a Golden Driller trophy.
2026 Chili Bowl preliminary fields for each night
Monday
Among Monday’s notable drivers are Kyle Larson, Shane Golobic, and Cannon McIntosh. The rest of the field includes possible contenders CJ Leary, Drake Edwards, Jett Yantis, Nick Drake, Garet Williamson, and Kameron Key. Additional drivers to watch in the first prelim include Tanner Carrick, Jerry Coons Jr., Joe B. Miller, Justin Peck, Trey Marcham, Gary Taylor, Dillon Welch, Nick Hoffman, Tanner Berryhill, Garrett Benson, Alex Sewell, Jakeb Boxell, and Jake Andreotti.
Tuesday
On Tuesday, Landon Brooks, Brenham Crouch, Buddy Kofoid, Corbin Rueschenberg, and Gunnar Setser are among the favorites. They will face off against contenders Michael Pickens, J.J. Yeley, Kyle Jones, Ethan Mitchell, Roger Crockett, Zach Wigal, and Luke Storer. Jett Barnes, Darin Naida, Austin Wood, Sye Lynch, Chance Morton, Chase Randall, Clinton Boyles, Kris Carroll, Ricky Thornton Jr., Parker Price-Miller, Kalib Henry, Kyle Beilman, Ty Gibbs, and Sheldon Creed also make Tuesday’s field a tough one.
Wednesday
Wednesday night will see Emerson Axsom, Daison Pursley, Corey Day, and Ryan Timms as the drivers to beat. Tim Buckwalter, Kale Drake, Blake Hahn, Mitchel Moles, Jake Swanson, Colby Copeland, Alex Bright, Sammy Swindell, Jake Neuman, Steve Buckwalter, Colten Cottle, and Tom Harris are also among the contenders. Kevin Thomas Jr., Thomas Meseraull, Jason McDougal, T.J. Smith, Bradley Cox, Cap Henry, R.J. Johnson, Chelby Hinton, Jeffrey Newell, KJ Snow, Kaidon Brown, and Austin Torgerson are also drivers to watch.
Thursday
On Thursday, Tanner Thorson, Ryan Bernal, Christopher Bell, Jacob Denney, and Frank Flud will be drawing a lot of attention. Ashton Torgerson, Briggs Danner, Kyle Cummins, Cameron La Rose, and Trevor Cline will also be expected to finish well. Spencer Bayston, Karter Sarff, Brady Bacon, Chris Windom, Andrew Deal, Danny Stratton, Matt Sherrell, Chance Crum, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Brant Woods, Joel Myers Jr., Parker Jones, Danny Sams III, and Logan Julien will also be worth a look.
Friday
Friday night, Logan Seavey, Gavin Miller, Daryn Pittman, Justin Grant, Michael Faccinto, Andrew Felker, Tyler Edwards, Ronnie Gardner, and Giovanni Scelzi are among the favorites. They will be joined by Steven Snyder Jr., Matt Westfall, Casey Shuman, Rylan Gray, Mario Clouser, Billy Wease, Jace Park, Brody Roa, Jett Nunley, Santino Ferrucci, Ace McCarthy, Daniel Robinson, Cale Coons, Hayden Wise, and Chris Andrews in the chase for the checkers.
