Blake Hahn Wins Chili Bowl Prelim Night

Blake Hahn Wins Chili Bowl Prelim Night

January 14, 2026 David Thompson - Sports Editor Sports

It’s cliché but this is very much nearly everything that Blake Hahn​ has dreamed about over a lifetime spent coming to the Tulsa Expo Center.The grandson of event founder Emmett ‍Hahn has made the⁤ Championship Saturday main event five ‌times over the past decade with a best finish of eighth in 2020 but had‍ yet to win a preliminary ‌night.

As it⁤ turns out, winning ​one in epic fashion, and then celebrating in front of a​ packed house of friends and family ‌was everything he possibly imagined.”So, ‌this means the ‌world to me,” Hahn said as his grandfather stepped into the media center and took a seat next to the podium. “To ⁣have him here and to see it with my friends and family⁤ means the world.

“I am literally living⁣ a dream ⁣come true right now. ⁢I am ‌just so thankful to be here.”

The win was epic because ‌Hahn⁢ surgically drove from eighth to the lead in 25 laps,⁤ making the decisive moves in traffic and driving away from Hank Davis. Incidentally, the same Davis who now has three lock-ins over the past four years.

Simply put, this was a statement victory in every sense of⁤ the concept and Davis himself was thrilled.

Brady Bacon‌ edged out tanner Holmes in​ a thrilling finish to win the prelim feature at the Chili Bowl Nationals ⁤on⁢ Friday night.

Holmes, who has scaled ‌his racing back this past year, making this the ⁢time he breaks through all the more‍ impressive, going up against racers with dozens of starts across 2025.

Of ​course, it also came ‌against a 14-year-old making just his third overall start in a Midget in⁢ Jett Barnes. As ‌Davis‍ put it, he will spend the rest of the week checking on the kid at the local establishments⁤ were his peers are likely to be hanging out.

“Yeah, I would say it’s ​problably pretty obvious that Jett’s going to go to Chuck-E-Cheese,” Davis said to ⁤laughter in the room. “No, I might join, actually.”

It’s actually ⁢unbelievable to think that Barnes,driving a Swindell Speedlab sister car to the one Logan Seavey has taken to two wins here,has podiumed so quickly in this building.It took a decade for Hahn to do it.

As emotional as Hahn was winning, it’s fair to wonder if Barnes even recognized the impact of‌ what ⁢he accomplished.

“I⁢ don’t think ⁣it has sunk in yet,” Barnes‍ said. ⁢”To do it at 14 is really cool and I never thought I could do this that early but it happened, so …”

He said it in only a way ⁣that a bewildered 14-year-old could.

so now, the story will transition⁣ towards how ‌Hahn and Davis can go from racing‍ each other for a prelim to racing each other for the main event on Saturday night.

“Drive⁢ like something scary​ is chasing me,” Davis said.

And Hahn?

“Truthfully,we got to hit ​it pretty hard with the pole shuffle,”‌ Hahn said. “We have a little bit of speed to gain. The car is really stable right now. That’s⁢ a‍ good thing. A lot of the guys with speed don’t have the stability we have.

“I would be thrilled with a top-5. Hopefully we have good speed in that​ thing and with 55 laps,‍ I’m excited, a lot of things can happen and I feel ⁤like we can make some noise.”

Jonathan beason ⁢overcame a dramatic first-lap flip and a ⁢last-place start to finish 12th in the A-Main at the Chili bowl Nationals Friday night.The performance, considered one‍ of the⁣ most impressive recovery drives in the event’s history,⁣ came after Beason won the Tulsa Shootout in a Micro Sprint earlier this week.

The crash in‌ his heat race relegated Beason to ⁢a D-Main, ⁢but he battled his way through the field, ultimately securing a spot in the A-Main. He⁣ will now start Saturday’s race from a C-Main.

,