CHILI BOWL: Courtney edges Larson in opening preliminary A Main

Tyler Courtney withstood the pressure from Kyle Larson and drove to a dominating victory Tuesday night in the opening preliminary A Main for the 30th annual Chili Bowl.

Starting from the pole, Courtney fell back to second before passing Matt Sherrell for the top spot and then led the final 23 laps to transfer to a Top 12 starting spot in Saturday night's main event at the Tulsa Expo Center.

The USAC sprint car regular from Indianapolis lost the lead to Larson for one corner on Lap 17 before taking it back and then Larson flipped going through Turn 3. Winner of the Race of Champions earlier in the evening, Larson was one of the pre-race favorites but will now have a long way to go on Saturday in the B & C features just to try and make the A Main.

New York modified standout Larry Wright came from seventh to take second in only his second-ever appearance in the prestigious midget race while Zach Daum charged from 10th to third to take the other automatic transfer spot to Saturday night's A Main.