The 40th annual Chili Bowl Nationals will run from Monday, January 12 through Saturday, January 17, this year. The Tulsa Expo Raceway at the SageNet Center will host five qualifying nights and a full Championship Saturday. Heat races, qualifying races, B-Mains, C-Mains and feature A-Mains are contested on each qualifying night at the quarter-mile oval.
The week opens with a qualifying night and the Race of Champions on Monday. Qualifying nights continue through the week and the field will narrow down with heats and dash races on Thursday and Friday. Saturday will feature the final qualifiers, opening ceremonies, and the main features that decide the winners.
For practice, the building opens early on Sunday, January 11. Monday through Friday, the doors open at 9 am CT Time.
Pit booths open at 11 am and the building secures near 1 pm each day. And drivers draw lineups around 2 pm, and hot laps begin at 4 pm most nights. While racing starts at 5 pm CST on weekday nights.
But the championship Saturday opens with trade show activity and hot laps at 9 am. The full schedule for January 17, 2026 is:
- 7:30 am – Building secured and trade show opens.
- 8:00 am – Pit pass booth opens and pit gate opens.
- 8:00 am – Racer’s For Christ service starts.
- 9:00 am – Feature hot laps begin on track.
- Evening – Main racing action continues throughout the day with qualifying mains, alphabet soup rounds, B-mains and A-main final lineup battles.
- 6:30 pm – Official opening ceremonies for Championship Saturday.
Pit passes for Saturday are priced at about $75.
Fans can watch live streaming of the 2026 Chili Bowl Nationals on FloRacing’s website. The stream is also available through apps on Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and Chromecast. The FloSports app also runs on iOS, Android, Samsung and LG smart TVs.
Select feature replays and historical championship broadcasts are also available on the FloRacing library.
Which NASCAR Drivers Will Compete At The 2026 Chili Bowl Nationals?
Multiple NASCAR drivers have confirmed entries for the 2026 Chili Bowl Nationals. Kyle Larson will lead the NASCAR contingent at Tulsa as the defending Chili Bowl champion. He has three Chili Bowl victories along with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, who will also race in Tulsa again. Bell’s three straight Chili Bowl titles came between 2017 and 2019.
Ty Gibbs will also return for another Chili Bowl attempt, and Haas Factory Team’s Sheldon Creed is set to make his event debut. Hendrick Motorsports’ NASCAR O’Reilly rookie Corey Day and veteran driver Josh Bilicki are also on the 2026 entry list. But Kyle Busch, who made his debut at 39th annual Chili Bowl, has not yet confirmed his entry to the ‘super bowl of midget racing’ this year.
Chili’s Grill & Bar has partnered with FloRacing for coverage of the Chili Bowl Nationals this season. The event will offer a $20,000 winner’s prize for Championship Saturday’s main event.
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