Blake Hahn, the grandson of Chili Bowl Nationals founder and promoter Emmett Hahn, explained why his prelimary win on Tuesday night was “a dream come true.”

Hahn started eighth in the feature and had moved up to 7th by the first caution just three laps into the race. On the ensuing restart he got around Ryan Timms to move up to sixth. After another caution with 24 laps to go, Hahn decided to test the outside line on the ensuing restart and seemed to be able to move forward, but his charge was cut short after Timms came to a stop and drew the caution with 21 laps to go.

On the next restart, Hahn went back to the top side and was able to get around J.J. Yeley. He then made an aggressive move through the middle to split Kaidon Brown and Corbin Rueschenberg. The move allowed him to get around Brown and move into fourth. He then went to work on Rueschenberg diving to the bottom to get around him with 14 laps to go. Rueschenberg attempted a crossover, but Hahn powered by on the outside.

With 9 to go Hahn had tracked down Zach Daum by using the very top of the track. He blew past him a lap later on the outside and set his eyes on leader Hank Davis, who was getting held up in lap traffic.

With 6 to go, Hahn was on Davis’ bumper. He made his move with a slide job through three and four and then never even let Davis crossover with a monster run coming down the front stretch.

While it looked like he might run away with it, it got a little hairy on the final corner as he appeared to make contact with Gunnar Setser’s left front. Fortunately, he was able to gather it up and have enough momentum to beat Davis to the checkered flag in a drag down the front stretch.

In victory lane, Hahn shared what the win meant to him telling FloRacing’s Tony La Porta, “This is what we always dreamed of, is being able to be up on this podium here. To be able to do it on our prelim night, it’s amazing. Super thankful. Super thankful for the opportunity. Thankful for [crew chief] Dalton [Siegler]. He’s done a really good job this week, getting the car better and better every night or every time we touch the track. But most off I’m thankful for God to give me this opportunity to be here. Super thankful. I have all my friends and family here and truthfully that’s what it is all about. So I’m very thankful to have them here.”

“We had some really good speed,” he continued. “I looked up there and I was on Daum. I was like, ‘Oh my goodness! We have a chance here.’ So Dalton did a good job, again. He had this thing dialed in. But, man, that was fun! It’s unbelievable.”

Hahn shared more about how much the win meant to him in a video shared to social media by Matt Weaver, “It’s amazing honestly. It’s a dream come true for me. To be able to be on the top of the podium at the end of this night is a dream come true because just growing up as a kid at this race, and just seeing all the names that have ran through here, it’s just truly amazing to consider myself to be able to do that. So super thankful.”

He added, “Truthfully, it’s everything I ever dreamed of. I can think of being a little kid going around here on roller blades just skating around with my, chasing him around doing the race track. For me to be standing here, it’s just unbelievable. All the hard work we’ve been putting in our midget program over the years, the last 10 years really coming to Chili Bowl, but not getting to race a whole lot throughout the season just here at Chili Bowl and once or twice throughout the season and to see where our program is compared to the guys that are really going full tilt into their programs. To be able to have a competitive car like we have compared to those guys just goes to show what kind of program me and Dalton have.”

Blake Hahn has literally spent his whole life at this race, the one his grandfather founded, and to finally win a preliminary feature is every bit as special as you’d imagine pic.twitter.com/QxiGZ8csiB

— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) January 14, 2026

The Chili Bowl Nationals continues tonight with coverage beginning on FloRacing at 4 pm ET. Sammy Swindell, Jesse Love, Kale Drake, Cap Henry, Thomas Meseraull, KJ Snow, Kevin Thomas Jr., Corey Day, Daison Pursley, and The Colfax Comet Robert Bell are all expected to compete tonight.

NEXT: Buddy Kofoid Unlikely To Compete In Chili Bowl Due To Illness