The Chili Bowl Nationals announced the 24 drivers who will compete in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Invitational Race of Champions.

The roster includes:

• Sammy Swindell – A legend of the sport, and the winningest driver in Chili Bowl history.
• Spencer Bayston – Winner of the 2023 O’Reilly Auto Parts Invitational Race of Champions.
• Jesse Love – Invited to compete as the 2025 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Champion.
• Kaylee Bryson – Invited to compete as the 2025 Trans Am GTX Champion. Kaylee is also the first woman to ever lock into Saturday night’s A-Feature.
• Sam Hafertepe Jr. – Invited as the 2025 National Champion of the American Sprint Car Series. He is now a six-time titlist with the series.
• Shane Golobic – A lot of solid runs atop Tulsa Expo Raceway clay, last year’s podium finish locked Shane into the 2026 O’Reilly Auto Parts Invitational Race of Champions.
• Ricky Thornton Jr. – Invited to compete as the 2025 regular season champion of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.
• Kaidon Brown  – Invited to compete as the now two-time Australian Speedcar Champion.
• Christopher Bell – The three-time Chili Bowl powered by NOS Energy Drink Champion, Bell, enters this year as an owner/driver.
• Kalib Henry – With the Napa Auto Parts All Stars Circuit of Champions presented by Valvoline back in full swing, the invite is again extended to their champion, and in 2025, that was Kalib.
• Emerson Axsom – Winner of Wednesday’s York Plumbing Qualifying Night in 2025.
• Kyle Cummins – Invited to compete as the 2025 USAC Amsoil Sprint Car National Champion.
• Logan Seavey – Back-to-back Chili Bowl powered by NOS Energy Drink champion in 2023 and 2024, Seavey also picked up Friday’s Hard Rock Hotel Casino, Tulsa preliminary night in 2025.
• Corey Day – Meeting criteria via a third-place finish in 2024, the defending Turkey Night Grand Prix champion will go full-time in 2026 in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for Hendrick Motorsports.
• Michael Pickens – A legend of New Zealand Midget racing, the 10x National Champion is invited to be part of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Invitational Race of Champions.
• Kyle Larson – The defending Champion of the Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink, as well as 2025 NASCAR Cup Series titlist.
• Landon Brooks – Tuesday’s Warren CAT qualifying night win lands the California driver in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Invitational Race of Champions
• Jacob Denney – Invited to compete as the 2026 Xtreme Outlaw Midget and POWRi Midget National Champion.
• Ryan Timms – Invited to compete as the 2025 winner of the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s.
• Buddy Kofoid – Getting the nod from his runner-up finish in 2024, Kofoid is also the 2025 New Zealand Midget champion, which he also topped in 2024.
• Cannon McIntosh – Invited to compete as the 2025 USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Champion.
• Daison Pursley – A runner-up finish in the 2025 championship event and the O’Reilly Auto Parts Invitational Race of Champions puts Daison in this year’s showdown.
• Justin Grant – Invited to compete as the 2025 USAC Silver Crown Champion.
• Tanner Thorson – Champion of the Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink in 2022, Thorson also won Thursday’s Hasty Bake qualifying night in 2025.

Here’s how one can qualify for the Race of Champions:

• Finish in the Top 3 of Saturday night’s A-Feature during the previous five Chili Bowls
• Finish in the Top 2 of the past five Race of Champions events
• Win a Preliminary Night from the previous Chili Bowl
• Win a championship in the most recent calendar year with the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, American Sprint Car Series National Tour, High Limit Racing Series, USAC National Midgets, USAC National Sprint Cars, USAC Silver Crown, POWRi Midget League, and Xtreme Outlaw Midgets.
• Champions and Drivers from other tours added at the discretion of Chili Bowl officials

The Race of Champions will take place this upcoming Monday, January 12, 2026 to kick off the Chili Bowl Nationals. The starting lineup for the race will be set via a qualifying session and drivers will draw to determine the qualifying order. The qualifying session will include two warmup laps and then three green flag laps. The field will then be inverted based on a pill draw from the top qualifier. The options for inversion are 0, 4, 6, and 8.

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