Before the 55-lap Chili Bowl Nationals Championship A-Main later tonight, the starting order of the 10 locked-in drivers through preliminaries needs to be set via the #DoItForGrady Pole Shuffle – scheduled for 6pm CT on FloRacing.

It’s a unique series of four races featuring four cars at a time going four laps in distance.

Following Friday’s A-Main, the winners and second-place finishers from each prelim drew for their respective position. It also impacted how the entire alphabet soup would line up with priority going to Tuesday, Friday, Monday, Thursday, and Wednesday in that order.

ROUND 1 – Emerson Axsom vs. Mitchel Moles vs. Justin Grant vs. Spencer Bayston

ROUND 2 – Rico Abreu vs. Shane Golobics vs. Two Transfers from Round 1

ROUND 3 – Cannon McIntosh vs. Tanner Thorson vs. Two Transfers from Round 2

ROUND 4 – Hank Davis vs. Logan Seavey vs. Two Transfers from Round 3

Only the top-two finishers from each round will stay on the track and continue battling for position, while any non-transfers will fall off and assume their starting position later in the A-Main.

Non-transfers from Round 1 start from the fifth row of A-Main (9-10), non-transfers from Round 2 start from the fourth row (7-8), non-transfers from Round 3 start from the third row (5-6), while Round 4 is simply a race for the pole position with that finish setting the front two rows.

It has been proven in the past how crucial the Pole Shuffle can be in determining who leaves with the Golden Driller. After all, while the big dance is a 55-lapper, starting position has a sizable impact on who becomes a Chili Bowl champion.

Last year, Tanner Thorson advanced several rounds to the final and improved his starting position from at the worst eighth to his final spot on the outside pole. It was a sensational run that eventually led to his first-career crown at the event only hours later.

Among the 10 drivers locked-in, they make up a whopping nine different teams with RMS Racing (Bayston, Grant) being the only to put multiple drivers in the show at this point.

Those 10 drivers will be joined by another 14 to complete the Championship A-Main lineup with seven transfers coming from B-Main 1 and seven more coming from B-Main 2. 

FloRacing is already LIVE as the famed alphabet soup runs all day long beginning with the O-Mains and offering 32 races with more than 400+ green flag laps on the schedule. For the first time, FloRacing will carry the broadcast all the way through the conclusion of tonight’s Championship A-Main.