Buddy Kofoid had himself a day and night to remember Tuesday at the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals. 

The 2021 USAC National Midget Series champion began the day making repairs to his No. 67 Keith Kunz Motorsports Midget after a flip in Monday's VIROC race. He ended the night by beating NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, while also sprinkling in the all-time track record at the Tulsa Expo Center in between. 

"It's huge. It was one of the most fun races I've ever had and probably one of the toughest races I've been a part of," Kofoid said. "It's special to come into this building and have success but also know you're locked in on Saturday."

Kofoid's win on Tuesday night ended a streak of four straight Tuesday night preliminary night victories for Larson. 

After the race, Larson had high praise for the driver that has drawn many comparisons to both himself and three-time Chili Bowl winner Christopher Bell. 

"I've watched Buddy since he was like four," Larson stated. "I've always known that he's really good. He always had the Steve Kinser look-a-like car. So yeah, I've always known that he was good. I remember like watching him at Lakeport when he was running Box Stocks and coming home and telling my dad that this kid is going to be extremely good. It's weird because I had to convince my dad and now my dad is the biggest Buddy Kofoid advocate that there is.

"It's cool to get to race with a fellow Outlaw Kart kid from California and see how good he is in all types of cars that he runs. I would say watching him he's like a mixture of (Christopher) Bell and I. I would say at times he's way more aggressive than I am but he can be smooth like Bell."

Larson, who started the race from the pole position after a sixth to second run in his heat and sixth to first run in his qualifier, led the opening 24 laps of the 30-lap main event. However, a late caution with six laps to go opened the door for Kofoid to make his move. 

"Buddy" took full advantage by ripping the top side of the race track and driving around Larson to take the lead. Larson made multiple attempts to get back by Kofoid in the closing laps before slipping up in turn four with three laps remaining. 

VIDEO: Buddy Kofoid passed Kyle Larson late to win Tuesday's prelim feature. 

Larson fell back to third after his slip-up allowed Chris Windom to move by him. On the final lap, Larson threw a slider on Windom in turn one to take back the runner-up position and a guaranteed starting spot in Saturday's A-Main. 

"I'd like to be one spot better but you're still looked in," Larson said. "There's a big difference between second and third, stress wise. I just made a wrong decision there on the restart. I was taking off low off of four so many entry speed wasn't normal and up to speed on the restart. I thought if I could just protect for a lap I could get back to him, but I just missed the bottom a little bit. My car was too free on the bottom and I just spun. He cleared me by a lot and was able to get down in front of me."

Windom settled for third, while Jake Swanson finished fourth after a hard charge from his 11th starting spot. Thomas Meseraull powered through the field from the 13th position to finish fifth. 

Preliminary action continues Wednesday night with an opportunity for two more drivers to lock into Saturday's A-Main. 

All of the preliminary action prior to Saturday's C-Mains, B-Mains and A-Main will be streamed live on FloRacing. If you're not already a subscriber, you can become one today by clicking here. 

Saturday's C-Mains, B-Mains and A-Main will be live on the MAVTV Motorsports Network.