TULSA, Oklahoma (Jan. 19, 2026) – Mack Leopard rewrote the Chili Bowl Nationals record books on Saturday afternoon inside the SageNet Center.
Driving for Chase McDermand Racing, the 16-year-old from Beavercreek, Ohio, set a trio of new records during his maiden Chili Bowl adventure and, in doing so, captivated fans inside the SageNet Center for the better part of six hours.
Leopard’s Chili Bowl got off to a rough start Monday when he had a mechanical issue in his heat race. Things didn’t get any better in his C Main later in the night, when he was collected in an incident not of his making.
“In my heat I think we had a fuel issue with the fuel tank and it just wasn’t cycling really well,” Leopard explained. “In the C Main I started 10th and I got bottled up with guys in the back and I had nowhere to go and I bent two of my shocks.”
That meant the Chili Bowl rookie would be forced to start championship Saturday in an N Main during the dreaded alphabet soup. Some would have been disappointed, but Leopard turned it into an opportunity.
Starting mid-morning, Leopard took to the temporary quarter-mile dirt oval and started making moves. He scored wins in the N Main, M Main, J Main and I Main as he stormed his way past car after car to advance through the alphabet soup.
His run, which lasted roughly six hours, finally ended when he finished ninth in an F Main.
“To be honest, I wasn’t really thinking about how far I could get or how many cars I could pass,” Leopard said. “I was just going to drive my butt off and do whatever I could do to keep going.”
By the time Leopard was finished, he set new records for most features won on championship Saturday with four, most positions gained during championship Saturday with 73 and tied Darin Naida for most features competed in on championship Saturday with nine.
“It’s pretty sweet, especially for my first time being here,” Leopard said. “I think I just got super lucky, unlucky then lucky. I just don’t know what to say. What an incredible day.”
In addition to resetting the Chili Bowl record books, Leopard was awarded the K-Bucks Christopher’s Outstanding Performance Award in Memory of Big Al for his incredible Saturday performance. The award also came with a cash prize of more than $3,000.
“I need to thank Chase McDermand. We had a rough start but at the end, what a killer job. Chase McDermand and the whole crew, they did a phenomenal job getting my car ready for every race,” Leopard said. “I also want to thank Joe’s Landscaping, my mom and dad and my entire family, Champion Equipment, Maximum Restoration, Duncan Oil, Miami Valley Concrete and MPM Marketing for their support.”
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