While Gardner got away briefly on the final restart with 10 laps left, Grant laid his machine to the high lane and let it rip, blasting around Gardner exiting turn two and opening up a commanding gap as the focus turned to the battle for the final two transfer positions.

Bayston cracked the top three with eight to go and then passed Gardner for second two laps later, with Kahne following the No. 97 IWX midget through as Grant pulled away into the distance.

However, Kahne couldn’t have predicted a furious charge from Andrew Felker on the final lap, as Felker snuck past Kahne to secure the third and final guaranteed starting spot into Saturday’s championship A-Feature.

Meanwhile, Bayston chased Grant across the line and later lamented missing out on the win, after having to rally from a first-lap crash in his heat race and later struggling to fend off a hard-charging Tim McCreadie in his A-Qualifier.

“We’re in the show, but I left a lot on the table in those last five laps,” said Bayston. “I really can’t say enough about everybody with Keith Kunz Motorsports, though. This Toyota Racing/IWK (No.) 97 really came on in the last half of the race. It just took me a little too long to realize what my car was capable of. I think we have a car capable of winning tomorrow; I just have to do my job and put it at the front after 55 laps.”

“This whole day was eventful for us. Obviously, my mistake in the heat race really put us behind the eight-ball, but we were able to rally back in the qualifier and get a decent spot for the A. I just didn’t get the start I needed and it took us too long to get going. I’m excited, though, and ready to get after it Saturday night.”

Felker completed the podium in a Cinderella story, coming all the way back from a flip that demolished his car on practice day to race his way into his second-career Chili Bowl finale.

“Man, I can’t believe we just pulled that off, honestly,” said Felker. “If you saw my car on Monday … the bottom of the frame was bent one way, the cage was bent three inches the other way … it was a total loss. Most teams would have packed it up and said, ‘We’ve gotta put another chassis together. But we got it put back together with a lot of help and now we’re in the show because of it. It’s an amazing feeling.”

Gardner got back to fourth on the final lap as Kahne faded to fifth at the checkered flag.

Boat crossed the line in sixth after his pole start, followed by McCreadie, the night’s hard charger who powered from 17th on the grid after winning the first B-Main to finish seventh.

General Tire Championship Day at the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals kicks off at 10 a.m. Saturday, with twin N-Features kicking off a program that features 27 races, as well as the #BCforever Pole Shuffle that sets the first six rows of the starting grid.

Coverage of the C and B Mains, as well as the weekend-deciding A-Main, will begin at 7:30 p.m. CT live on MAVTV.

Full results from Vacuworx Qualifying Night can be viewed on the next page…