After a one-year hiatus, Cannon McIntosh reclaimed his status as "Mr. Monday Night" during opening night of the 37th Annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals. McIntosh survived a deflating right-rear tire to score his third Monday night preliminary win in four years. 

The win for McIntosh was the first for Dave Mac - Dalby Motorsports, a team co-owned by Cannon's father Dave McIntosh. 

“It’s pretty cool for me," McIntosh said. "It felt a little bit more special this year because it’s something I’ve seen growing the past few years with this team itself compared to a team that’s won it so many times. It just meant a little bit more. I saw some tears from family, so it was definitely a little more special.”

While the box score will show that McIntosh led all 30 laps of Monday's A-Main, the win didn't come without a scare. The driver of the No. 08 Midget survived to win despite having a right rear tire that was going flat over the final laps. 

"I think about six or seven to go the right rear started to go flat and I could just feel it," McIntosh explained. "I couldn't run it on the curb. I knew something was wrong and could almost hear it. I drove around and looked at the screen and it looked fine, but towards the end right before we went back green I could really tell it was going down."

With the tire going down, McIntosh parked his car in front of the turn two "rowdies" to celebrate after the checkered flag. For an Oklahoma kid who grew up watching races in Tulsa, that moment was one he will not soon forget. 

"The rowdy section is my family. I grew up watching the Chili Bowl in that section as a kid," he said. "Being able to see all the guys and gals jumping up and down for me was an amazing feeling. I figured I might as well jump up on the cage in front of them because I had never done that before. It was cool to do that for them and my dad too."

Behind McIntosh, the battle for the second and final transfer spot into Saturday's A-Main was hot as Chris Windom and Shane Golobic went to war. Windom held the spot until the final lap when Golobic powered around the outside of Windom to steal the spot at the checkered flag. 

"I think I benefited from Chris trying to do something special to try to win the race; that's what we're all here for," Golobic stated. "He saw it the way I did. He knew Cannon had a right rear going down and sold out to try to win the race. It just opened the door for me to run the bottom behind Cannon and hope he'd make a mistake. When you come off turn four and you're battling for that second lock-in spot there's really no rules. I kind of let it float to the fence and he was pretty close to getting that spot back."

"A little frustrated with it but at the same time I wasn't going to just go follow Cannon around the bottom. I had a good start there when I went to the top of four on the restart. I had a big run on him but it's just so hard here. When the track is to the fence, it takes two or three laps to get your momentum going. Shane started poking his nose in there and coming up in front of me on the straightaway so that was killing everything I had."

Outside polesitter Trey Marcham finished fourth, while NASCAR Cup Series star Chase Briscoe charged from 12th to complete the top five. 

Preliminary action continues on Tuesday night with another 60+ drivers attempting to lock themselves into the 37th Annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals.