Only one caution happened for an incident in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
BRISTOL, Tenn. β Kyle Larson orchestrated a near-perfect performance at Bristol for his second NASCAR Cup Series win of the season.
Larson led a commanding 411 of the race’s 500 laps to win the Food City 500, only losing the lead during a late pit cycle. Larson beat Denny Hamlin by over one second and lapped down all but the top seven cars.
“[It was] a flawless race. [I had a] really good car,” Larson said. “I knew I had to make some good moves in traffic [to hold off Hamlin]. Good to be back in victory lane. “
Larson dedicated the win to Jon Edwards, the Hendrick Motorsports communications director who died earlier in the week. Edwards served as Larson’s public relations manager in recent years.
“This one’s for Jon,” Larson said. “He’s a great guy. We’re gonna miss him. I wish he was here, but I know his spirit is here with us.”
Jeff Gordon, Hendrick’s Vice Chairman and four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, said it was a rough week but he was glad Larson pulled off the win.
“It’s been a rough week, I’ll be honest. I lost someone who’s like a brother,” Gordon said. “Larson was driving with a passion. What a dominant performance. This one is for Jon. He would not want the limelight or any of this attention, but he would be proud of this team.”
The complete domination of the field was made possible by long green flag runs. There were only three caution flags during Sunday’s race, two of which were for stage breaks.
Larson’s win was somewhat of a throwback to past decades’ races at Bristol, where very few drivers would finish on the lead lap, and one driver would dominate the event.
Hamlin’s runner-up spot prevented a third-straight victory for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. Hamlin was victorious at Martinsville and Darlington in the preceding two weeks.
“You gotta give [Larson’s] team their due. Pretty flawless day for them,” Hamlin said. “We were able to give them a little bit of a run. Wish we could have gotten one more spot.”
It’s the seventh time Larson and Hamlin have been involved in a 1-2 finish. This was the first time that Larson came out the winner in that combination.
Hamlin also mentioned Edwards and Shigeaki Hattori, the NASCAR Craftman Truck Series owner who died last week in a Huntersville crash, in his post-race interview, saying his thoughts were with the families of both people.
Alex Bowman, Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, started on the pole and led the first 40 laps. He stayed in the top five for most of the race, but motor problems ended his day around lap 350.Β
Shane Van Gisbergen brought out the only caution for an on-track incident on lap 178 when he spun out and collected Cody Ware.Β
Tire wear was expected to be a major factor in Sunday’s race, much like the March 2024 race. However, the tires did not fall off as quickly as expected, eliminating that storyline early on.
The NASCAR Cup Series has a week off and is next in action on Sunday, April 27, at Talladega Superspeedway. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series will be at Rockingham Speedway on Friday, April 18, and Saturday, April 19, respectively.
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