Kyle Larson Pummels NASCAR Cup Series Field for Bristol Victory
Entering the weekend, there were numerous questions surrounding how the Bass Pro Shops Night Race would unfold, considering the unpredictability of the Spring event at Bristol Motor Speedway. The answer to all of those questions? Kyle Larson.
In an absolute butt-kicking that will forever go down in the NASCAR Cup Series history books, Kyle Larson put on a clinic at Bristol Motor Speedway, leading an astonishing 462 of 500 laps en route to his fifth victory of the 2024 season.
The victory marks the 28th in the NASCAR Cup Series for Larson, the 2021 champion of NASCAR's premier division, and locks the driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro into the 'Round of 12' -- not that he needed the help.
"That was just great execution all weekend by the team," said Larson. "Practiced good. You've got to qualify good; we did that. Yeah, just had a great car. Thanks to the whole 5 team. They're the best in the business. We dominate a lot of races but we might not close them all out, so it feels really good to close one out here in this Hendrickcars.com Chevy."
Chase Elliott finished in the runner-up position, an incredible seven seconds out-of-touch of race-winner and teammate Kyle Larson, the largest Margin of Victory (MOV) in the history of the seventh-generation racecar.
Bubba Wallace was the highest finishing non-playoff driver at Bristol on Saturday, making a late-race rally to score a third-place finish, his best result of 2024. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell rounded out the top-five.
Hamlin entered Saturday's event six points below the cutline, but as a result of solid stage points and a top-five result, the driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE advanced his way into the next round of the post-season.
RESULTS: 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol
Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney rebounded from a tough qualifying spot to finish in sixth-place, with Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Ryan Preece and Chase Briscoe finishing seventh and eighth.
Alex Bowman came home in ninth-place after leading the opening 34 laps of the event. Ross Chastain, another non-playoff driver, completed the top-10.
Austin Cindric (13th), Ty Gibbs (15th), William Byron (17th), Tyler Reddick (20th), Martin Truex, Jr. (24th), Brad Keselowski (26th), Joey Logano (28th), Daniel Suarez (31st), and Harrison Burton (35th), were the nine NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers that failed to finish inside the top-10.
At the end of Saturday's 500-lap gauntlet at Bristol, four drivers were eliminated from contention in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex, Jr., Brad Keselowski, and Harrison Burton.
Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Gibbs and Truex both had strong race cars at Bristol, but ran into execution issues mid-race with pit road penalties, costing them track position and ultimately, the points needed to advance.
Harrison Burton was a long shot to advance entering the evening, and was running outside the top-25 when the No. 21 Ford Mustang Dark Horse had issues with the power steering, sending him to the garage.
It was a dismal evening for RFK Racing, who had been strong at Bristol Motor Speedway in recent seasons, finishing 26th-place, three laps off the pace.
The NASCAR Cup Series will begin its 'Round of 12', which includes events at Kansas Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway's ROVAL.
JOSEPH SRIGLEY