BRISTOL, Tenn. - And the Bristol blistering continues for Kyle Larson...
The driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet put on yet another dominant performance at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, leading 411 of 500 laps and sweeping all three stages in cruising to his second NASCAR Cup Series win of the season and his second of the weekend.
Larson turned in a similar performance on Saturday, pacing 277 of 300 laps in picking up a win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Sunday's race was also reminiscent of this past September, in which Larson paced 462 of 500 laps in a playoff event at Bristol.
In that race, Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman sat on the pole, as he did on Sunday. A different race was expected this time around however, with Saturday's practice session showing heavy tire wear, more indicative of last year's spring race.
However, Sunday brought with it warmer temperatures, helping rubber lay into the race track as opposed to marbling. After a handful of laps of the field running cautiously in order to save tires, Larson picked up the pace, assumed the lead from Bowman and save for a small stint in the third stage with green-flag stops cycling through, never looked back.
"Early on, we were all kind of riding around in line like we did in the spring last year and I was just trying to keep an eye on the track and I felt like it was starting to get a little darker on exit," Larson explained in postrace interviews. "So, I was like, 'Alright, that means rubber is being laid down.' And then people kind of got the middle working ... so, I was like, 'Screw it, I'm going to go to the lead here and pick the pace up and maybe the pace will help lay rubber down even more,' and it did. It turned into a normal Bristol track there for us."
Larson qualified third for Sunday's race at the 0.533-mile short track and didn't have far to go to seize control of the race.
The same couldn't be said for William Byron, however. The No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet team fired off from the 26th position, but embarked on a slow and steady march forward, ending with a solid sixth-place run that kept him in firm control of the points standings lead.
"It's very difficult to pass, you basically try to get a couple of cars per run and if you can do that, that's a really good run," Byron said. "I wish the first run could've gone a little differently. Starting 26th we just tried to save tire and thought it was going to be that kind of race and we just didn't gain a lot of track position until the second stage.
"Really proud of our team and feel good about the run."
The talk throughout the garage this week circled around Jon Edwards, the Hendrick Motorsports director of race communications who passed away unexpectedly on Thursday. Edwards worked closely alongside Larson in recent years. All four Hendrick Motorsports cars this weekend were adorned with decals bearing Edwards' face.
Certainly, back-to-back wins on Saturday and Sunday served as a fitting tribute to Edwards, beloved by all in the NASCAR world. Afterward, Larson was asked about Edwards and the victory.
"This one is definitely for Jon," Larson said. "He's just a great guy here, so we're going to miss him. But successful weekend here, wish he was going to be here with us to celebrate but I know he's celebrating with us in spirt."
The NASCAR Cup Series will take next week off, the last open date of the season. The NASCAR Xfinity Series and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series will both head to Rockingham for a Friday-Saturday doubleheader.
Who won the NASCAR race today?
- Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet
- Denny Hamlin, No. 11
- Ty Gibbs, No. 54
- Chase Briscoe, No. 19
- Ryan Blaney, No. 12
- William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet
- Ross Chastain, No. 1
- Christopher Bell, No. 20
- AJ Allmendinger, No. 16
- Austin Dillon, No. 3
- Carson Hocevar, No. 77
- Josh Berry, No. 21
- Justin Haley, No. 7
- Kyle Busch, No. 8
- Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet
- Brad Keselowski, No. 6
- Austin Cindric, No. 2
- Tyler Reddick, No. 45
- Bubba Wallace, No. 23
- Ryan Preece, No. 60
- John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47
- Noah Gragson, No. 4
- Joey Logano, No. 22
- Chris Buescher, No. 17
- Erik Jones, No. 43
- Zane Smith, No. 38
- Riley Herbst, No. 35
- Cole Custer, No. 41
- Michael McDowell, No. 71
- Jesse Love, No. 33
- Ty Dillon, No. 10
- Daniel Suarez, No. 99
- Corey LaJoie, No. 01
- Todd Gilliland, No. 34
- Cody Ware, No. 51
- Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet
- Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88
- Josh Bilicki, No. 66