BRISTOL, Tenn. -- In one of the biggest beatdowns in a NASCAR Cup Series race in recent memory, Kyle Larson dominated the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, leading 462 of 500 laps and earning his fifth win of the season. Larson's victory is the 28th of his Cup career and his second in the Bristol Night Race. It also advances him to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR playoffs.
Larson completely controlled an elimination race that multiple other drivers had to sweat out, as the usually chaotic Bristol Night Race turned into a torrid and largely green flag affair. Larson will be joined in the Round of 12 by Atlanta winner Joey Logano as well as a host of drivers who earned a spot on points, including Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, William Byron, Tyler Reddick and Daniel Suarez.
Four drivers saw their NASCAR playoff runs come to an end, as 2017 Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., Ty GIbbs, Brad Keselowski and Harrison Burton all failed to advance from the Round of 16.
Bass Pro Shops Night Race unofficial results
- #5 - Kyle Larson
- #9 - Chase Elliott
- #23 - Bubba Wallace
- #11 - Denny Hamlin
- #20 - Christopher Bell
- #12 - Ryan Blaney
- #41 - Ryan Preece
- #14 - Chase Briscoe
- #48 - Alex Bowman
- #1 - Ross Chastain
After entering the playoffs as the No. 1 seed, Larson's run toward a second Cup championship got off to a difficult start when he was involved in a violent accident in the Round of 16 opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway. But with an excess of playoff points, Larson was able to stabilize his situation with a 12th place finish at Watkins Glen before making the events of the opening round a moot point with a definitive declaration that the 2021 Cup champ will be a force to be reckoned with as he pursues a second title.
"Just had a great car. Thanks to the whole 5 team, they're the best in the business," Larson told NBC Sports. "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. ... Just a phenomenal car, could kind of manage my stuff and then really pass some cars there at the end."
Larson's 462 laps led were the most by any driver in a race at Bristol Motor Speedway since the spring of 1977, when Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough led 495 of 500 laps on his way to victory. In the context of Larson's career, Saturday night marked the most laps he has led in a single Cup race since he led 327 of 400 laps on his way to winning the 2021 Coca-Cola 600.
Larson's mark of 462 laps led also made team history at Hendrick Motorsports, as it set a new high mark for the most laps ever led in a single race by a Hendrick driver.
Lights out on championship hopes
Compared to a chaotic spring race that saw extreme levels of tire wear resulting in a high attrition level, much less lap time falloff and more predictable levels of wear put a premium on track position as much of Saturday night's race ran under green flag conditions. That wound up magnifying mistakes, including a self-inflicted mortal wound to an outbound Cup champion.
After running second entering pit road for his final pit stop under caution, Martin Truex Jr. made a grave error by speeding on pit road, sending him all the way to the back of the pack after he had spent much of the night running in the top five. Mired in midpack and unable to find his way out, Truex would wind up going a lap down and never recovered on his way to finishing 24th, dooming his chances of winning a second Cup championship in his last full-time season.
"It's really tough when it's .09 miles per hour that kind of screws your whole chance at a good season up," Truex told NBC Sports. "I don't know how that happened. I didn't know I was even that close, honestly. I felt like I did the same thing as every other stop ... Maybe I was just a foot to the left. It's just so tricky when you're going from that curved section to the straight to get your lights. It's on me. It's my mistake.
"You never like to let anybody down, no matter what the situation. I hate that I did that tonight."
While one critical mistake spelled the end of Truex's pursuit of a championship, Daniel Suarez had to persevere in order to advance to the Round of 12 despite spending virtually the entire race deep in the field. Suarez's car was never right from the drop of the green flag, as he lacked the pace necessary to work his way up from starting 35th and would lose multiple laps trapped deep in the field.
However, the race would end up playing out in Suarez's favor, and he was eventually able to take the upper hand in the cut line fight after Ty Gibbs went from a top 10 run to struggling with his car late in the going. Suarez only managed a 31st place finish, but that would prove to be enough for him to advance after Gibbs faded to 15th.
"Since yesterday when we unloaded the car for first practice, we just didn't have the speed ... We made it better, but it wasn't good enough," Suarez told NBC Sports. "We were running 30th, 28th, 32nd all night long and that's what we had. Luckily we had a great Atlanta, a decent Watkins Glen after a broken wheel, and we were able to build a cushion and we definitely used every single point out of that cushion."
Gibbs was the lone driver who entered Saturday's race above the cut line to fail to advance in the playoffs, as Denny Hamlin was able to overcome a six-point deficit entering the night. Hamlin would finish fourth in a strong performance, putting him back in the title fight and rendering a poor start to the playoffs at Atlanta and Watkins Glen a moot point.
After making the playoffs with an upset win at Daytona in August, the clock would strike midnight on Harrison Burton's playoff run after a power steering issue forced Burton to the garage area, leaving him many laps down while repairs were made. Brad Keselowski was also eliminated from the playoffs after a 26th-place finish.
Kyle Larson will enter the next round of the playoffs 38 points above the cut line to make the Round of 8, with Christopher Bell (+24), Tyler Reddick (+20), William Byron (+14), Ryan Blaney (+11), Denny Hamlin (+7), Chase Elliott (+7) and Joey Logano (+4) also above the cut line. Austin Cindric (-4), Daniel Suarez (-6), Alex Bowman and Chase Briscoe (-7) will begin the Round of 12 below the cut line.
Race results rundown
- The yellow flag only flew five times on the night in Bristol, which ties the mark for the fewest cautions in any race at Bristol in the last 30 years. The spring races of 1996 and 2012 as well as the Night Race of 2020 also saw just five cautions.
- Bubba Wallace earned a third-place finish, marking his best finish of the entire 2024 season and his best finish overall since he had the same result at Texas last September. As a result, Wallace has now set new career-high marks for top five (six) and top 10 (11) finishes in a single season.
- With his 2025 plans still yet to be confirmed, Ryan Preece continued his audition for his next ride with a strong seventh-place finish, his second top 10 finish in a row and his fourth of the season. Preece's fourth top 10 of the season now ties his career-high in that category from 2021, and it also marks the first time he has scored consecutive top 10 finishes since the opening two races of 2021.
- Noah Gragson, Preece's teammate at Stewart-Haas Racing, also continued stacking solid finishes with a 12th place run, his second-straight finish inside the top 12. With Chase Briscoe finishing eighth, Stewart-Haas saw three of their four cars finish inside the top 12 for the second week in a row.
- Bristol race weekend saw the rare ride swap take place in NASCAR, as it was announced that Justin Haley would move from the Rick Ware Racing No. 51 to the Spire Motorsports No. 7 next week at Kansas, with LaJoie going from the No. 7 to the No. 51. LaJoie had a strong run going just outside the top 10, but his final ride for Spire would be spoiled by a crash that left him with a DNF in 36th. Haley, meanwhile, finished 22nd in his final run for Rick Ware.
Next Race
The Round of 12 in the NASCAR playoffs begins at the site of the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history back in May with the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway next Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on USA.
