In what seemed like a mere continuation of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Larson set a punishing pace on his way to securing the victory in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500.
Larson, driving the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, paced the field for an astronomical 411 of 500 laps, en route to his second victory of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign.
His performance in Sunday’s 500-lapper at Bristol mirrors that of last September’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race, where Larson (again) was untouchable, leading 462 of 500 laps. With his dominance in both events, Larson is the first driver to lead 400 or more laps in back-to-back Bristol races since Bobby Allison in 1972.
Larson and the entire Hendrick Motorsports organization were competing this weekend at Bristol with a heavy heart after the loss of long-time public relations person and current Director of Communications Jon Edwards, who passed away suddenly this weekend.
RACE RESULTS: Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway
“It’s special,” said Kyle Larson. “Jon Edwards meant a lot to the No. 5 team and a lot to the NASCAR industry, too. Just good to get a win for him. Obviously, we don’t want to be winning for him and his spirit, we wish he was here in person with us. But he is no longer here, so it’s just going to be fun to celebrate, and I know he is smiling down on us. We had a damn good weekend, as he would say.”
Although at times during the final green-flag run the delta between himself and eventual second-place finisher Denny Hamlin dropped below the one-second mark, Larson was able to stay consistent and fend off the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who was looking for his third straight NASCAR Cup Series victory.
When the checkered flag was displayed, Larson had expanded his lead to 2.250 seconds over the final 235-lap green-flag stretch to the finish – the longest to end a race at Bristol Motor Speedway since 1980.
In third place, Ty Gibbs recorded his first top five (and top-10) of the season and his best finish in the NASCAR Cup Series since last August at Michigan International Speedway. Behind him in fourth place was his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Chase Briscoe.
Ryan Blaney, after attempting to stretch his tires and fuel longer than any other driver to catch a caution, rebounded in the closing laps of the race to secure a top-five result.
William Byron finished sixth after starting outside the top-20, with Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, AJ Allmendinger, and Austin Dillon rounding out the top-10.
Sunday’s event was a pretty clean one, with only one caution for cause happening at Lap 179 when Shane Van Gisbergen got into Cody Ware and spun in the middle of Turns 1 and 2, sending the No. 88 Trackhouse Chevrolet to the garage.
Leaving Bristol, William Byron holds a 30-point advantage over Denny Hamlin in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings, with Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott rounding out the top five.
Now, the NASCAR Cup Series embarks on its only off-weekend of the season, with the series’ next event taking place at Talladega Superspeedway on April 27. The NASCAR Xfinity and Truck Series will be on track next weekend at Rockingham Speedway.
