Hendrick Motorsports stole the show at Bristol on Saturday night, as all four drivers secured their spots in the second round of the NASCAR Playoffs after leaving Thunder Valley.
Kyle Larson delivered a stellar performance, leading nearly 92% of the 500 scheduled laps to claim his fifth win of the season. Chase Elliott followed close behind, securing a 1-2 finish for Rick Hendrick’s team.
However, Elliott ended up on the losing side of a new Bristol record, as Larson’s 7.088-second margin of victory became the second-largest since the digital scoring system’s introduction in 1993. Still, Elliott downplayed the gap between him and his teammate, insisting the results didn’t reflect the true race dynamic.
Chase Elliott admits Kyle Larson mastered navigating traffic at Bristol
This year’s Bristol Night Race can be viewed from two perspectives. For Larson fans, it was a display of total domination; for others, it showcased near-flawless, high-pressure short-track racing.
Concerns about unpredictable tire wear from the March Bristol Spring Race lingered. Goodyear’s decision to reuse the same tires raised questions about whether the same issues would arise on cooler track conditions this time around.
Aside from the stage breaks, there were only three cautions during the race, with no major tire issues. The only significant fallout came in the form of eliminations from the Playoffs, with Ty Gibbs, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., and Harrison Burton all losing their championship chances.
On a brighter note, Kyle Larson heads to Kansas as the top seed in the Round of 12, with William Byron in fourth (+14), and Chase Elliott in seventh (+6). Alex Bowman, however, sits outside the bubble with a seven-point deficit.
Chase Elliott’s main competition was Kyle Larson. In a post-race interview shared on Twitter by Peter Startta, the reigning Most Popular Driver reflected on where he fell short. “I feel like my car was really good. I don’t think his car was any better than mine. He just did a little better job navigating traffic, and that was definitely the difference.”
“We were both pacing ourselves, waiting for lapped traffic. I thought I did okay, but he managed to slice through it, and I got caught up,” admitted the driver of the #9 Llumar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
Despite being seven seconds off a perfect finish, Elliott considered it a “solid night.” When asked about the absence of tire problems at Bristol, he remarked, “That’s pretty normal here, you know? The spring race was kind of an outlier. But I’d say this race was typical.”
A seven-second margin of victory at the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile” is rare in the Next-Gen era. Interestingly, five cars finished on the lead lap during the Spring Race, with only six more doing so in Saturday night’s race.
The conclusion is clear: something is dampening the excitement at NASCAR’s short tracks. Whether it’s a horsepower or gear-shifting issue, everyone needs to work together to find a solution. Otherwise, dominating wins like Larson’s could impact the competitive balance.
“Won’t Be Watching Anymore”—Angry Fans Vent to NASCAR After Controversial Kyle Busch All-Star Reversal
No one has ruled Bristol like the #5 car did in almost 16 years. Kyle Busch was the last driver to lead more than 400 laps since Bristol Motor Speedway introduced a variable-banking system in 2007. At the 2008 Night Race, Busch led 47 fewer laps than Larson’s 462 this Saturday. Such dominance at a short track is indeed a rare feat.
Sixteen years later, Busch struggled with speed throughout the day, finishing in P25 with little to celebrate. Nevertheless, as Larson noted post-race, “We (the #5 team) dominate a lot of races, but we don’t always finish them, so it felt great to close this one out in the HendrickCars
