Kyle Larson won Sunday’s (April 13) Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, leading 412 laps en route to the 31st win of his NASCAR Cup Series career.
Larson took the lead from polesitter Alex Bowman on lap 40 and only relinquished it during green-flag pit stops in stage three that saw Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace attempt to run long in hope of a caution.
However, that caution never came, and Larson cruised to an easy win.
It was Larson’s second win of the weekend, following another dominant performance in the NASCAR Xfinity Series event. He also finished second in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.
Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, Chase Briscoe and Blaney completed the top five at Bristol, while William Byron, Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, AJ Allmendinger and Austin Dillon completed the top 10.
Hamlin came up one spot shy of a third consecutive Cup Series win, but despite his runner-up result, he never came close to putting pressure on Larson for the lead.
“You gotta give that team their due, Kyle his due,” Hamlin said. “Just a dominant performance, looked like a pretty flawless day for him.”
Gibbs earned second straight top-10 finish on Sunday, which was much-needed for a No. 54 team that is still finding its footing in 2025.
“It’s definitely really nice,” Gibbs said. “It’s been a pretty chaotic start to our year. Really excited for our future.”
Another JGR driver in Briscoe came home fourth a week after a miserable afternoon in Darlington saw Briscoe finish in 28th.
“Whenever you have a week like last week, you can either dwell on it or move on from it,” Briscoe said. “Proud of our No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota team to move on from it and put it in the rearview.”
Larson’s win comes days after the death of longtime Hendrick Motorsports publicist Jon Edwards, who worked with Jeff Gordon and Larson over the course of his lengthy career in NASCAR.
“This one’s definitely for Jon,” Larson told FOX’s Jamie Little post-race. “We’re going to miss him. Successful weekend here, I wish he going to be with us here to celebrate, but I know he’s celebrating in spirit.
“Just another flawless race at Bristol for the No. 5 team. Really good car. That was a lot of fun.”
Larson also swept the stages and tied Martin Truex Jr. for the most stage wins in Cup history.
The only caution for cause came out due to a spin from Shane van Gisbergen. The damage incurred in the crash was enough to send the No. 88 to the garage. Van Gisbergen ultimately finished 38th.
Polesitter Bowman also retired early, ending up 37th due to an engine issue.
Bristol Cup Results
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 27. The Jack Link’s 500 will go green shortly after 3 p.m. ET, with coverage on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
A member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), Samuel also covers NASCAR for Yardbarker, Field Level Media, and Heavy Sports. He will attend the University of Arkansas in the fall of 2025.