Larson Wins First Race at Bristol

Wade Payne, AP Photo

BRISTOL, TN – RIS – Kyle Larson won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race of the season on Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.  Larson took advantage of favorite Kyle Busch’s misfortune to get his first victory at the half-mile track that Larson calls his favorite.

“I wish Kyle Busch wouldn't have had his troubles so I could have raced him,” Larson said. “But it still feels really, really cool to win a race here, finally, at Bristol. I've been close so many times. This is my best racetrack by far.”

The race went into overtime after Daniel Hemric spun with two laps remaining. Larson held off a challenge from Justin Allgaier on the restart for the win. Allgaier ended up in third place, behind Christopher Bell.

“We had the yellow with two to go and I thought `Man, again? I'm going to lose another one here at BMS’,“ Larson said.

Although Larson had never won here before Friday, this marked his eighth top-10 finish in nine Xfinity Series races at Bristol. He has finished second on this track four times — at a Cup event earlier this year and at Xfinity Series races in 2013, 2014 and 2015. All four times, he lost to Busch, who has mastered this track throughout his career.

Busch led for the first 70 laps Friday until he got a flat right front tire that caused him to hit the wall and damaged his car enough that he couldn't return. Busch was leading by over 3 1/2 seconds at the time he got the flat.

“I just got in the corner a little too hot, just got up into the fence a little bit,” Busch said. “Two or three laps later, it blew out.”

Larson took command of the race immediately after Busch's exit. Larson won the first and second stages but fell to 12th place after pitting before the final segment.

Bell was leading as Larson began working his way back toward the front. As Bell got held up in traffic, Larson managed to pick his way through and get back in front with 97 laps remaining.

“The guy in second definitely has an advantage whenever you're getting through traffic, especially whenever you get the traffic going side by side,” Bell said.

Busch was seeking to win both the Xfinity Series and Cup series races at Bristol in the same weekend for a third time. He had accomplished the feat in 2010 and 2017.

During each of those two sweeps, Busch also won a Truck Series race in Bristol. This time, he didn't enter the Truck Series event, which was won Thursday by Johnny Sauter.

Bristol Xfinity   Inbox x        

John Davison

Fri, Aug 17, 10:34 PM (2 days ago)       to me            

Unofficial Race Results for the 37th Annual Food City 300 - Friday, August 17, 2018 - Bristol Motor Speedway - Bristol, TN

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 3, Kyle Larson(i), No. 42 DC Solar Chevrolet, 310, 1, 1, 5, 202, , 0, Running
2) 2, Christopher Bell #, No. 20 Rheem Toyota, 310, , 7, 1, 18, , 39, Running
3) 10, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, 310, 8, 2, , , , 46, Running
4) 9, Cole Custer, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford, 310, 5, , 1, 5, , 39, Running
5) 4, Joey Logano(i), No. 22 Snap On Ford, 310, 4, , 2, 2, , 0, Running
6) 6, Elliott Sadler, No. 1 OneMain Financial Chevrolet, 310, 9, 5, 1, 12, , 39, Running
7) 22, Michael Annett, No. 5 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, 310, , 9, , , , 32, Running
8) 15, Chase Elliott(i), No. 23 Ollie's Bargain Outlet Chevrolet, 310, 3, 3, 2, 2, , 0, Running
9) 14, Tyler Reddick #, No. 9 Food City Chevrolet, 310, 7, 6, , , , 37, Running
10) 5, Matt Tifft, No. 2 Nexteer Chevrolet, 310, 6, , , , , 32, Running
11) 21, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Cook?s Comfort Systems Inc. Chevrolet, 310, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 18, Ross Chastain, No. 4 Flex Seal Chevrolet, 309, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 19, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet, 308, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 17, Austin Cindric #, No. 12 Pirtek Ford, 308, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 8, Ty Dillon(i), No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Cabela's Chevrolet, 307, 2, 10, , , , 0, Running
16) 25, Garrett Smithley, No. 0 Flex Tape Chevrolet, 305, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 16, Ryan Reed, No. 16 Drive Down A1C Lilly Diabetes Ford, 304, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 26, Joey Gase, No. 35 Sparks Chevrolet, 304, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 23, BJ McLeod, No. 15 teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet, 304, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 27, JA Junior Avila, No. 78 CorvetteParts.net Chevrolet, 304, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 32, David Starr, No. 52 Chasco/Whataburger/Dai Chevrolet, 303, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 12, Ryan Truex, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 302, , 4, , , , 22, Running
23) 20, Alex Labbe #, No. 36 Can-Am/Wholey/Cyclops Gear Chevrolet, 301, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 11, Daniel Hemric, No. 21 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet, 300, 10, , , , , 14, Accident
25) 35, Spencer Boyd #, No. 76 Grunt Style Chevrolet, 299, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 29, Jeff Green, No. 38 C2 Freight Resources Chevrolet, 298, , , , , , 11, Fuel Pump
27) 38, Bayley Currey(i), No. 55 Prevagen Toyota, 288, , , , , , 0, Running
28) 28, Josh Williams, No. 90 Sleep Well Chevrolet, 278, , , , , , 9, Suspension
29) 7, Brandon Jones, No. 19 Juniper Toyota, 260, , 8, , , , 11, Suspension
30) 30, Chad Finchum #, No. 40 Smithbilt Homes/The Preserve Toyota, 195, , , , , , 7, Accident
31) 39, Stephen Leicht, No. 74 Horizon Travel Chevrolet, 192, , , , , , 6, Overheating
32) 34, Vinnie Miller #, No. 01 Flex Glue Chevrolet, 179, , , , , , 5, Transmission
33) 36, Carl Long, No. 66 TLC Resorts Chevrolet, 174, , , , , , 4, Suspension
34) 13, Chase Briscoe, No. 60 Ford Ford, 142, , , , , , 3, Accident
35) 37, Josh Bilicki #, No. 45 Prevagen Toyota, 102, , , , , , 2, Transmission
36) 1, Kyle Busch(i), No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota, 74, , , 1, 69, , 0, Accident
37) 24, Ray Black II, No. 8 Isokern Chevrolet, 36, , , , , , 1, Engine
38) 31, Timmy Hill, No. 13 Smithbilt Homes Toyota, 22, , , , , , 1, Overheating
39) 40, Morgan Shepherd, No. 89 Visone RV Chevrolet, 12, , , , , , 1, Vibration
40) 33, JJ Yeley, No. 93 RSS Racing Chevrolet, 9, , , , , , 1, Brakes
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Total Race Length - 310 Laps - 165.23 Miles
Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 00 Mins, 27 Secs.
Average Speed: 82.306 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.434 Seconds
.533 Mile Concrete
Race Comments: Kyle Larson won the 37th annual Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, his 12th victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: Nos. 93 (missing drivers meeting), 8 (tire change), 5, 45 (unapproved adjustments).
Caution Flags: 8 for 59 laps: Laps: 71-78 (No. 18 Incident Turn 4 [11]);
87-94 (Stage 1 Conculsion [5]);
106-114 (No. 01, 76 Incident Turn 1 [51]);
143-149 (No. 60 Incident Frontstretch [51]);
161-165 (No. 01 Spin Turn 2 [12]);
172-177 (Stage 2 Conclusion [36]);
260-266 (No. 40 Incident Backstretch [5]);
300-308 (No. 21 Incident Backstretch [4]).
Lead Changes: 12 among 7 drivers: K. Busch(i) 1-69;
K. Larson(i) 70-73;
J. Logano(i) 74;
C. Custer 75-79;
K. Larson(i) 80-113;
J. Logano(i) 114;
K. Larson(i) 115-172;
C. Elliott(i) 173;
E. Sadler 174-185;
C. Bell # 186-203;
K. Larson(i) 204-261;
C. Elliott(i) 262;
K. Larson(i) 263-310.