Kyle Larson Dominates the Bristol Night Race in Playoff Win

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BRISTOL, TN – RIS – Kyle Larson led all but 68 of the 500 laps run on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series elimination race on Saturday night. Larson led the most laps in a race at Bristol since Cale Yarborough led 495 laps in the 1977 spring race. The 2021 Cup Series champion also set a record for the most laps led in a race out of any Hendrick Motorsports driver, beating Jeff Gordon who led 431 laps at Martinsville in 1997.

 Chase Elliott, Larson’s HMS teammate, battled his way from starting 10th to finishing second, finishing 7.088 seconds behind the No. 5 Chevrolet. Elliott also locked himself into the Round of 12.

Bubba Wallace was the highest-finishing non-playoff driver, finishing third. His 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin raced his way to the next round after starting behind the cutoff by finishing fourth, and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell advanced with Hamlin, finishing fifth.

Ryan Blaney, Ryan Preece, Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman and Ross Chastain rounded out the top 10.

The victory was his fifth of the 2024 season and means Laron will move on in the playoffs.

"It was a good race from start to finish for us,” Larson said.” Our car was really fast. Really loose for five laps, then it would get good, then loose again, then good again, then would be pretty good at the end of the run. The next-to-last run we had there, the long one, I was really good"

With the result, Hamlin was able to move above the cut line and qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 12.

Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keslowski and Harrison Burton were the four playoff drivers eliminated from competition on Saturday night. Despite finishing 31st, Daniel Suarez was the final driver to secure a spot in the Round of 12. Truex and Keselowski are both NASCAR Cup Champions

The Cup Series Playoffs continue at Kansas Speedway next Sunday at 3 p.m. ET next weekend.

Unofficial Results: Bass Pro Shops Night Race, September 21, 2024 - Bristol Motor Speedway
Fin, Str, Driver, Team, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
 1) 2, Kyle Larson (P), No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 500, 1, 1, 4, 462, 7, 60, Running
 2) 10, Chase Elliott (P), No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet, 500, 9, 10, , , , 38, Running
 3) 11, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Toyota Genuine Parts/Mobil 1 Toyota, 500, 10, 6, 1, 1, , 40, Running
 4) 8, Denny Hamlin (P), No. 11 FedEx Toyota, 500, 6, 3, , , , 46, Running
 5) 6, Christopher Bell (P), No. 20 DEWALT Toyota, 500, 3, 5, , , , 46, Running
 6) 22, Ryan Blaney (P), No. 12 Wurth Ford, 500, , 9, , , , 33, Running
 7) 14, Ryan Preece, No. 41 Old Armor Ford, 500, , , , , , 30, Running
 8) 5, Chase Briscoe (P), No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford, 500, 7, 8, , , , 36, Running
 9) 1, Alex Bowman (P), No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 500, 2, 7, 3, 34, , 41, Running
10) 12, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 500, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 18, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 499, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 16, Noah Gragson, No. 10 Bass Pro Shops Winchester Ford, 499, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 27, Austin Cindric (P), No. 2 Menards/Monster Ford, 499, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 17, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 499, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 13, Ty Gibbs (P), No. 54 He Gets Us Toyota, 499, 8, , , , , 25, Running
16) 33, Zane Smith #, No. 71 Ambetter Health Chevrolet, 499, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 3, William Byron (P), No. 24 Z HP Chevrolet, 499, 5, , , , , 26, Running
18) 7, Carson Hocevar #, No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet, 499, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 21, Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Doritos/Mtn Dew by Food City Chevrolet, 499, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 15, Tyler Reddick (P), No. 45 McDonald's Toyota, 499, , 4, 1, 3, , 24, Running
21) 30, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, 499, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 26, Justin Haley, No. 51 Pinnacle Home Improvement Ford, 499, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 19, AJ Allmendinger(i), No. 16 Barger Precast Chevrolet, 499, , , , , , 0, Running
24) 4, Martin Truex Jr. (P), No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 499, 4, 2, , , , 29, Running
25) 29, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet, 498, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 23, Brad Keselowski (P), No. 6 Castrol Edge Ford, 497, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 31, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/Dasani Chevrolet, 497, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 20, Joey Logano (P), No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 496, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 25, Josh Berry #, No. 4 Bed Bath & Beyond Ford, 496, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 32, Erik Jones, No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota, 496, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 35, Daniel Suarez (P), No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, 496, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 24, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Frontline Enterprises Inc Ford, 496, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 28, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota, 491, , , , , , 4, Running
34) 37, * Josh Bilicki(i), No. 66 Arby's Ford, 467, , , , , , 0, Running
35) 34, Harrison Burton (P), No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 422, , , , , , 2, Running
36) 9, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Mattress Warehouse Chevrolet, 330, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 36, Kaz Grala #, No. 15 Meat N' Bone Ford, 296, , , , , , 1, Steering
(i) Ineligible for driver points, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs

Race Length: 500 Laps, 266.5 Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 37 Mins, 53 Secs.
Average Speed: 101.277 MPH
Margin of Victory: 7.088 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 5, 48, 20, 19, 24, 11, 14, 54, 9, 23
Stage 2 Top 10: 5, 19, 11, 45, 20, 23, 48, 14, 12, 9

Comments: Kyle Larson won the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, his 28th NASCAR Cup Series victory. 

Cautions: 5 for 36 laps;
Laps: 6-10 (No. 42 incident turn 4 [None]);
127-135 (Stage 1 Conclusion [31]);
244-248 (No. 22 incident frontstretch [31]);
252-260 (Stage 2 Conclusion [51]);
330-337 (No. 7, 4 incident turn 2 [71]).

Lead Changes: 8 among 4 drivers;
A. Bowman (P) 1-32;
K. Larson (P) 33-129;
A. Bowman (P) 130;
K. Larson (P) 131-244;
A. Bowman (P) 245;
T. Reddick (P) 246-248;
K. Larson (P) 249-332;
B. Wallace 333;
K. Larson (P) 334-500.