Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin renew rivalry at Bristol
- 15 Apr 2025
A second consecutive victory at Bristol Motor Speedway was especially sweet for Kyle Larson, and one reason loomed large in his rearview mirror.
The Hendrick Motorsports star fended off several challenges for the lead by Denny Hamlin as they ran in the top two positions for 251 of 500 laps - and with Larson always in first on the 0.533-mile oval.
In the best current rivalry on NASCAR’s premier circuit, it was the seventh 1-2 finish for the duo, but the first time that Larson emerged on top.
And with his 31st Cup victory, Larson prevented Hamlin from winning a third consecutive race - a point he gleefully made while celebrating on the frontstretch.
"If Denny is in front of me, it could be a totally different story and be really hard to pass him, but glad to stop his three-peat,” Larson said, pausing to laugh with a lighthearted point at the crowd. "We hate to see him win, as I’m sure you guys do, too.”
Though Bristol had no contact or flared tempers as in their past skirmishes at Kansas
and Pocono, Larson and Hamlin seem on a collision course for the 2025 championship heading into NASCAR’s only off weekend of the season.
Larson is ranked second and Hamlin third in NASCAR advanced metrics that evaluate drivers on passing, defense, speed, restarts and pit stops. In the regular-season points standings, Hamlin is second and Larson fourth despite recent stumbles.
The pit crew of Larson's No. 5 Chevrolet was overhauled before Darlington Raceway, where he crashed twice in the April 6 race (the latter wreck brought out a caution that helped Hamlin earn his second win in a row ).
Larson rebounded mightily over three consecutive days at Bristol, finishing second in the Truck Series race and winning the Xfinity and Cup races. He dedicated the results to Jon Edwards, the Hendrick Motorsports director of communications whose death was announced last Thursday.
"It’s crazy how this week played out for us,” crew chief Cliff Daniels said. "Of course, the loss of Jon was a whole other blow, but our team maintained a lot of positivity.”
Hamlin, who has combined with Larson to win six of the past nine Cup races at Bristol, also has been in an upbeat mood while adapting to new crew chief Chris Gayle.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is off to his best start since 2021 (the last time he qualified for NASCAR’s championship race finale), and he took the loss to Larson in stride.
"It’s been a great run here over the last month,” Hamlin said. "We’ve been really good. Just got to continue this momentum, and it all starts tomorrow. You go back to work, and you figure out how you can get just a little bit better.”
Larson has led 872 of the past 1,000 laps in consecutive victories at Bristol, which hasn’t been the same since a track-record 54 lead changes in the March 2024 race won by Hamlin. There were four lead changes Sunday, the fewest for a 500-lap race at the track in nearly 43 years.
Larson and other drivers attributed the difference to a durable tire negating the two- and three-wide racing that is a byproduct of managing wear.
Jeff Gordon, a five-time winner at Bristol before retiring to become the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, said he was "disappointed” with Sunday’s tire but added there’s a fine line in striking the balance between excessive and minimum wear.
"Goodyear has a tough job,” he said. "We have a heavy car. We have these high-banked tracks, heavy loads, abrasive surfaces. There’s just a lot of things that are very difficult for them to make a tire that’s durable and perform well. To ask for them on top of that to have a tire that falls off and wears but doesn’t wear too much, that’s a tall task.”
After winning two of three on race weekends at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway, Larson has no further tripleheaders scheduled this season. He still yearns to be the second to sweep NASCAR’s top three national series in a weekend (which Kyle Busch did at Bristol in 2010 and 2017).
Larson said he’d consider trying again next year at Homestead, Bristol and possibly Kansas Speedway (which played host to all three series last September but has no tripleheader this year).
"I’ll be selective,” he said. "I have to feel I have a shot to win all three and also pick the tracks I enjoy.”
Associated Press