By Roy J. Akers- www.skyviewsports.net
Bristol is a destination race for many Cup fans, and the storylines they will witness are plentiful. Jesse Love makes his Cup debut for RCR Racing. Denny Hamlin is going for three victories in a row. Today’s Pole-Sitter Alex Bowman’s best finish ever is 4th. Can Bowman stay around at the finish? Can Hamlin get a three-peat?
Let’s Drop the Green Flag…
First Stage Results
Bowman takes the field to the checkered line and leads second-place Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Neither Bowman or Stenhouse Jr. have won at BMS. They stay 1-2 for 32 laps. On lay 27, Kyle Larson goes low and around Denny Hamlin for third. place. Just five laps later, Hamlin overtakes both Larson and goes around Stenhouse for second place. The field jumbles up 15 laps later, and Larson goes around Justin Haley for second with Hamlin third and Bowman 4th.
By lap 70, the field remains under green flag conditions with 430 laps to go. There has been one lead change between two drivers, with no cautions thus far. On lap 77, Hamlin overtakes Haley for second. Larson wins the stage by nearly three seconds. Hamlin, Haley and pole sitter Bowman are 2-3-4. There are no cautions in the stage and only one lead change. Larson earns his 65th career stage win. Its the second most in the Stage era. Martin Truex Jr. has the most with 66.
Second Stage
Larson takes the field to the green flag, but then, all lead lap cars enter pit road for service. Kyle Larson demonstrates a quick pit stop, emerging as the first car off pit road. Denny Hamlin follows in second, with Justin Haley securing the third position as they exit. In 2024, tire wear was all the rage and drivers slowed down to preserve tire ware and then choose their moments to all-out race.
Larson chooses the outside line and allows Hamlin to take the inside and it pays off as KL drives off in the #5 machine. Haley overtakes Hamlin with Hocevar 4th and Bowman 5th. By lap 144, Hocevar battles on the outside of Haley for second position.
Lap 177 finds Shane Van Gisbergen and Cody Ware both spinning in Turn 2 while battling for 35th position but are able to continue. It brings out a caution and most of the drivers onto pit road. Ryan Blaney wins the battle to get out first and he is now in 13th position. How good has Larson been so far?
Larson’s performance highlights: Stage Two Results
- Best lap time: 15.386 seconds (124.711 mph) on lap 144
- Last pit stop: 61 laps ago
- Total pit stops: one
- Laps in top five: 194
- Laps in top 10: 194
After the pit stop, Bowman has cycled back to second, Hamlin third, Bell 4th and Hocevar 5th. Larson wins the Stage. At lap 254 of 500, Kyle Larson leads under caution. The race has seen one lead change between two drivers, with three cautions for 29 laps. Larson, who started third, has dominated, leading 215 laps with an average running position of 1.49.
Final Stage
Before the Green flag drops under caution, all lead lap cars make their way to pit road. Kyle Larson’s crew executes a swift stop, allowing him to emerge as the first car off pit road. Alex Bowman follows in second, with Denny Hamlin securing the third position as they exit pit lane.
Larson leads the field to the green flag and chooses the outside lane with Bowman to his left. Larson again drives away from the field going two-wide behind him. Larson continues his dominance over the field with Hamlin and Ty Gibbs behind him. On lap 314 of 500, Kyle Larson leads the race in the No. 5 Chevrolet. Larson, who started third, has dominated, leading 275 laps with an average running position of 1.4. With 150 laps (75 miles to go) Larson leads by nearly four seconds over Hamlin.
With 110 to go, Larson and most of the leaders pit and Larson drops to 14th for a lap before cycling to the Top as the others pit. Larson is out of the Top five for the first time in the race but NFL. (Not for Long) Ryan Blaney is your new race leader with Tyler Reddick second, and Bubba Wallace third. Blaney continues to lead the race with the entire field one lap behind him and Blaney’s machine running empty on fuel. Larson picks off the leaders and is now third with 68 to go. Blaney pits a few laps leader and Larson maneuvers to the lead with Hamlin second. Kyle Larson begins to slowly pull away from Denny Hamlin, and leads by 1.43 seconds with 15 laps left. Only nine drivers are still on the lead lap.
There is no drama in the final laps and Larson wins.
Checkered Flag
Kyle Larson has won for the third time at Bristol with his last seven races finishing 6th or better. This is his second victory of the year (Miami-Homestead) and his fifth top-five finish this season. He came into the race leading only 92 laps in 2025.
After the race, Larson spoke to reporters. Kyle, what a dominant performance. You won two of the three races this weekend, but I just heard you say on the radio, We did this one for John. What did John mean to you, Kyle?
KYLE LARSON: This one is definitely for John. He is just a great guy here, so we’re going to miss him, but successful weekend here. Wish he was going to be here with us to celebrate, but I know he’s celebrating with us in spirit. Yeah, just a flawless race once again here at Bristol for the 5 team. Really, really good car. That was a lot of fun. You know, however many laps of green we ran, there was a lot of fun. I was pretty comfortable with things. Then Denny came on really strong there before the pit cycle, and then, yeah, just kind of kept the pressure on from there. I knew I had to make some good moves in traffic. Felt like I did a pretty good job there in traffic.”
Manufacturer Bragging Rights
Toyota still has five race victories in 2025. Chevrolet has 3, and Ford has one.
Chevy had six of the Top 11 at Bristol. Toyota 4 and Ford One.
Factiods that may only interest me
Joey Logano has not finished inside the Top 20 at Bristol in his last six races.
Kyle Larson leads 411 of the 500 laps of this race at Bristol. He is 7th all-time.
Cale Yarborough has led the most laps at Bristol all-time.
He Said It… Ty Gibbs
It has been a while since we’ve seen Ty Gibbs in the top five. A complete day today. You guys start six, run in the top five all day long. Has to feel good.
TY GIBBS: It’s definitely really nice. We had a really good clean day, so you know, really happy to have that. It’s been pretty chaotic start to our year. I think we’re back where we’re going to run.
But really excited for the future and to get back racing after this off weekend. I think we’re really capable of winning a lot this year, so we’ll see what we can do and go out and have a fun time, have a blast. So thank you to Toyota, Monster Energy, and Saia.
My Fantasy Team
Best Pick… Larson Worst Pick… Bowman Total Points 189. Bowman’s late race collapse hurt bad.
Tale of the Tape
