Kyle Larson once again proves why he calls himself “the best all-round driver in the world.” The #5 is locked in the round of 12, and he did it in style. Can you believe that out of the 500 laps of the race, he only missed out on leading 38? After leading 462 laps, the dominant performance has gone down in the history books as he is the Hendrick driver to have led the highest number of laps ever.

The record was previously held by NASCAR legends Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. His 462 laps led were the most laps led by a Bristol Motor Speedway race winner since Cale Yarborough led 495 laps in 1977. A win must come as a relief to Larson, since the playoffs were not off to a good start for him.

Kyle Larson makes Hendrick Motorsports history

After starting on P2, his battle for the lead was with his teammate and playoff competitor Alex Bowman. And once he took the lead on lap 38, he never let go. The credit is not his alone as he got the support of the #5 team in pit lanes with perfect execution. This is Larson’s 5th win of the career. He was followed by Chase Elliott in P2. Non playoff driver Bubba Wallace took the third and finally, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell wrapped the top 5.

Larson was delighted to have finally gotten a good finish. In the post-race interview, he said, “Man that was just great execution all weekend by the team. Practice good, you gotta qualify good, we did that and just had a great car. Thanks to the whole 5 team, you are the best in the business. We dominate a lot of races, though we might not close them all out. Feels really good to close one out.”

The  #5 would be satisfied with finally getting a good performance. As Larson said, he’s led a lot of laps in the past but missed out on finishing the race. Like in the final race of the regular season at Darlington, he led 263 out of 367 laps yet finished in 4th. This cost him the regular season championship. The playoffs were no good either he crashed out early at Atlanta and then at Watkins Glen he finished out of the top 10.

The way the win has come has Kyle Larson on cloud nine. “That’s pretty awesome. That’s really cool because as you mentioned there’s been a legendary, Hall of Famers race for Hendrick Motorsports. We have all grown up watching Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. So pretty cool to add my name to it. Another record to Hendrick Motorsports. Again, just very fortunate to be in that group,” he added.

Kyle Larson’s dominating performance was lauded by many of his competitors. All who are strong championship contenders this year.

NASCAR drivers on Kyle Larson’s smooth sailing at Bristol

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The Bristol race was a complete Kyle Larson show. He took the victory 7.088 seconds ahead of his teammate, Chase Elliott. Elliott was impressed as, according to him, he did all he could, yet could not catch the #5. In the post-race interview, he said, “I think Kyle did a really good job getting through traffic, and that was the difference. I kind of got hung up and he was able to slice through there, so credit to him and his team. They did a great job. Nice to get a Hendrick one-two and nice to be moving on.”

Not just Elliott, everyone on the track was dazzled by Larson’s run. Christopher Bell, even after finishing 5th, was left unsatisfied. He said, “Disappointed we didn’t have what we needed to get up there and race for the win. I mean I was gonna say there were times in the race, but there really weren’t. The 5 car just destroyed the field all day long.” 

Bell’s thoughts were echoed by his JGR teammate, Denny Hamlin, who was a favorite going into Bristol. However, the #5 denied him a consecutive third victory on the track and he eventually finished 4th. Hamlin said, “My aspirations were to win it – but it looked like (Kyle Larson) was better than all of us. Solid car.” The battle for the championship is going to get intense. Larson is looking for his second, whereas the 54-time Cup Series winner is looking for his first in his two-decade-long career. Lastly, Christopher Bell is eyeing his third straight Championship-4 appearance. You know what they say, the third time is a charm.

Who do you think is going to win the championship? Share your thoughts with us in the comments down below.