“He just tried it at Homestead and came awfully close,” said Kyle Busch. Earlier this year at Homestead-Miami, Kyle Larson tore through the Truck race for a win and stormed to victory lane in his bid to secure a weekend sweep. However, he led 132 laps in Xfinity, only to finish fourth after a shove from Sam Mayer on a late restart. That heartbreak didn’t break him—it fueled him. He sealed the Cup race, passing Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman with six laps left for his 30th career victory.

Kyle Larson lives for the thrill of the chase. The hum of his No. 5 Chevrolet, the blur of the track—it’s where he pours his heart out. This weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, he’s not just racing for trophies. He’s gunning for a piece of history so rare, only one driver has claimed it: Kyle Busch. Larson is burning to become the second NASCAR star to sweep the Truck, Xfinity, and Cup Series races in a single weekend, a triple-header triumph Busch nailed at Bristol in 2010 and 2017. And Larson is willing to do it even if Mother Nature intervenes.

Kyle Larson is determined to sweep

It’s a dream that’s haunted Larson since he led the field by nearly 17 seconds when the final caution was called with 8 laps to go in the Xfinity Homestead race. Before he attempts his Bristol madness, it’s worth giving flowers to the only man who has done it so far. Busch’s 2010 sweep saw him dominate the Truck race, edge out Jason Leffler in Xfinity, and outlast David Reutimann in the Cup race. In 2017, he did it again, proving it was no fluke. Larson’s respect runs deep: back in 2017, he called Busch “one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history” after witnessing his Bristol mastery. Now, with team owner Rick Hendrick’s green light, Larson’s chasing that same glory, and even a potential postponement does not phase the 2021 Cup Series Champion!

The buzz is electric, and a tweet from Kelly Crandall shed some more light on it: “I’ve already been told Kyle Larson will still run both the Craftsman Truck Series and Cup Series races if tonight is postponed. Both would run on Sunday. NASCAR is currently working on drying the racetrack here at Bristol.” Bristol’s high-banked, half-mile chaos is his next shot, even with rain threatening a 40-50% chance of trouble on race day.

Well, Larson is no stranger to running two races on the same day. In fact, he is about to do it once again this year! The Hendrick Motorsports #5 attempted the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 ‘double’ in 2024 and is gearing up for a repeat in 2025. The reason for the repeat attempt stems from the rain-marred race in Indianapolis last year, which forced him to miss out on the start of the Coca-Cola 600. Eventually, when he returned to Charlotte, the race was ended because of showers there, too, without Larson running a single lap. However, for the Bristol race, Larson was ready to take the risk of running Truck and Cup on Sunday, and his record at Bristol may be a good reason he is so confident.

Bristol’s a beast, and Larson knows it. He’s dominated here in the Next-Gen era, finishing in the top 5 in 7 of his last nine races at the track. Last September, he led a jaw-dropping 462 laps, winning by 7.088 seconds—the biggest margin at Bristol in three decades. But a triple sweep is a different animal. Larson’s path hasn’t been smooth. A loose wheel at COTA, a crash at Darlington—setbacks keep testing him, but as always, his team looks at the glass half full.

Larson had a torrid time at Darlington last week. An early crash led to him being over 160 laps down on his return to the track. Then, when he did make it back, he was involved in yet another caution in the final stage, which altered the outcome of the race as Larson ended with a DNF. Reflecting on the day out, Larson’s crew chief made an interesting point about why the #5 team chose to take the heavy lap hit instead of ending their race.

“The benefit of the way we handled our day…was almost a good dress rehearsal. If that did happen in the fall, we could probably cut our time in the garage by maybe up to 20 laps,” said Larson’s crew chief, Cliff Daniels. Data is key in NASCAR, and HMS was collecting it all at Darlington while preparing a strategy for the eventual playoff race that would be significantly more important for the #5, as they took the crown there last year.

This shows where the team’s priorities are. It’s not winning every race at all costs, it’s about learning the most they can from the situation they are in. Putting the same mentality to the test at Bristol, Larson was ready to potentially have to race twice on the same night, rather than let another opportunity of a weekend sweep slip his grasp. Larson’s ready to risk it all, driven by a hunger to match Busch’s untouchable feat. Will he conquer Bristol? Or will history slip away again? One thing’s certain—he’s not stopping until he knows.

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Kyle Larson reflects on his love for Bristol

Kyle Larson has a wild record at Bristol—three top-3 finishes in his last five races, including two wins, 2021 and 2023. He admitted, “To me, it’s the closest style to a dirt sprint car race, although it’s a lot longer. Just the intensity, the aggression, the fast-paced style of that race I’m comfortable with. I just love that track. I look forward to going there.” Being a dirt racing expert with three Chili Bowl Nationals to his name, it’s no surprise why Larson adores the track. However, his success at Bristol only came after joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2021.

“So yeah, Bristol has been a place where I’ve led tons of laps at before and won a lot of stages but have kind of fallen off at the ends of the races. But since joining Hendrick (Motorsports), we’ve been good all race long, and that was fun to dominate that race this last year,” further added Larson. Before entering the HMS fold in 2021, Larson had great results at Bristol, with 7 top-10 finishes in 12 races for Chip-Ganassi Racing. However, from 2017 to 2019, Larson led 551 laps at Bristol but could not manage a win! He finished 2nd at both the Bristol races in 2018, which were split by the Busch brothers!

2-time Cup Series Champion Kyle Busch won the April Bristol race, while 2004 Cup Series Champ Kurt Busch took the win in August. Larson got past the hump in his first race with HMS in 2021, and in 2025, he looks to uproot the legacy of a driver that once denied him of Bristol glory. However, all the triple talk has come crashing down in the very first race of the weekend, as Chandler Smith edged Larson out in the Truck Series race, leaving the #5 driver in Kyle Busch’s shadow once again.