There were plenty of unknowns leading into Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol. One thing was for sure: the 500-lap race was bound to be interesting. It certainly was for Kyle Larson. The Hendrick Motorsports driver completely outclassed everyone in the field en route to his second win of the season and 31st of his Cup career.
Larson has certainly turned Bristol Motor Speedway into his playground. Not to mention, he has won the last two races at the Last Great Coliseum while also leading over 400 laps in both wins. What he has done is simply incredible. Especially when many thought this race was going to see plenty of tire wear. That just wasn’t the case, as Larson was too much for the rest of the field.
Kyle Larson Makes Food City 500 at Bristol His Playground
The Food City 500 got off to a fast-paced start with Alex Bowman on the pole, with Ricky Stenhouse alongside. The pace was so quick that FOX’s commentators still had no idea what was going to happen. Many thought that, like last spring’s race, the tires were going to wear out after about 40 laps. That was the theme in practice on Saturday. Boy, was that prediction wrong.
Expect the unexpected today at @ItsBristolBaby!
We're racing now at The World's Fastest Half-Mile! pic.twitter.com/XPeHHqFJK4
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 13, 2025
Bowman was able to hold the lead for the race’s first 39 laps before Kyle Larson stormed past him. Mike Joy described the move for the lead as Larson pushing the go button.
Larson out here doing Larson things.
He takes the lead away from @Alex_Bowman early in Stage 1! pic.twitter.com/Kp3Qe7gjbQ
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 13, 2025
The racing stayed green for the first 126 laps, and Larson took full control as he quickly started lapping cars once he got past Bowman. Larson was able to capture the stage win without any protest.
One stage down, two to go!
The first green-and-white checkered flag goes to @KyleLarsonRacin! #FoodCity500 pic.twitter.com/f0X0Gy11LK
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 13, 2025
Stage Two Sees Only One Caution For Cause
Larson held the lead through the Stage one pit stops, as this race continued to fall easily into the No. 5 team’s hands. It was clear at this point that the pit crew would be the ones to gain drivers’ spots. Much like how Denny Hamlin’s crew won him the race at Darlington last week. His group was once again very important as Hamlin looked like the only driver who could hang in the same area code as Larson.
An @ItsBristolBaby roar like no other. 🔊 pic.twitter.com/yhOA5AIDuR
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 13, 2025
Laps continued to wind off, with No. 5 leading the charge. The only real incident of the day came on lap 178 when Shane Van Gisbergen and Cody Ware got together. Both cars were able to continue, but they ended up many laps down.
Following the restart, not much changed at the front as Larson held the lead for the 63 laps, sweeping the stages. While all that was happening, Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar and Justin Haley were both putting on quite a performance of their own. Both spent much of the race inside the top 10.
No stopping @KyleLarsonRacin … so far!
He takes Stage 2 at @ItsBristolBaby. #FoodCity500 pic.twitter.com/VmgMkb8AS2
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 13, 2025
Who Needs Cautions?
The final 235 laps of this race went caution-free, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any interesting moments. Amid Larson’s dominate performance in the Food City 500, things got interesting for several drivers for many different reasons. First, you have the pole sitter, Alex Bowman, losing a cylinder, before ultimately having to pull off the track with an engine issue.
"Blowing up!" @Alex_Bowman radios trouble to his No. 48 team! pic.twitter.com/y3EN43Qtb5
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 13, 2025
All that did was make the laps fly by more, as the broadcast quickly showed Bowman falling back through the field. All while his teammate was controlling the race. Strategy plays tried to happen with 75 laps to go. Drivers made green flag pitstops, which just doesn’t happen at Bristol Motor Speedway. Ryan Blaney had another idea, as he stayed out and lapped the whole field.
A strategy play from the No. 12 team has put @Blaney out front!
We've got less than 75 to go at @ItsBristolBaby! pic.twitter.com/zmWYuiri2N
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 13, 2025
While it certainly was a gamble, Blaney went for as long as he could, but ultimately, Larson got back to the lead while Blaney pitted. By that point, the race was down to Larson, Hamlin, and surprisingly, Ty Gibbs, though he had nothing for Denny or Kyle, realistically.
Sure, Hamlin got close to Larson as they fought through Lap traffic, but it wasn’t enough as Larson led the final 61 laps to win the Food City 500.
He's now won three of the last six @ItsBristolBaby races! pic.twitter.com/Cp1N3oOplj
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 13, 2025
Short Track Domination
It might be the Hendrick Motorsports magic, but don’t look now. Kyle Larson has now won three of the last six races at Bristol. This certainly feels like what Jeff Gordon used to do, especially in the Food City 500 back in the 1990s. He did win this event four times in a row from 1995 to 1998. Given all the sadness this weekend from Hendrick Employee Jon Edwards’s passing. It’s only right that the driver he has been working with for the past five seasons got the win at a track as special as Bristol Motor Speedway.
Larson has momentum on his side heading into the Easter break. Could he finally get that elusive Superspeedway win when the Cup Series heads to Talladega in two weeks? Who knows? For now, he’s the King of Bristol.
Featured Image Credit: Sean Gardner, Getty Images. 4/13/2025
