It was a narrative of absolute domination on the a part of Kyle Larson, who led 462 of 500 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway and gained Saturday’s Bass Professional Outlets Night time Race by 7.088s over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott.
Larson’s advance to the Spherical of 12 within the NASCAR Cup Sequence Playoffs was hardly doubtful, however the vicissitudes of the elimination race have been unkind to Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski and Harrison Burton, who’re not eligible to compete for the collection championship.
Sweeping each phases in entrance of a large crowd on a near-perfect evening, Larson set a report for laps led in a single race by a Hendrick Motorsports driver. He has now led 1,351 laps at Bristol, his most at a single monitor.
No driver has led as many laps in a victory at Bristol since Cale Yarborough led 495 in 1977.
The victory was Larson’s second on the 0.533-mile monitor, his series-best fifth of the season and the twenty eighth of the profession. He enters the Spherical of 12 as the highest seed, because the collection strikes to Kansas Speedway for the Sept. 29 Hollywood On line casino 400.
“Man, that was simply nice execution all weekend by the group,” Larson stated. “Practiced good. You’ve acquired to qualify good; we did that. Yeah, simply had an incredible automobile. Due to the entire No. 5 group. They’re the most effective within the enterprise.
“We dominate plenty of races, however we’d not shut all of them out, so it feels actually good to shut one out right here on this Hendrickcars.com Chevy. We’ve acquired (group proprietor) Rick Hendrick right here immediately, too. He hasn’t been to many races this yr…
“Only a phenomenal automobile, might form of handle my stuff after which actually cross some vehicles there on the finish.”
Sadly for Gibbs and Truex, Saturday evening’s race additionally was the story of crippling penalties. Gibbs was flagged for rushing on pit street in the course of the first stage break and spent the remainder of the race combating his method towards the entrance.
By lap 500, nonetheless, Gibbs had worn out his proper rear tire, completed fifteenth and misplaced the ultimate Spherical of 12 place to Daniel Suarez and Chase Briscoe by 11 factors.
“Rushing penalty is on me,” Gibbs stated. “You run the lights so shut … it’s my fault. Unlucky.”
Getting into the race 14 factors beneath the lower line, Truex ran fourth within the first stage and second in Stage 2, however the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota sped on pit street in the course of the fifth and ultimate warning and completed twenty fourth, 21 factors in need of advancing to the Spherical of 12.
“We did good within the first two phases—we acquired plenty of factors,” stated Truex, who will retire from full-time Cup racing on the finish of the season. “I assume we’d have needed to run second or third to make it via. Who is aware of if we’d have been in a position to. I want we might have seen if we might have carried out that.
“I’m simply gutted for my group. We labored so arduous this week. All of us put in quite a bit all season lengthy, and within the final three weeks, simply snake-bit. Can’t do something proper … 0.09mph (over the pit street pace tolerance) hurts actually dangerous to take the possibility away to know if we even might have carried out it. I don’t know if we might have run second … perhaps. We have been near all of it day, however ultimately, it doesn’t matter. I really feel horrible for my guys.”
Non-Playoff driver Bubba Wallace completed third on Saturday evening, adopted by Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and defending collection champion Ryan Blaney, all of whom secured spots within the Spherical of 12.
Hamlin entered the race six factors beneath the lower line however maintained a presence within the prime 5 all race lengthy.
“My aspirations have been to win it, but it surely appeared just like the No. 5 (Larson) there was higher than all of us,” Hamlin stated. “Strong automobile. I believed we have been actually good in the direction of the center of the phases, after which on the finish, acquired too unfastened and couldn’t grasp onto what we had.
“Total, top-five day, good stage factors, form of within the combine, simply not likely pretty much as good as we’ve been right here the previous couple of instances. However total, I need to thank this complete FedEx Toyota group for giving me one thing I can transfer on with.”
Ryan Preece ran seventh, trailed by Briscoe and pole winner Alex Bowman, who was locked into the following Playoff spherical after ending seventh in Stage 2. Austin Cindric (thirteenth Saturday), William Byron (seventeenth), Tyler Reddick (twentieth) and Joey Logano (twenty eighth) additionally have been among the many 12 drivers to advance.
Logano already had secured his spot with a victory within the Playoff opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Larson took cost early, passing Bowman for the lead on lap 33. Adroitly working visitors as the primary 125-lap stage progressed, Larson lapped three Playoff drivers in succession—Suarez on lap 64, Burton on lap 86 and Keselowski of lap 104.
Bowman led a lap below warning in the course of the first stage break, however Larson had the highest spot again out of the pits one circuit later and continued to claim his authority in Stage 2. Suarez misplaced a second lap to the chief on lap 194, placing his Playoff future in dire peril—briefly.
Burton suffered the identical destiny on lap 207, all however assuring his elimination. His destiny was sealed when he took his No. 21 Wooden Brothers Racing Ford to the storage on lap 235 to restore an influence steering challenge.
BEEF!
Daniel Suarez was NOT HAPPY AT ALL with Erik Jones. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/xSXxQBzwKL
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 22, 2024
Gibbs’ penalty was the saving grace for Suarez, who completed thirty first, 4 laps down however was in a position to transfer on.
“It was a battle,” Suarez acknowledged. “Since yesterday after we unloaded the automobile for first follow, we simply didn’t have the pace. As you already know, with a brief quantity of follow, qualifying, and going to the race, in the event you don’t have pace out of the trailer, it’s very, very tough to carry it again to hurry.
“We made it higher, but it surely wasn’t ok. We have been working thirtieth, twenty eighth, thirty second all evening lengthy, and that’s what we had. Fortunately, we had an incredible Atlanta (a runner-up end), first rate Watkins Glen after a damaged wheel, and we have been in a position to construct a cushion, and we positively used each single level out of that cushion.”
Curiously, the fast tire fall-off that exerted a profound affect over this yr’s spring race at Thunder Valley was a non-factor on Saturday. Earlier than the race, after session with the drivers, NASCAR opted to spray PJ1 traction compound on the underside two ft of the monitor.
