What was expected to be a tire-wear race ended up disappointing fans. Drivers started the race by saving their tires but soon realized the tire wear was almost non-existent. After 125 laps, Kyle Larson was told, “Your tires are good” while in practice, tires were cording after 30 laps. The race was completely dominated by Kyle Larson, who led 411 of the 500 laps. It was Larson’s 31st career win, his third at Bristol.
Pole Sitter: Alex Bowman #48 [14.912]
Outside Pole: Ricky Stenhouse Jr #47 [14.925]
Drivers to the Rear: Logano, Nemechek
DNQ: None
Laps: 500 Laps | 266.5 Miles
Stage 1: 125 Laps
Stage 2: 125 Laps
Final Stage: 250 Laps
Fuel Window: 190 Laps
Pit Road Speed: 30 MPH
Broadcast: FS1 – Mike Joy, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer
Green Flag was at 3:14 pm EST
Drivers started off saving their tires, believing the track would not take down the rubber. After a few laps, however, they realized tire wear was not nearly as excessive as in practice, which means everyone went full throttle. Kyle Larson dominated and won the first stage without difficulties, lapping up to 24th place.
1st. Kyle Larson #5
2nd. Denny Hamlin #11
3rd. Justin Haley #7
4th. Alex Bowman #48
5th. Carson Hocevar #77
6th. Christopher Bell #20
7th. Ryan Blaney #12
8th. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #47
9th. Ty Gibbs #54
10th. AJ Allmendinger #16
The second segment started much as the first one ended; Larson dominated and led every lap without a challenger until a Shane van Gisbergen spin brought out the first caution of the day. There were a few takers on pit road, but even on 50-lap fresher tires, they were not able to move forward. Kyle Larson dominated again and won the stage by 2 seconds over teammate Alex Bowman.
1st. Kyle Larson #5
2nd. Alex Bowman #48
3rd. Christopher Bell #20
4th. Carson Hocevar #77
5th. Denny Hamlin #11
6th. Justin Haley #7
7th. Ty Gibbs #54
8th. Ryan Blaney #12
9th. Chase Briscoe #19
10th. Tyler Reddick #45
Again, Kyle Larson was dominant. On the racetrack, his lead was never contested, and it wasn’t until green flag pit stops began that Larson lost the race lead, which he had for 350 consecutive laps. Until pit stops, the race had 1 lead change, the fewest ever at Bristol, tied with the 1976 August race, won by Cale Yarborough. It ended up having 4.
Ryan Blaney tried to stretch his fuel, banking on a caution for a great finishing position. Despite being on 100+ laps older tires, his lap times were on par with Kyle Larson, but he eventually had to pit for fuel, giving the race lead back to Larson. Blaney led 48 laps in the process.
It looked like Denny Hamlin had something for Kyle Larson in the closing laps, but Larson was able to hold on and win his second straight Bristol race after leading 411 laps. It was the 7th ever 1-2 finish for Larson-Hamlin, and it was Larson on top for the first time.
1st. Kyle Larson #5
2nd. Denny Hamlin #11
3rd. Ty Gibbs #54
4th. Chase Briscoe #19
5th. Ryan Blaney #12
6th. William Byron #24
7th. Ross Chastain #1
8th. Christopher Bell #20
9th. A.J. Allmendinger #16
10th. Austin Dillon #3
11th. Carson Hocevar #77
12th. Josh Berry #21
13th. Justin Haley #7
14th. Kyle Busch #8
15th. Chase Elliott #9
16th. Brad Keselowski #6
17th. Austin Cindric #2
18th. Tyler Reddick #45
19th. Bubba Wallace #23
20th. Ryan Preece #60
21st. John Hunter Nemechek #42
22nd. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #47
23rd. Noah Gragson #4
24th. Joey Logano #22
25th. Chris Buescher #17
26th. Erik Jones #43
27th. Zane Smith #38
28th. Riley Herbst #35
29th. Cole Custer #41
30th. Michael McDowell #71
31st. Jesse Love #33
32nd. Ty Dillon #10
33rd. Daniel Suarez #99
34th. Corey Lajoie #01
35th. Todd Gilliland #34
36th. Cody Ware #51
37th. Alex Bowman #48
38th. Shane van Gisbergen #88
39th. Josh Bilicki #66
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