Kyle Larson dominates and claims an emotional Cup victory at Bristol Motor Speedway

With added motivation to honor a late friend, Kyle Larson seemed to have an extra gear Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The Hendrick Motorsports star led 411 of 500 laps in a victory that was dominant as it was emotional.

Larson, racing just days after the death of Jon Edwards, his former public relations representative, picked up his second Cup win of the season. It was his 31st Cup victory and third at Bristol.

''This one is definitely for Jon,'' Larson said. ''He is just a great guy, so we're going to miss him. Wish he was going to be here with us to celebrate, but I know he's celebrating with us in spirit. Just a flawless race at Bristol for the team. Really, really good car. That was a lot of fun.''

Denny Hamlin finished second in his 400th consecutive Cup start, falling one spot short in his bid for a third consecutive win. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was gracious in defeat, noting Larson's victory came after a somber week that also included the deaths of longtime motorsports journalist Al Pearce and championship truck owner Shigeaki Hattori.

''You've got to give that team their due and Kyle his due,'' Hamlin said. ''Just a dominant performance. Looked like a pretty flawless day for him. It was all I had to try to keep up. Glad we were able to give him a little bit of a run, but this weekend we're all thinking about Jon Edwards and his family, Al Pearce, Shigeaki Hattori. We've lost a lot of great people in our sport over this past week. So our thoughts are with them.''

Ty Gibbs was third, followed by Chase Briscoe and Ryan Blaney, who led 48 laps but faded to fifth after pitting late and betting on catching a caution. The final 235 laps were run under the green flag in a race with only three yellow flags, the fewest at Bristol since August 1982.

The 53-year-old Edwards was a PR specialist during Jeff Gordon's four Cup championships. After becoming Gordon's right-hand man, Edwards also worked closely with Larson since the star joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2021 and won his first championship.

On Saturday at Bristol, Larson dedicated an Xfinity Series victory to Edwards, who took vacations with the driver and became his closest friend on the No. 5 team.

Gordon, who retired from driving in 2015 and since has become the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, was emotional when talking about Edwards before and after the race.

''It's been a rough week,'' Gordon said. ''I lost somebody who was like a brother to me and so many other people that he impacted. I just want to say thank you to everybody that has been sending messages, making phone calls. Kyle was obviously very close to him, and Jon did a lot for him. You could tell he was driving with a passion out there.''

Larson also finished second in Friday's truck series race, nearly completing a tripleheader sweep to honor Edwards, whom he said was always a happy person.

Helping others

Defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano was named a National Motorsports Press Association Pocono Spirit Award winner for his efforts in helping Hurricane Helene victims with rebuilding after the storm last fall. Logano was presented the award at Bristol because of the track's proximity to the devastation in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.

''One of my quotes that I like to think about a lot is, ‘Don't let a crisis go to waste,''' said Logano, whose foundation committed $250,000 to Helene relief after he toured the storm's path last October. ''A crisis like that presented a huge opportunity for all of us to band together and impact some people that just got their lives wiped out. It's some pretty heavy stuff up there. The great news is there's a lot of comeback.''

The Bristol weekend continued a busy week for Logano, who recovered from a bout with norovirus in time for a Wednesday visit to the White House. After scraping the wall in qualifying Saturday, he started Sunday's race from the rear because of unapproved adjustments to his No. 22 Ford.

Up next

Talladega will follow the final off week of the season for NASCAR's premier series, which will race on 28 consecutive weekends through the Nov. 2 season finale at Phoenix Raceway.

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