Kyle Larson dominates in Bristol; Elliott, Byron and Bowman also reach the round of 12 of the NASCAR playoffs
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Kyle Larson secured his ticket for the round of 12 with one blow against the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series field.
It was a brilliant performance for the 32-year-old from Elk Grove, California, who led 462 of 500 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night and won all three stages to claim his fifth win of the season.
To put Saturday’s performance in perspective, Larson set a new Hendrick Motorsports record for most laps led in a single race and became the first driver to lead 400 laps at the Bristol since Kyle Busch in 2008.
The race rounded out the Round of 16, with all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers – Larson, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and William Byron – advancing to the next round.
And while Larson was exceptional on Saturday, the rest of the stable was solid, to say the least.
Elliott used a good pit stop and aggressive restart midway through the final stage to move into second place and finish the race from there, finishing second and securing three stage points. Bowman finished ninth, adding 13 stage points and leading 34 laps. Finally, Byron took six stage points before settling for 17th place and moving comfortably ahead.
The speed backed up a solid qualifying performance that saw all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers earn top-10 starting positions on Friday. Bowman secured the pole for Saturday night’s race, Larson finished second, Byron third and Elliott 10th.
In addition to the win and advancement, Larson extended his lead by another seven valuable playoff points and goes into the round of 12 as the leader with a 39-point lead. Byron enters the race in fourth place with a 14-point lead, Elliott is currently seventh with a six-point lead and Bowman begins the next round tied for 11th, seven points below the elimination line.
The Round of 12 begins next Sunday with a race at Kansas Speedway. Coverage of the race begins at 3 p.m. and will air on the USA Network.
NASCAR Round of 12 Playoff Standings
(Round of 16)
- Kyle Larson (+39 to caption)
- Christopher Bell (+24)
- Tyler Reddick (+20)
- William Byron (+14)
- Ryan Blaney (+11)
- Dennis Hamlin (+7)
- Chase Elliott (+6)
- Joey Logano (+4)
- Austin Cindric (-4)
- Daniel Suárez (-6)
- Alex Bowman (-7); Chase Briscoe (-7)
