The gladiators of the NASCAR Cup Series took on the high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway for 500 laps on Sunday Afternoon, and we have a winner at The Last Great Colosseum.
Kyle Larson soared to his second win of the season, beating last week’s winner Denny Hamlin. The race was dominated by Larson, who led 411 out of the 500 laps ran on Sunday. That makes it back to back weeks where a Hendrick car has led the majority of the race, however this time, that specific Hendrick car was able to pull into Victory Lane.
Sunday’s race was the second fastest race in Bristol Motor Speedway’s history. The race lasted 2 hours, 38 minutes, and 43 seconds, with an average speed of 117 miles per hour.
Last year’s tire dilemma did not happen this year. In the 2024 Food City 500, the track temperature was colder than usual, and as a result, the concrete track surface wasn’t taking rubber as much as expected. This resulted in abnormal levels of tire wear, making NASCAR and Goodyear have to give every team an extra set of tires.
Kyle Larson was yet again denied a weekend “sweep”, as he didn’t win the Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday, but won the Xfinity and Cup Series races on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Kyle Busch remains the only driver to “sweep”, as he’s done it twice, with one coincidentally coming at Bristol!
Next week, the Cup Series has a week off, but the Truck and Xfinity Series will be making a return to a track that was revived from the dead, Rockingham Speedway. “The Rock” held its last NASCAR event in 2013, and had mostly sat dormant after that. New ownership brought the track alive, with one goal. Host NASCAR racing again. It will host the Truck Series on Friday, 4/18 at 5:00 PM EST on FS1. The Xfinity Series takes on The Rock on Saturday, 4/19 at 4:00 PM EST on The CW.
As for the Cup Series, NASCAR’s cathedral of speed in Southern Alabama will host its first of two races in the 2025 season. The Jack Links 500 at Talladega Superspeedway will be run on Sunday, 4/27 at 3:00 PM EST on FOX. This will be a wild-card race, and anyone has a chance to win.
William Byron’s points lead was shortened, however he still has a 30 point gap on Denny Hamlin in second place. Byron has 346 points, in comparison to Hamlin’s 316.
It’s never too early to start keeping track of the NASCAR Playoffs! The standings are as follows.
The Playoff Standings:
Indicates clinched playoffs via win(s)
- Christopher Bell [3 Wins]
- Kyle Larson [2 Wins]
- Denny Hamlin [2 Wins]
- William Byron [1 Win]
- Josh Berry [1 Win]
- Chase Elliott +80
- Ryan Blaney +77
- Tyler Reddick +76
- Bubba Wallace +53
- Joey Logano +47
- Alex Bowman +46
- Ross Chastain +31
- Chris Buescher +29
- Chase Briscoe +15
- Ryan Preece +3
- Kyle Busch +2
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Below the Cut
- A.J. Allmendinger -2
- Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. -24
- Michael McDowell -26
- Ty Gibbs -29
