Kyle Larson aces the Bristol Motor Speedway challenge

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Bristol Motor Speedway is one of the toughest tests in motorsports.

Kyle Larson just aced that high-speed exam.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver led a total of 462 laps Saturday night en route to winning the famed Night Race.

That was Larson’s career-high for laps led in a Cup event. The last driver to lead at least 400 laps at BMS was Kyle Busch 16 years ago.

“It was just great execution by the team,” Larson said. “We practiced good, qualified good and had a great car in the race.

“Bristol is my favorite track and it’s so much fun to run under the lights here. I hope the fans enjoyed that methodical run.”

The crowd was estimated at 120,000 for Saturday’s Playoff cutoff event, the largest gathering at BMS in the last 15 years.

Has Larson ever had a better car?

“That’s hard to say,” Larson said. “I’ve had a lot of good cars since I came to Hendrick Motorsports.”

With flawless work from his pit crew, Larson was basically never challenged once he grabbed the lead on lap 33.

“We’ve dominated a lot of races, but we haven’t closed them all out,” Larson said. “It feels really good to close one out like this.

To the delight of his many admirers, Larson dominated with textbook laps while carving through traffic and passing cars on the high and low sides of the track.

Larson was in front at the end of the first 72 lap stage. That was the 11th stage win of the season for the multi-talented driver from Elk Grove, California, who also won the second stage.

“I kind of managed my stuff and passed cars at the end. The car was phenomenal,” Larson said.

Chase Elliott finished second, with Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell rounding out the top five.

Hamlin entered the night outside the Playoff line and facing heavy pressure to advance into the Round of 12.

With a consistent pace, Hamlin climbed to second on lap 238 and was steady from that point en route to clinching his ticket.

“I wanted to win the race, but Larson was really strong,” Hamlin said. “Our car was solid and we were really good toward the middle stage.

“The car was loose toward the end and it was hard to hang on. We weren’t as good as we’ve been here the past couple races, but it was a good day overall. It’s all offense for us from this point forward.”

As expected, Hamlin was greeted by a thunderous round of boos and jeers during the pre-race introductions.

In stoic fashion, Hamlin responded with a simple “Thank you.”

Saturday’s technical drama offered a big contrast from the chaotic tire-degradation marathon in the spring BMS race.

Goodyear officials actually brought back the same tire used in the spring. The biggest difference from the two races was the cold weather in the spring compared to the warm conditions Saturday night.

Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski and Harrison Burton failed to advance into the next round of the Playoffs.

Truex was forced to the rear of the field on lap 335 for speeding on pit road. Truex had been running in the top five most of the night, but never covered from his penalty.

“We had a good car and we got a lot of points in the first two stages,” Truex said. “I guess we needed to run second and third to make it to the next round, but we didn’t get a chance to see if we could have done it.

“I’m just gutted for my team. We all put in a lot of work the last three weeks and all season long. I guess we’re just snakebit.”

Gibbs was also doomed by a speeding penalty late in the race.

“We were really good in practice and qualifying but were just a little too loose in the race,” Gibbs said. “That speeding penalty was on me. It’s unfortunate, but I’m proud of my guys.”

Wallace was also greeted with a chorus of boos during introductions. He reacted by smiling, blowing kisses and wishing the University of Tennessee football team good luck in Saturday’s game against Oklahoma.

“We have to go to work to figure out how we can be two spots better,” Wallace said. “But all-in-all – we were best in class in multiple categories.

‘I just appreciate the effort. It stings, running this well when you are not in the Playoffs, but it just makes you hungrier for next year.”

Alex Bowman, who had led of total three laps in BMS career before Saturday, started from the pole and controlled the first 32 laps before Larson stormed to the front. Bowman finished in the No. 9 spot.

There were only 23 cars remaining lap the lead lap after 115 circuits.

The first caution came on lap four when the car driven by John Hunter Nemechek smacked the outside wall following a spin.

Except for the Stage 1 break, there was not another caution period until lap 243 when Joey Logano was forced into the pits after his car slammed into the inside wall.

Fans rose to their feet on lap 329 when the Corey LaJoie car hit the outside wall following contact from Josh Berry.

The were a total of five cautions on the night for 36 laps.

Bristol Night Race Results

At Bristol Motor Speedway

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (2) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 500 laps, 60 points.

2. (10) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 500, 38.

3. (11) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 500, 40.

4. (8) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 500, 46.

5. (6) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 500, 46.

6. (22) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 500, 33.

7. (14) Ryan Preece, Ford, 500, 30.

8. (5) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 500, 36.

9. (1) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 500, 41.

10. (12) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 500, 27.

11. (18) Michael McDowell, Ford, 499, 26.

12. (16) Noah Gragson, Ford, 499, 25.

13. (27) Austin Cindric, Ford, 499, 24.

14. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 499, 23.

15. (13) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 499, 25.

16. (33) Zane Smith, Chevrolet, 499, 21.

17. (3) William Byron, Chevrolet, 499, 26.

18. (7) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 499, 19.

13. (27) Austin Cindric, Ford, 499, 24.

14. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 499, 23.

15. (13) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 499, 25.

16. (33) Zane Smith, Chevrolet, 499, 21.

17. (3) William Byron, Chevrolet, 499, 26.

18. (7) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 499, 19.

19. (21) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 499, 18.

20. (15) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 499, 24.

21. (30) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 499, 16.

22. (26) Justin Haley, Ford, 499, 15.

23. (19) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 499, 0.

24. (4) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 499, 29.

25. (29) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 498, 12.

26. (23) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 497, 11.

27. (31) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 497, 10.

28. (20) Joey Logano, Ford, 496, 9.

29. (25) Josh Berry, Ford, 496, 8.

30. (32) Erik Jones, Toyota, 496, 7.

31. (35) Daniel Suárez, Chevrolet, 496, 6.

32. (24) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 496, 5.

33. (28) John H. Nemechek, Toyota, 491, 4.

34. (37) Josh Bilicki, Ford, 467, 0.

35. (34) Harrison Burton, Ford, 422, 2.

36. (9) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, accident, 330, 1.

37. (36) Kaz Grala, Ford, garage, 296, 1.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 101.277 mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 37 minutes, 53 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 7.088 seconds.

Caution Flags: 5 for 36 laps.

Lead Changes: 8 among 4 drivers.

Lap Leaders: A.Bowman 0-32; K.Larson 33-129; A.Bowman 130; K.Larson 131-244; A.Bowman 245; T.Reddick 246-248; K.Larson 249-332; B.Wallace 333; K.Larson 334-500

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): K.Larson, 4 times for 462 laps; A.Bowman, 3 times for 34 laps; T.Reddick, 1 time for 3 laps; B.Wallace, 1 time for 1 lap.

Wins: K.Larson, 4; C.Bell, 3; W.Byron, 3; D.Hamlin, 3; J.Logano, 2; T.Reddick, 2; R.Blaney, 2; A.Cindric, 1; A.Bowman, 1; D.Suárez, 1; C.Elliott, 1; C.Briscoe, 1; B.Keselowski, 1; H.Burton, 1; C.Buescher, 1; A.Dillon, 1.

Top 16 in Points: 1. C.Bell, 2089; 2. A.Cindric, 2086; 3. J.Logano, 2084; 4. A.Bowman, 2084; 5. D.Suárez, 2079; 6. T.Reddick, 2073; 7. C.Elliott, 2073; 8. R.Blaney, 2072; 9. K.Larson, 2069; 10. W.Byron, 2068; 11. C.Briscoe, 2049; 12. T.Gibbs, 2049; 13. D.Hamlin, 2043; 14. B.Keselowski, 2037; 15. M.Truex, 2035; 16. H.Burton, 2029.