It’s hard to believe, given Bristol Motor Speedway’s legendary status two decades ago, but NASCAR is likely relieved to have its premier series shift focus away from the short track as the spotlight shines brighter in 2024.
There was a time when the words “Bristol” and “thrilled” were inseparable. Unfortunately, that time seems to have passed.
As Cup Series drivers gear up for Sunday’s Round of 12 opener at Kansas Speedway, the reality of last weekend’s race at Bristol is tough to ignore. The once iconic Bristol Night Race — which boasted a waiting list for tickets in the 1990s — fell flat last Saturday.
In fact, had it not been for the dramatic battles between playoff contenders fighting to make it to the next round, the race would have been memorable only for Kyle Larson and Hendrick Motorsports fans.
Larson was that dominant — no, he was exceptional — winning by a remarkable 7.088 seconds over runner-up Chase Elliott.
In 1973, the late Cale Yarborough led every lap to win the Southeastern 500 at Bristol, but Larson leading 92.4 percent of the race (462 out of 500 laps) in the Cup Series is nothing short of a crushing domination.
If last Saturday’s 500-lap race in the Tennessee Appalachian Mountains were a Hollywood movie, it would have been a sequel that paled in comparison to the original. The spring race in March was a hit, but “Bristol 2, The Sequel” fell flat.
Fourth-place finisher Denny Hamlin, who clawed his way out of the playoff basement to advance to the Round of 12 at the expense of his teammate Ty Gibbs, had a theory on the tire issues.
“You’ve got to wear out the left-side tires,” Hamlin explained on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast Monday. “They are key to lap-time fall-offs. Once you wear out the lefts, the pressure shifts to the rights, and you’re going to wear out all four tires.”
Calling the tire setup a “swing and a miss” on Saturday, Hamlin added: “You saw a great movie in the spring, and now here’s the sequel. And it bombed.”
It’s unfortunate because it was likely Bristol’s largest crowd in a decade.
Looking ahead to Kansas, it will be difficult for the race to match the excitement of its May 5 event, which featured one of the most thrilling finishes in NASCAR history. Larson edged Chris Buescher in a two-lap shootout, winning by an astonishing 0.001 seconds in a photo finish.
Unlike Bristol, Larson didn’t steamroll the competition at Kansas, leading 64 laps while Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota led a race-high 71 laps. Runner-up Buescher led 53 laps as the trio dominated 188 of the 268 laps.
Defending Kansas playoff race champion Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing edged his team’s co-owner Hamlin by 0.327 seconds in last September’s race.
Hamlin and Joey Logano, with four and three Kansas wins respectively, join Larson, Reddick, and Chase Elliott as former Kansas champions and title contenders heading into Sunday’s race at the 1.5-mile oval.
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