Kyle Larson Atop NASCAR Playoffs After Dominant Performance at Bristol

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, celebrates with his son, Owen Larson in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, on September 21, 2024. James Gilbert/Getty Images

The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race is heating up as drivers head to the Round of 12.

Kyle Larson dominated Saturday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway, leading a career-high 462 of the 500 laps to coast into the second round of the playoffs. Larson set the record for the most laps led in a single race by a Hendrick Motorsports driver.

“Man, that was just great execution all weekend by the team,” Larson said after the race. “Practiced good. You’ve got to qualify good; we did that. Yeah, just had a great car. Thanks to the whole 5 team. They’re the best in the business. We dominate a lot of races, but we might not close them all out, so it feels really good to close one out here in this HendrickCars.com Chevy.”

Chase Elliott finished second at Bristol, followed by Bubba Wallace, who did not qualify for the playoffs, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Ryan Blaney, the defending series champion.

Larson now leads the playoff field with 3,047 points. He is the favorite to win the title.

The other 11 drivers advancing to the next round are Bell (3,032), Tyler Reddick (3,028), William Byron (3,022) Blaney (3,019), Hamlin (3,015), Elliott (3,014), Joey Logano (3,012), Austin Cindric (3,008), Daniel Suárez (3,006), Alex Bowman, (3,005), and Chase Briscoe (3,005).

Four drivers were eliminated from the competition—Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, and Harrison Burton. It was an especially painful end of the season for Keselowski and  Truex, who are both former NASCAR champions.

“Just really frustrated, upset,” Truex said after the Bristol race. “Hate it for my guys. You know, they worked so hard and we had a shot at it tonight. It wasn’t going to be easy. I know there was no guarantee. I think they said we had to run second or third to make it through, so it was going to be tough. I don’t know if we were quite good enough, but it would have been nice to find out at least, and just hate it that I screwed it up for everybody.”

The Round of 12 begins at the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sunday at Kansas Speedway, followed by races at Talladega and Charlotte.

Larson has five top fives in the last six races at the Kansas track. Another driver to watch is Reddick, who won the Kansas playoff race last year and is the third favorite for the season’s title behind Larson and Bell.

Alex Bowman has been one of the best drivers with top-10 finishes in all three first-round playoff races at Atlanta, Watkins Glen, and Bristol. He has also been solid in Kansas with four straight top-10 finishes at the track.

Cindric, Suárez, Bowman, and Briscoe are on the playoff bubble heading into the Kansas race.

However, the entire field will be chasing Larson.

“I look forward to the rest of the playoffs,” Larson said. “Next week at Kansas, I would love to have a great day there. You have a little bit of comfort going to Talladega.”

The playoff semifinal rounds are set for Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami Speedway, and Martinsville from Oct. 20 through Nov. 3. The NASCAR Championship will take place at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 10.