Whenever NASCAR hits the high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Larson’s eyes light up. It’s among his favorite and most successful race tracks on the calendar.
Par for the course, Larson was a force to be reckoned with during Sunday’s Food City 500 yet again.
In a race that saw the track go through multiple transitions, it took Larson only 44 laps to reach the lead from an eighth-place starting position. The car he passed was pole sitter Ryan Blaney, who had the fastest car in practice on 15-, 20-, 25- and 30-lap averages. It looked to be another Bristol race where the No. 5 team stunk up the show.
Larson won the opening stage easily, holding off a late rally from Christopher Bell. During the second stage, it was Blaney that put up the toughest contest, though the No. 5 Chevrolet led all but one lap in the 125-lap middle stage. These were the first stage wins for Larson since the fall race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last October.
The stumbling block for Blaney, however, was the No. 12 pit crew, which ranked 32nd for the afternoon. It’s been a weak spot of the Jonathan Hassler-led team thus far in 2026, as the squad entered Bristol having lost 85 positions on pit road through the first seven races, 30 spots worse than the next closest competitor.
“Thankfully, [Blaney’s] pit crew – I don’t know what was happening to their day on pit road, but it was putting him behind and having to work and allowed me to settle in, lead laps and barely hang on to some stages,” Larson told reporters after the race. “I knew if the 12 ever had a good pit stop or even a better restart, which both of those started happening, he would be tough to hold off. That was the case.”
Rebounding from seventh position, Blaney nudged Larson out of the groove to take the lead on Lap 338. The No. 5 car faded to third, with Ty Gibbs sneaking by for the runner-up position.
When Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott spun with 22 laps remaining, Larson was the first car off pit road with two fresh tires. Five cars opted not to pit – led by Gibbs – lining Larson up on the outside of the fourth row for the ensuing restart.
The No. 5 car raced to third position quickly before getting passed by Blaney on four fresh tires. But another late caution sent the race to overtime where Gibbs hung on to snag his first Cup victory in his 131st start.
“Got crazy at the end with the strategy and still finished third – I’ll take it,” Larson added. “It was a good day. It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten good stage points.
“I felt like we had moments where I thought we were a definite contender. [Blaney], as the race progressed, got much better. We executed great today.”
Larson ended the race with 284 laps led, tied for his fourth-most laps led in a single race. Three of those five races have come in the last four trips to Bristol, as he became the ninth driver in history to surpass the 2,000 laps led barrier at the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile.”
Up next is Kansas Speedway, the site of Larson’s last Cup victory, some 32 races ago. It remains his longest winless drought since joining HMS in 2021.