NASCAR at Bristol results: Kyle Larson dominates Food City 500, dedicates win to late PR representative

Larson led 411 of 500 laps on his way to an emotional win

By Steven Taranto

Apr 13, 2025 at 7:18 pm ET • 3 min read

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In yet another dominant performance in Thunder Valley, Kyle Larson dominated virtually the entire Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on his way to his second win of the 2025 season and second in the last four races. Larson led 411 of 500 laps, his second-straight Bristol beatdown after leading 462 of 500 laps in the track's annual Night Race last fall, and in the process became the first driver to lead over 400 laps in back-to-back races at Bristol since Bobby Allison did so in 1972.

The win served as a light in what has been a dark few days for Larson and his Hendrick Motorsports team. On Thursday, Jon Edwards -- Hendrick Motorsports' director of racing communications and the PR contact for Larson -- died unexpectedly at 53 years old, casting a pall over the race weekend and compounding the sense of commiseration felt throughout the NASCAR industry following the deaths of former driver and team owner Shigeaki Hattori and longtime NASCAR journalist Al Pearce.

With a decal honoring Edwards on board, Larson brought his grieving team a trophy in emphatic fashion, going virtually unchallenged at the front of the field after first taking the lead within the first 100 laps. It marked a moment of healing for not only Larson and his No. 5 team, but also for Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon -- as Edwards served as his PR rep for many years.

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Steven Taranto

"This one is definitely for Jon," Larson told Fox Sports. "He was just a great guy, so we're going to miss him, but successful weekend here. Wish he was going to be here with us to celebrate, but I know he's celebrating with us in spirit. Just a flawless race once again here at Bristol for the 5 team. Really, really good car. That was a lot of fun."

"It's been a rough week, I'll be honest. I lost somebody who's like a brother to me and so many other people that he impacted," Gordon told Fox Sports. "Kyle obviously was very close with Jon, and Jon did a lot for him. You could tell he was driving with a passion out there ... This one is for Jon. He would not want the limelight or any of this attention, but I know how proud he would be of this performance and this team."

Denny Hamlin finished second, coming up just short of three wins in a row, followed by Ty Gibbs, Chase Briscoe and Ryan Blaney rounding out the top five. William Byron, Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, A.J. Allmendinger and Austin Dillon made up the rest of the top 10.

What happened over the course of 500 laps Sunday was starkly different from what was expected. After tire chunking and chording was seen in practice Saturday, many expected Sunday's race to be marked by tire strategy and conservation similar to Bristol's spring race a year ago. But under sunny skies and warmer temperatures compared to an unseasonably cool day Saturday, tire management became a moot point -- making passing extremely difficult and creating little attrition, with Shane van Gisbergen and Cody Ware's tangle in Turn 2 marking the only on-track accident of the day.

The end result was just three cautions, the fewest in any Bristol race since 1982, four lead changes -- the fewest at Bristol since August 2008 -- and an average speed of 117.703 mph, which marks the fastest short track race in NASCAR Cup Series history.