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Parity has always been the goal with this generation of a car and as a result, dominant performances like the one we saw last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway have become a rarity. Kyle Larson moved ahead pole-sitter Alex Bowman just 33 laps into the race and never looked back.
He was not passed under green-flag conditions again and dominated the remainder of the race. Larson’s victory was unlike anything we’ve seen at Bristol since 1977 when Cale Yarborough led 495 of 500 laps, and the most laps ever led by a Hendrick driver in a single race. Did we mention that he swept both of the stages as well?
Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports, Ally Chevrolet Camaro and Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro
Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images
Larson crossed the line just over seven seconds ahead of teammate Chase Elliott, which was also the largest margin of victory at the half-mile short track in 30 years. NASCAR is nearing the end of its third year of competition with the Gen-7 car, so where exactly does this performance rank since the car’s 2022 debut? Looking primarily at laps led by race winners, here’s the most dominant wins of the Next Gen era…
5. 2024 Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
In Larson’s first victory of the 2024 season, the Hendrick driver also swept both stages on his way to leading 182 of 267 laps — 67.8%. What made it more impressive is that he didn’t run away with this victory. He battled door-to-door with Ross Chastain on the final restart and then held off a charging Tyler Reddick at the finish, winning by less than half-a-second.
Watch: Kyle Larson fends off Tyler Reddick in closing laps for Las Vegas victory
4. 2023 Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International
Yet another case of Hendrick domination, and not the last you will see on this list. William Byron came one point short of scoring maximum points at last year’s event at the New York road course. He took the lead on Lap 21 and led 66 of 90 laps, only briefly losing it again through the cycle of pit stops. He crossed the line 2.6 seconds clear of the nearest competition, leading 73.3% of laps that day.
Watch: William Byron secures first road-course win at Watkins Glen
3. 2022 Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway
Another appearance by Larson, who again swept both stages on his way to winning the 2022 Homestead race. He lead 74.5% of the race, controlling the event for 199 of its 267 circuits. The win was bittersweet, coming one week after he was eliminated from the playoffs. However, the win did put the No. 5 car into the Championship 4 on the owner’s side of things.
Watch: Larson on Homestead win: ‘Best run we’ve had all year long’
2. 2023 Crayon 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
The only non-Hendrick driver on this list. In the summer of 2023, Martin Truex Jr. lived up to his nickname as “Mr. Monday” when rain pushed the event to the following day. He dominated both stages and led 254 of 301 laps at “The Magic Mile” with Joe Gibbs Racing. With the No. 19 Toyota out front for 84.4% of the laps run, it became the most dominant showing of the Next Gen era … until a couple of days ago.
Watch: 2023’s ‘Mr. Monday’ seals it with a win at New Hampshire
1. 2024 Bass Pro Shops Night race at Bristol Motor Speedway
Yes, Larson’s victory last Saturday night at Bristol tops them all. With 462 of 500 laps led, Larson was out front for 92.4% of the race. Once he took the lead from Bowman, he essentially went unchallenged and was never passed under green-flag conditions again. It was the most dominant showing (by laps led) since October, 2019, when Truex lead 92.8% (464 of 500 laps) at Martinsville Speedway nearly five years ago.
Race winner Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro
Photo by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images
“I think whenever I’m done racing or done being a driver at Hendrick Motorsports and those records are still there, then yeah, it’ll mean a lot to me,” said Larson when asked about the records broken Saturday night. “But for right now it’s like you’re just trying to do a good job, and the records will take care of themselves, I guess. I’m sure I’ll be able to kind of think about it more when I’m down the road.”
It was also the most commanding performance of Larson’s Cup career. In 27 previous wins, the closest he ever came to this was when he led 264 of 300 — or 88% of the laps at Nashville in 2021. Larson was helped by the lack of yellow flags at the notoriously action-packed Bristol, as there were just three cautions for incidents. By the checkered flag, only those inside the top-ten remained on the lead lap.
