Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, and William Byron break down their race thoughts after Kyle Larson's Bristol victory
Kyle Larson had a dominant show of speed at the Bristol Motor Speedway as he took the victory in the Food City 500 after leading most laps. Starting the race in third place, he was able to mount his campaign and take the lead, lapping cars throughout the race.
Denny Hamlin was in constant competition with him, and so was pole sitter Alex Bowman. However, the latter suffered issues with his engine mid-race that hampered his shot at a victory. The #5 Hendrick Motorsports driver, meanwhile, was able to run an exceptionally clean race (which is quite rare to notice at Bristol) and get himself into the victory lane.
This was the second win this season for the Chevy driver, who has been rather consistent. Such has not been the fate for Kyle Busch, however, who is still aiming for his first victory since 2023. But he remains confident about achieving it, as he claimed RCR's performance was better on the track this year compared to the 2024 season.
"Our Chevrolet was definitely better today than when we raced here last fall. We’ve still got work to do but we are making steps in the right direction," Busch said via NBC. "I’m bummed we couldn’t win a free No. 8 special for all the fans. Everyone at RCR continues to work on things and I’m confident that our time will come."
He has been having a hard time finding a victory in the Cup Series since the start of his second year with Richard Childress Racing.
At the same time, Ryan Blaney put his Penske #12 Ford in P5 for the second time in a row. While he still hasn't won a race this season, he did not expect it to come at Bristol. He mentioned that he was okay finishing P5.
"We weren’t going to win. I was already running fifth. At the end of the day, we got back to where we were running, which was good. Took a chance trying to get a yellow and trapping a bunch of guys a lap down. Really good effort."
As for William Byron, he finished in sixth place as his teammate Kyle Larson clinched the victory. However, he feels that Bristol has been a tough place for his crew to accomplish a win at; moreover, starting down in 26th position, P6 was a competitive position to be in.
"Overall, it was just a long day having to come from the back. It didn’t seem like many people could pass, but I felt like we could slowly work our way forward. Bristol Motor Speedway has sort of been a tough place for us, so just trying to get our footing back and put some consistent runs back together."
Kyle Larson dedicates Bristol victory to late Jon Edwards
Earlier last week, Hendrick Motorsports lost a historical figure as Jon Edwards passed away quite unexpectedly on April 10 at the age of 52. Having dedicated his entire career to working at HMS, he had spent over three decades with iconic drivers, including the likes of Jeff Gordon and, more recently, Kyle Larson.
After the race, the #5 Chevy driver dedicated the win to Edwards:
"This one’s definitely for Jon. He’s just a great guy here," Kyle Larson said via NBC. "We’re going to miss him. Wish he was going to be here with us to celebrate, but I know he’s celebrating with us in spirit."
Jon Edwards was Kyle Larson's PR representative earlier, but the team had promoted him as the Director of Racing Communications.