Kyle Larson has taken responsibility for last Sunday’s (April 6) run-in with fellow racer Bubba Wallace. With only four laps remaining in the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, the wreck sidelined former Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney from bagging the win.
Some thought Wallace was trying to help his teammate, Tyler Reddick (driver of the No. 45), who was passed by Blaney’s No. 12 Mustang for the lead before caution flew. However, Larson’s perspective wasn’t the same.
On Saturday, April 12, Kyle Larson met with the reporters at Bristol; while addressing the incident, the Elk Grove native ultimately took responsibility for it.
“The 12 (Blaney) and 45 (Reddick) got racing in (Turn) 1,” explained Larson. “And the 45, I saw him get out of the groove and he was getting ready to hit the wall and I’m so many laps down.”
“I was hopeful that Bubba was still on my right side because I started checking up early. And yeah, the contact was there. Honestly, me just trying to be so out of the way there that I screwed up,” he added.
Larson finished the race 37th and was handed his first DNF of the 2025 season. Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin capitalized on that last restart and pulled away en route to his second win of the season. Reddick and Blaney finished inside the top five.
Kyle Larson wins the Xfinity race at Bristol in a dominating fashion
Chandler Smith’s victory in this week’s Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway shattered Kyle Larson’s hopes of delivering a weekend sweep. However, Larson led all but 24 laps in the Xfinity Series race, which was held at the half-mile oval just the following day.
The win marks Larson’s 15th career Xfinity Series win. As per Yardbarker, the 2021 Cup Series champion has won at least one Xfinity race in each of the last four seasons.
The victory weighed heavily for Hendrick Motorsports as the team lost their long-time employee and friend, Jon Edwards, on Thursday, April 10. When asked how the win felt, Larson replied (via Road and Track):
“Damn good, for sure. It’s awesome, I wish I couldn’t won last night, but just came up a little bit short. It’s cool to get a win this weekend for Jon and everybody who has been a part of his life.”
“We’ve got one more tomorrow, and there would be nothing better than to get a Cup win for Jon and all of Hendrick Motorsports,” he added.
Next up for Kyle Larson is the Food City 500 Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Scheduled for Sunday, April 13, the 500-lap feature will be televised on FS1 from 3 pm ET onwards. Live radio updates will be available exclusively on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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Edited by Samya Majumdar
