Beyond Larson & Truex, 3 drivers who have dominated NASCAR races with top-lap performances

Following the night race at Bristol Speedway, Trey Ryan posted a stat on X (formerly Twitter) that shows the last ten instances NASCAR Cup Series drivers have led 75% or more of a race's laps (excluding Bristol). While Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. are the top performers, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, and Brad Keselowski also managed to sneak an entry each onto the list.

The Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol witnessed Kyle Larson leading the race for 462 out of 500 laps (92.4%). The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro driver won after starting from second and walked out of the race weekend with 60 points.

Larsen featured four times on the list. He led 76.6% of the laps in Texas, 88.0% of the laps in Nashville, 81.8% in Charlotte, and 82.8% in Atlanta. These were recorded in his championship-winning NASCAR Cup Series season in 2021.

Of note, the said stop at Atlanta Motor Speedway is the only race on this list where a driver didn’t finish P1.

Martin Truex Jr. is the next driver to dominate this list with three races under his name. The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver led 84.4% of the laps in Loudon (New Hampshire) in 2023, 84.6% of the laps in Darlington in 2021, and 92.8% of the laps in Martinsville in 2019.

Chase Elliott bagged his top-lap performance at Watkins Glen in 2019 by leading 88.9% of the laps. Joey Logano earned his spot by leading 80.3% of the laps at Michigan. Brad Keselowski rounds up the list by leading 89.2% of the laps at Martinsville.

The last three NASCAR races were all recorded in 2019.

“It has been nearly five years since someone other than Martin Truex Jr. or Kyle Larson has led 75% of a Cup race,” Trey Ryan captioned on X.

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Denny Hamlin’s crew chief criticizes NASCAR’s next-gen cars for being “too easy to drive”

Denny Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabehart criticized NASCAR’s next-gen cars after Kyle Larson dominated the field at Bristol Motor Speedway. Gabehart said the Gen-7 cars are too easy to drive, which affects the excitement during race weekends.

“It’s too easy to drive, they [the cars] are too close, and you’re not gonna ask for much better racing. I’m sorry, you’re not,” Gabehart said during a post-race interview with Matt Weaver.

He added:

“The bottom was good, the middle was good, the top was good, but they’re all separated by .0-nothing. And physics is a buffer...and, you know, these are the world’s best stock teams and drivers. If you don’t give them enough ways to separate themselves, that’s what you're gonna see.”

His driver finished in P4 behind Chase Elliot in P2 and Bubba Wallace in P3. Hamlin didn’t lead a single lap at the Saturday night race as Hendrick Motorsports drivers Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman managed to stay at the front of the pack for 462 and 34 laps respectively.

The next NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race will be held at Kansas Motor Speedway on September 29. It will mark the first race of the Round of 12.