Kyle Larson gets 100% honest about his Bristol weakness

Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson opened up on the upcoming Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, a track he's thrived on in the past. Comparing the track to his dirt racing roots, the driver admitted to his shortcomings at the "world's fastest half mile" but remained optimistic based on recent strides with HMS.

In his last outing at the 2024 Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Larson led a dominant 462 of 500 laps. Capturing both stages, he won the race by 7.088 seconds over his teammate Chase Elliot, marking his second victory at the track.

In an HMS media day ahead of the weekend, the 32-year-old spoke about his history at Bristol, stating,

"To me, it’s the closest style to a dirt sprint car race, although it’s a lot longer. Just the intensity, the aggression, the fast-paced style of that race I’m comfortable with. I just love that track. I look forward to going there."(via Speedwaydigest.com)

He continued,

So yeah, Bristol has been a place where I’ve led tons of laps at before and won a lot of stages but have kind of fallen off at the ends of the races. But since joining Hendrick (Motorsports), we’ve been good all race long and that was fun to dominate that race this last year.”

Kyle Larson has finished in the top-10 in ten of his eleven starts at Bristol, making it one of his most consistent tracks. Additionally, he's led 1,351 laps there, the most in his career at any track.

The HMS star has had an encouraging start to the 2025 NASCAR Cup season with a Homestead-Miami win under his belt. The California native looks to continue his win streak at Bristol, as he currently sits sixth in the driver's standings with 244 points.

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Kyle Larson reveals the secret about his winning formula

Kyle Larson recently joined Dale Earnhardt Jr. on his podcast "Dale Jr. Download" and discussed what sets him apart when it comes to his driving style. The 2021 NASCAR Cup champion talked in depth about a technique that lets him carry more speed through the corners while running the high line near the wall. He said,

"I just have a good rhythm and cadence when entering against the wall with the right amount of speed, where I don't have to like, decelerating, obviously. I'm decelerating in a nice way and reaching my minimum corner speed...earlier than most; you have to drive into the corner a long way." (0: 20 onwards)

Kyle Larson's ability to run close to the wall stems from his roots in Dirt Racing, where such a practice is more common. The high line allows for a wider arc that reduces sharp steering inputs and heavy braking, resulting in more momentum through the corner.