“That’s awesome”: Kyle Larson achieves what even Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson couldn’t in NASCAR

Kyle Larson topped Hall of Famers and former Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson in a unique NASCAR stat. Larson won Sunday's Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway and punched his ticket to the Round of 12 along with his teammates Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, and William Byron.

Larson swept all three stages and led a race-high 462 laps of the 500-lap night race, en route to his 28th career victory. Nobody in the NextGen era has ever led that many laps in one race. Larson set a new Hendrick Motorsports record by leading the most laps in a single race since Jeff Gordon at Martinsville in 1997, where Gordon led 431 laps.

Speaking of the same during a post-race interview, the 2021 Cup Series champion said,

"That's pretty awesome. That's really cool because as you mentioned, there has been some legendary Hall of Famers race for Hendrick Motorsports. We've all grown up watching Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson dominate."

"So, pretty cool to add my name to another record at Hendrick Motorsports. Very fortunate to be with that group," he added.

Larson's performance at Bristol was also the most dominant performance in the history of the "Last Great Colosseum" since 1977. Larson will compete against 11 other playoff drivers in next week's race at Kansas Speedway. With a 39-point cushion on the cutline, all he needs is to win another race to advance to the Round of 8.

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NASCAR drivers praise Kyle Larson's dominant run at Bristol Motor Speedway

Kyle Larson celebrates with his son Owen after winning the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway (Source: Imagn)

Chase Elliott finished over seven seconds behind Larson, thus bagging his seventh top-5 of the season. He was the only other HMS driver to finish inside the top-5. According to the Dawsonville native, what set Larson apart from the rest of the field was his ability to maneuver his way through the traffic.

"I think Kyle did a really good job getting through traffic, and that was the difference," Elliott explained (via NBC). "I kind of got hung up and he was able to slice through there, so credit to him and his team. They did a great job. Nice to get a Hendrick one-two and nice to be moving on."

Denny Hamlin, a four-time winner at Bristol who has also led 1,199 laps in his previous 34 starts at the 0.533-mile short track, said,

"My aspirations were to win it...but it looked like (Kyle Larson) was better than all of us."

Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell, finished 5th. Lauding Larson on his victory, the Toyota driver said,

"The 5 was the class of the field and everyone else was kind of racing to be best of the rest."

Although Hamlin and Bell qualified for the next round, fellow JGR driver Martin Truex Jr. fell out of the playoff picture. Truex Jr. will retire from his full-time job in the Cup Series at the end of this season. Chase Briscoe will replace the 2017 Cup Series champion behind the wheel of the No. 19 machine in 2025.