When “Yung Money” Kyle Larson steps down to compete in NASCAR’s lower divisions, history has shown it’s rarely a fair fight. Last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway provided the latest chapter in Larson’s growing legend, as the Hendrick Motorsports star put on a clinic that would make even the most seasoned NASCAR observers shake their heads in disbelief. The performance was so dominant—leading 276 of 300 laps in Saturday’s Xfinity race before capturing 411 of 500 laps in Sunday’s Cup race. Well, he had to settle the score from the race in Homstead Miami, where a late race caution foiled his chances for a win.

Larson’s performance in the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet was nothing short of extraordinary. By race’s end, he had lapped all competitors up to 12th position, establishing a gap that highlighted the immense talent disparity between himself and the field. Only recently, the NASCAR community was fuming over the drivers in the Xfinity Series after they turned the Martinsville race into a demolition derby. So, they needed schooling on how to compete on the short tracks. And Larson did just that.

This complete decimation of the competition caught Hamlin’s attention, who, despite finishing second to Larson in Sunday’s Cup race, couldn’t help but notice the stark difference in competitiveness between the two series.

Xfinity drivers aren’t Cup-ready just yet

“When I say it wasn’t close, you know, the Cup race wasn’t that close, but the field is more competitive,” Hamlin observed in his post-race comments. “We could stay within a second or so of them for the last half of the race, but there was no one within a couple tenths of him every single lap in the Xfinity race.” What made Hamlin’s comments particularly pointed was his observation that fellow competitors in identical equipment couldn’t match Larson’s pace. The gap was so large that Larson needed only “about 40-50 laps” before he was “already 10 seconds up on the fourth-place car.”

The stats tell the brutal story: Larson’s 276 laps led represented 92% of the race, a domination rarely seen even at the development level. Despite racing against JR Motorsports drivers operating with Hendrick-powered equipment—including seasoned veteran Justin Allgaier—nobody could touch Larson’s pace. Though Carson Kvapil showed promise, Denny Hamlin noted that even he, a short-track specialist, couldn’t mount a serious challenge to Larson’s supremacy.

While acknowledging the talent of young drivers like Kvapil, Hamlin remained blunt about the performance gap: “I don’t hold it against him that Kyle whipped up on him in the same ride, but I thought Justin would be a little bit closer to Kyle than what he was.” The result was so one-sided that Hamlin described watching it as “entertaining” simply to see “how many cars could he lap” and “how far could he go.”

Hamlin’s most controversial comment came when discussing Chandler Smith’s Truck Series victory over Cup regular Kyle Busch. After praising Smith’s talent and noting the career boost from beating a Cup driver, Hamlin highlighted the structural challenges facing developing drivers: “The problem with Xfinity is that it’s 90% pay drivers. It’s gonna be really, really tough to break through. Especially the top-notch ride. It’s gonna be really hard with the model of the Xfinity series.”

This isn’t the first time that NASCAR’s development ladder has faced scrutiny about talent versus funding. The sport has long grappled with balancing opportunities for wealthy prospects against securing seats for the most talented drivers regardless of financial backing. Smith had two wins and fifteen top 5 finishes; he was arguably the best JGR driver in 2024, yet he couldn’t retain his spot.

His victory over Larson represents the counterpoint to Hamlin’s criticism—proof that genuine talent can still shine through and defeat even the sport’s elite when given competitive equipment. But as Larson’s utterly dominant Bristol weekend demonstrated, the gap between exceptional talent and the average Xfinity field appears wider than ever. But as it turns out, the HMS driver has now opened up on his Xfinity Series win, stating that he wanted to embarrass the entire field.

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Larson is standing on business with his Xfinity Series triumph

Like Homestead, Kyle Larson was on the hunt for the NASCAR weekend sweep at Bristol Motor Speedway. But after Chandler Smith defeated him in the Truck Series race, his bid to match Rowdy’s record ended prematurely. However, he remembered the race in Homestead, where a late race caution and Sam Mayer played the role of a spoil sport in his attempts to sweep the weekend.

“I think had I gotten a normal launch on the frontstretch, I would have been fine. But yeah, he just ran right into the back of me.” Larson said after settling for a P4 finish. But that sentiment changed after he crusied to victory at the Thunder Vallye, and interestingly, he did that on purpose.

“This is going to come off as very cocky, but I want to embarrass them [Xfinity drivers], honestly. I want to embarrass NASCAR a little bit because they just don’t let Cup guys run anymore, and the kids probably think they’re in a good spot… they don’t know where the bar is really at.” Larson said this in an interview with Kevin Harvick.

This was also a jab at NASCAR for restricting the number of races a Cup driver can run in the lower series. That number is capped at five races per season, and they are also not eligible for the Dash 4 Cash program. Back in 2010 and 2017, when Kyle Busch completed the sweep, he didn’t have to deal with these rules. If anything, this was a statement from the HMS star driver that his bid for completing the sweep is far from over.