“I just love that track,” said Kyle Larson about Bristol Motor Speedway. The track acts like a dirt sprint racing track, to the delight of 3x Chili Bowl Champion Kyle Larson. But for the upcoming Food City 500 race, the Hendrick Motorsports driver may love Bristol a little bit more. Last weekend, we saw the misery that piled up on him. Larson fell off 160 laps because of a lap 4 crash and then wrecked out again on lap 291, finishing in a miserable 37th place. Bristol is offering him a chance for redemption.

What is more? Kyle Larson is also seeking redemption from his Homestead heartbreak. Larson was attempting the weekend sweep at Miami and won the Truck Race despite spinning out in the final stage. He also won the Cup race on Sunday, but the Xfinity race slipped his grasp. Despite a 15+ second lead on the grid, a late caution forced a restart, and due to Sam Mayer’s shove on that restart, Larson dropped to fourth as Justin Allgaier won the race. However, as Larson charges into the Bristol weekend aiming for the sweep, a NASCAR expert strings up the highest hopes for him.

All eyes on Kyle Larson

Well, if he gets it done, he will break Rowdy’s bragging rights. Only one Cup Series driver has done a weekend sweep in the Craftsman Truck Series, Xfinity, and Cup – Kyle Busch. The two-time champion did it twice at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2010 and 2017. Now, Kyle Larson is showing all the signs of achieving the same feat. HMS’ golden boy owns two Cup victories at Thunder Valley – the latest was last Fall, where he led 462 of 500 laps. Larson won his last Xfinity Series start at Bristol in 2018 and has a total of seven top-fives, eight top-10s, and 746 laps led. While his only Truck Series start at Bristol came on the dirt in 2021, Larson will be a favorite there, nonetheless.

In a recent YouTube video, Eric Estepp and his guest, Dale Tanhardt, set the standards high for Kyle Larson. Tanhardt observed how his Bristol chances glimmer brightly if last Fall’s race gets replicated. “I think he’s got a much better shot at sweeping this weekend than he did at Homestead. And I was blown away by how good he was in the Xfinity car. If this race goes like it did last Fall Xfinity – you look back at that race, and it was a long green flag run to the finish… But you know, with Cup and Xfinity having long green flag runs last Fall – it makes you feel like that’s a good thing for Kyle Larson.”

Larson loves a long run, and he even said this after his Truck Series triumph at Homestead this year. “I felt like the Truck race was probably going to be the toughest to win. I don’t have much experience in them, and the runs are typically shorter. I feel better about Xfinity and Cup, but the competition keeps getting tough and tougher as you get on with the weekend, but we’ll see.” In the end, it was the disruption of a green flag run at Homestead in the Xfinity race that led to Larson’s downfall, and Dale Tanhardt feels that won’t be the case at Bristol this week.

The 0.533-mile, high-banked oval has witnessed Kyle Larson‘s career number of circuits paced to 1,351. This is the second-most of all active drivers, next only to Kyle Busch, who’s made 19 more starts at Bristol than Larson. So, Dale Tanhardt continued with his solid prophecy. “I think at Xfinity, Kyle has a great shot at winning – Trucks, he’s got an even better shot at winning. You never count out Corey Heim, but that Truck race flies by. I think if Kyle Larson just has some track position early, gets out in front, I don’t think they’re going to pass him. So, I think Kyle Larson has a fantastic opportunity to sweep better than he had at Homestead… He really needs it after what happened this past Sunday at Darlington.”

Holding a max lead of 17 seconds in the Xfinity Series at Homestead showed how good Larson is in that Xfinity car, and if he can replicate any of that form at Bristol, he has a good shot at getting back at Kyle Busch, who alleged on X that Larson was ‘cherry picking’ his races by choosing Homestead as his triple attempt. Now that Larson is doing it on Busch’s triple turf, the stakes are higher than usual.

Kyle Larson’s fans and supporters are waiting for a comeback from his Darlington disaster, and to add to that, Bristol’s esteemed track official is also rooting for him!

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Eager to see him become a legend

Well, Kyle Larson is already on that path to glory. He attempted the 1100-mile Double last year, entering both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. Rain washed out his plans – so the HMS star is going for a re-attempt this season. But for now, Larson has some records to break at Bristol. After leading for 462 laps last September, he broke a record for the fastest race time held by the late Charlie Glotzbatch in 1971. As he attempts the weekend sweep this time, a WEATHER GUARD Truck Race would put Larson in some elite company. He would join six drivers who have won Bristol races in all three NASCAR series. Those racers include Mark Martin, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, and Joey Logano.

Jerry Caldwell, president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway, is eagerly rooting for him. Caldwell heaped praises for Kyle Larson recently: “He is such a natural talent and one of the most popular drivers in the Cup Series. So, we are thrilled to see him go for the trifecta at Bristol. Who knows what will happen, but he clearly has the skills and talent to do it. We love seeing drivers take on the high banks in different cars and different series. He has certainly proved he knows his way around the track and that he can win in anything. So it will be fun and exciting for everyone to watch him and all the other drivers compete during races throughout the Food City 500 weekend.”

Evidently, the Hendrick Motorsports star is drumming up a lot of anticipation for his Bristol feat. He has two big heartbreaks at Homestead and Darlington to clench his teeth and win. We can’t wait to see him dazzle us! Do you think Kyle Larson will achieve the weekend sweep this time? Let us know in the comments!