For the second time this season, Alex Bowman started from the pole, with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. earning a season-best second-place starting position. Joey Logano and John Hunter Nemechek were forced to start at the rear after post-qualifying work on their cars, though neither had qualified inside the top 30. NASCAR allowed teams to run with 11 sets of tires for the race, matching last year’s spring event.
At the drop of the green flag, Bowman launched from the outside and cleared Stenhouse Jr. heading into turn 1. Ty Gibbs got caught on the outside early and slipped out of the top 10. Justin Haley began working the outside lane by lap 40, charging up to second by passing Stenhouse Jr., Kyle Larson, and Denny Hamlin.
By lap 45, Larson took control of the race for the first time, passing Bowman for the lead. Bowman soon lost another spot to Haley and dropped to third. As the PJ1 traction compound on the inside groove held up, lap times improved into the 15-second bracket, and Larson stretched his lead to two seconds by lap 55.
Larson continued to set the pace and had lapped up to 32nd-place Chris Buescher by lap 85. Brad Keselowski quietly worked his way into the top 10, sitting ninth at that point. Larson handled lapped traffic well and held off a late push from Denny Hamlin to secure the Stage 1 win.
Following an 18-lap caution period between stages, the race resumed with Larson still out front, followed by Hamlin. Kyle Busch and Shane van Gisbergen were both penalized for speeding on pit road during the break. Van Gisbergen later spun in turns 1 and 2 while battling with Cody Ware, bringing out a caution after stopping against the wall. Meanwhile, a loose tire from John Hunter Nemechek’s car struck Daniel Suárez’s car while Suárez was pitting. Most of the leaders stayed out, but Ryan Blaney and several others from deeper in the field took the opportunity to pit.
Larson remained in command on the restart, leading Bowman and Hamlin, and he went on to claim the Stage 2 win as well.
Larson jumped back to the lead again on the next restart, holding off Hamlin and Bowman, while Ty Gibbs worked his way up to fourth. Despite running in the top five most of the afternoon, Bowman’s race came undone by lap 300. He fell back rapidly, radioing that he might be down a cylinder. Smoke began pouring from the pipes of the No. 48, and he eventually headed to the garage.
Final pit stops got underway by lap 390, with Larson still in control. Hamlin began gaining on him around lap 415 as the pit cycle played out, with Blaney, Reddick, and Wallace staying out as long as possible in hopes of a different strategy.
But just as he had done in the previous Bristol Cup race, Kyle Larson remained untouchable. He led 411 of 500 laps and claimed a dominant victory in a race that featured just three cautions—only one of them from on-track contact.
Photo Credit: BRISTOL, TENNESSEE – APRIL 13: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane with a decal honoring Jon Edwards after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 13, 2025 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)