BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Larson enters Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend with momentum — and expectations — surrounding one of his strongest tracks on the schedule.
Larson’s 2026 season has been somewhat uneven. On the Cup side, he remains competitive in the No. 5 car, performing near the level many have come to expect. In the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, however, his schedule has been limited. Originally slated for three starts with JR Motorsports in the No. 88 Chevrolet at Las Vegas, Bristol, and Texas, Larson added a fourth appearance at Darlington Raceway while filling in for Alex Bowman.
The results have been encouraging. Larson already has a win at Las Vegas and followed it with a fourth-place finish at Darlington, building momentum heading into Bristol — a track he has long considered a favorite. In 2015, Larson described racing at Bristol as “the closest thing to a sprint car race,” a comparison that highlights his comfort on the high-banked concrete oval.
The numbers back it up. Since 2021, Larson has finished outside the top five at Bristol Motor Speedway only once across NASCAR’s top three series — a 32nd-place finish in last year’s Night Race after a crash. Across nine total starts in that span, he holds an average finish of 5.5, including a 6.7 average in Cup competition.
His dominance was especially clear in 2025, when he led 276 of 300 laps in the O’Reilly race and 411 of 500 in the Cup event. Combined, Larson led 687 of 800 laps across the two races, leaving just 113 laps out front for the rest of the field.
Given that track record, the question this weekend isn’t whether Larson can contend for wins on both Saturday and Sunday. Instead, it’s whether he can fully capitalize and return to the dominant form that has made Bristol one of his best tracks.
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