In a commanding performance at Bristol Motor Speedway, pole winner Kyle Larson led 277 of 300 laps to claim victory in Saturday’s SciAps 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race. The driver of the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet showcased pure dominance throughout the event, finishing 2.054 seconds ahead of Carson Kvapil.

Larson dedicated his win to his friend and PR representative, Jon Edwards, who passed away suddenly in the week leading up to the race weekend. “It’s awesome,” Larson said after the race. “I wish I could have won last night—just came up a little bit short. It’s cool to get a win this weekend for Jon and everybody who’s been a part of his life.”

The victory marked Larson’s first in two series starts this season, his second at Bristol, and the 16th of his Xfinity Series career. His performance was so overwhelming that only 12 cars remained on the lead lap by the race’s conclusion.

Carson Kvapil, driving the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, made a late pass on teammate Justin Allgaier in traffic on Lap 298 to secure second place. Kvapil’s finish matched his career best, previously achieved at Dover last year.

“We just kept working on it and made it better and better every pit stop,” Kvapil said. “I felt like toward the end we had a pretty fast car, but there was just so much traffic, it was hard to really get into a good rhythm.”

Allgaier held onto third place and collected his record seventh $100,000 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash bonus as the highest finisher among four eligible drivers. JR Motorsports had an impressive showing overall, with Sammy Smith finishing fourth, giving the team three of the top four positions behind Larson.

The race featured several notable incidents, including a significant crash that eliminated two Dash 4 Cash contenders. Sheldon Creed’s Ford spun off Turn 4 after contact from Dean Thompson’s Toyota, and Brennan Poole couldn’t avoid Creed’s car, resulting in a violent collision that destroyed both machines.

Later in the race, Justin Allgaier briefly took the lead from Larson on Lap 182, but Larson reclaimed the top spot ten laps later with a bump-and-run move in Turn 1. Allgaier kept Larson within striking distance until an incident with the lapped car of Mason Massey eliminated any chance of challenging for the win.

The strong performance from JR Motorsports drivers secured them three of the four spots for the next Dash 4 Cash event at Rockingham, with Brandon Jones of Joe Gibbs Racing taking the fourth eligible position.

Larson now turns his attention to Sunday’s Food City 500 NASCAR Cup race, where he hopes to complete a weekend sweep in honor of Edwards. “There’d be nothing better than to cap it off with a Cup win for Jon and all of Hendrick Motorsports,” Larson said. “I’ve got a great car there for Sunday. We’ve just got to execute like we did today.”

With his dominant display at Bristol, Larson has sent a clear message to the field about his capabilities in the Xfinity Series, even as a part-time competitor focusing primarily on his Cup Series campaign.

Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images