Kyle Larson delivered a dominant performance at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, leading 411 of the 500 laps and sweeping all three stages to bag his second NASCAR Cup Series win of the season. Just a day earlier, Larson had also dominated the Xfinity Series race on the same track, leading 277 of 300 laps to seal the win.
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However, in the middle of the celebrations, an unexpected detail caught the attention of the media reporters during the post-race interviews. The #5 Crew chief Cliff Daniels mentioned that, in preparing for the weekend, he had revisited footage from a 2004 Bristol race.
Given the limited window for race prep, the remark raised a few questions — why dig through a race nearly two decades old? And since Daniels had opened that door, there was no turning back.
He admitted, “Well, I hate to admit this because just with my family background, I like to think of myself as a little bit of a NASCAR history buff, but I totally forgot I think the fact that “It’s Bristol, baby,” came from him from that race.”
Daniels was referring to the moment when, after sweeping both the Xfinity and Cup races at Bristol in the same weekend, Dale Earnhardt Jr. came out of his car and was asked by an NBC reporter why the win meant so much. And without missing a beat, he declared, “It’s Bristol, baby!”—an expression that became a rallying cry for fans.
As to why Daniels chose to revisit the 2004 race, he explained that after poring over all the 2023 and 2024 footage, he had run out of recent material to study. Revisiting older races, he said, helps him remember how the track — and the sport itself — has evolved over time. For Daniels, it was an exercise in perspective, allowing him to appreciate the nuances that have shaped today’s racing.
He also acknowledged the legacy left by the sport’s trailblazers — veteran drivers, crew chiefs, and pioneers — who laid the foundation for where NASCAR stands today.
While the Next Gen era brings its own distinct identity, Daniels emphasized that the entire Hendrick Motorsports team is made up of racers through and through. And with that comes a lot of respect and admiration for those who paved the road they now race on.
On Sunday, although Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman secured the pole, the previous day’s practice session raised eyebrows due to a great deal of tire wear — mirroring the conditions seen during last year’s spring event. However, with warmer temperatures in play, the rubber began to build up on the racing surface rather than breaking loose into marbles.
After a few initial laps of tire conservation across the field, Kyle Larson turned up the heat. He rushed past Bowman to take the lead and, aside from a brief shuffle during green-flag pit stops in Stage 3, he never lost control.
Meanwhile, Bowman’s race took a turn for the worse. Around lap 287, during the third stage of the 500-lap showdown, he radioed his team saying he was “blowing up.” An engine failure forced him out of contention, and he ultimately ended the day in 37th place.
