BRISTOL, Tenn. – Kyle Larson scorched the field on Saturday night as he dominated to win the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Larson led all but 38 laps in the NASCAR Playoff race. In fact, Larson was so fast that only the top-10 finished on the lead lap. Saturday night’s win marks the fifth of the season for the driver of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet.

“But man, that was just great execution all weekend by the team,” Larson said. “Practiced good. You’ve got to qualify good; we did that. Yeah, just had a great car. Thanks to the whole 5 team. They’re the best in the business.

“We dominate a lot of races but we might not close them all out, so it feels really good to close one out here in this Hendrickcars.com Chevy.”

Larson was out in front of the field for 462 laps, which is more than any other Hendrick Motorsports driver has led in a race, including Jeff Gordon and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson.

“That’s pretty cool because, as you mentioned, there’s been some legendary Hall of Famers race for Hendrick Motorsports, and we’ve all grown up watching Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson dominate,” Larson said. “Pretty cool to add my name to another record at Hendrick Motorsports, and again, just very fortunate to be with that group, Chevrolet, Jinya Ramen Bar, Prime, everybody involved, Valvoline. It’s so much fun, and especially racing in front of you fans under the lights at Bristol.”

Chase Elliott was fast, but he wasn’t able to catch Larson. Elliott finished runner-up, earning his best finish since winning at Texas Motor Speedway back in April.

“I thought it was a really solid night overall,” Elliott said. “Had really nice pace and really thought our car drove really well. I don’t think I could have asked much more out of the car.

“I think Kyle (Larson) did a really good job getting through traffic, and that was the difference. I kind of got hung up and he was able to slice through there, so credit to him and his team. They did a great job. Nice to get a Hendrick one-two and nice to be moving on. Nice to be in the mix. It’s always more fun when it matters and you’re up front.”

Bubba Wallace was the highest finishing non-Playoff driver as he crossed the finish line in third. The effort is his best ever at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“Yeah, it’s good. The Mobil 1 Toyota Camry was okay – just trying to find the right balance,” Wallace said. “These guys are giving me all of the information, and I’m getting pissed off listening to it – but it is all vital. So, I appreciate them – I appreciate the effort to come up here. I told Bootie (Barker, crew chief) that we are a seventh-to-12th place car, coming in here – and we ended up third.”

Denny Hamlin raced his way into the Round of 12 with a fourth-place finish on Saturday night. Hamlin entered the night below the cutline, but he patiently chipped away and earned the finish he needed to continue his championship hopes.

Christopher Bell finished fifth, followed by Ryan Blaney, Ryan Preece, Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman and Ross Chastain.

Larson swept all stages, and there were only eight lead changes among four drivers.

There were also five caution flag for 36 laps.

Seeding for the Round of 12 is as follows: Kyle Larson (+39), Christopher Bell (+24), Tyler Reddick (+20), William Byron (+14), Ryan Blaney (+11), Denny Hamlin (+7), Chase Elliott (+6), Joey Logano (+4), Austin Cindric (-4), Daniel Suarez (-6), Alex Bowman (-7) and Chase Briscoe (-7).

Drivers eliminated on Saturday night at Bristol were Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski and Harrison Burton.

The first race of the Round of 12 will be held at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 29. Live coverage of the Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN Bet will broadcast on USA at 3 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Hunter Thomas/TheFourthTurn.com