NASCAR
Stratta’s Six: Who Can Vanquish the Bass Pro Shops Bristol Night Race?
Elimination week is here for the first round of cuts in the 2025 NASCAR postseason. Two lucky contenders head to The World’s Fastest Half-Mile of Bristol Motor Speedway sleeping easy. Meanwhile, 14 others will stress for 500 grueling laps ahead. The Bristol Night Race has seen championship caliber seasons both rise and fall over its many unpredictable twists and turns. With a new right side tire, nobody truly knows what to expect this time in east Tennessee. Here are a few who hope to leave The Last Great Colosseum with the coveted gladiator sword trophy and one step closer to NASCAR immortality.
Kyle Larson
Nobody’s been more lights-out unstoppable in recent memory at Bristol than Kyle Larson. Driver 5 enters 2025’s Bristol Night Race looking for a third-straight Tennessee concrete win. The last two trips here alone have seen Larson lead 873 (of a possible 1,000) laps, and seemingly never misstep. Past these two dominant days, Larson rides a seven-race streak of Bristol top-10s, with laps led in each showing. To say Larson has high confidence returning to Bristol would be an understatement.
“The atmosphere is always up for the Night Race,” Larson said. “The night race just means more to me, I don’t know if everyone feels the same way but I want to win all the races but I would like to win the night race over the spring one if I had to pick one or the other just because winning under the lights at Bristol is pretty awesome. It’s not considered a crown jewel but in my mind it’s the one I want to win really badly every year.”
Heading to one of his favorite races on NASCAR’s calendar, the wind is seemingly at Larson’s back. Despite no wins in 16 races, Larson had arguably the best car a week ago at Gateway. The 5 is rightfully an overwhelming favorite for Saturday night. Leading 400+ laps in a third-straight Bristol race would be quite the feat to further Larson’s recent domination.
Denny Hamlin
If anyone can possibly end Larson’s reign of Bristol supremacy it’s short track ace Denny Hamlin. The winningest man both at Joe Gibbs Racing and in Cup this year, Hamlin owns four Bristol trophies including two of the last five. Coming off a dominant Gateway that saw his 59th Cup victory, Hamlin pondered the chance of getting an elusive 60th triumph in Thunder Valley.
“I would love to get 60 at Bristol,” Hamlin said. “That would be fantastic. I’m not going to change my preparation for Bristol. All this win did was just add work to the week ’cause it allows us to now get ahead to the next round. There’s no way I’m willing to go to Bristol compromising my normal routine. I feel as though being locked in, you cannot race Bristol thinking about points. If you do, you can finish pretty good, but you’re not going to win the race because you have to run that track at 10/10ths all the time. You’re going to be pushing at the edge, up against the wall. It’s people that have to chase points are not going to be able to push it to the edge like they need to to win at that track.”
“I think there’s a small group of us that have an advantage now going into next week because that’s what it takes to win there. Certainly Chase [Briscoe], myself, Larson, others, are going to be able to go all out. That’s just a massive advantage. It’s hard for me to put it in words.”
“I would like to go to Bristol not having to worry about anything – simply, like Jeff [Gluck] talked about with the tire and stuff, you never know what can happen, and certainly, if you want to win that race, you are going to have to be aggressive as a driver, and certainly, you don’t want to have to think about the repercussions of missing the next round at Bristol because it could hamper your ability to win that race.”
“I think the tire change is going to mean more than the conditions will. Apparently, this right-side tire is going to be more aggressive as far as a tire wear stand point – that is the goal of it, which I’m all for it. Any time, Goodyear and NASCAR can get together and be okay with some chaos style racing, when it comes to the tires, I’m all for it. Certainly, the teams and the drivers will separate themselves when that happens.”
Few men across NASCAR history have the single-track stat line that Denny Hamlin boasts at Bristol. 36 Bristol starts for the 11 have yielded 20 top-10s, 1199 laps led, and an average finish of 13th. In similar vein to Larson, Hamlin also has a nine-race stretch of ninth or better here. This dynamic driving duo are both responsible for five of the last six Tennessee trophies. Saturday is shaping up to be another heavyweight slugfest between these two–they have the shortest odds. Hamlin will likewise try and keep Joe Gibbs Racing undefeated in 2025’s Playoffs.
Ryan Blaney
Out of all drivers winless at Thunder Valley, Ryan Blaney is possibly best poised for a breakout performance. The Penske No. 12 has a best Bristol finish of fourth (twice), and was sixth and fifth in his last two trips here. A Bristol win would firmly reassert Ford and Blaney in many championship discussions recently dominated by Toyota.
“I love the Bristol Night Race,” Blaney said. “It’s one of my favorite races that we have. It’s been my favorite ever since I was a kid. I remember watching dad run around there under the lights. It’s been cool to be a part of it and I feel like we’ve gotten a lot better at Bristol the last couple races there. I feel like it was a spot where we struggled just a little bit, and I feel like we’ve definitely gotten better there with the No. 12 Ford Mustang. So, I look forward to getting there and continuing to try to improve on what we’ve learned.”
Gateway may have been a sign of brighter times ahead for Blaney, rebounding from a mid-race spin to finish fourth. Blaney enters elimination weekend 42 points clear of the cut line, allowing for a few more risky moves in chasing a Bristol win. Expect Blaney to be up front at some point over Saturday’s marathon 500 laps.
Christopher Bell
Shockingly winless on paved Bristol, Christopher Bell is past due for his turn in the Tennessee spotlight. Eight career starts on the concrete half-mile have seen the 20 earn six top-10s, including the last five races. Bell has also put up over 350 laps led here, showing a Bristol mastery not far off of Larson or Hamlin. Blown late pit strategy saw Bell cycle back to seventh at Gateway. After this, he did not mince words post-race.
“I just think we’re underperforming,” Bell said. Clearly the JGR Camries are amazing, and I don’t know. I mean, our team cars are really good and I felt like I had what I needed to race with them and we finished seventh while they finished one-two. So, I honestly think that the cars are as fast as I’ve had in my Cup career, and just not getting results out of it. So that’s a bummer. But on a lighter note, we obviously had a good points day and were able to increase our buffer to the cut line, which is really good. I think from that standpoint, mission accomplished and yeah, we had a great DeWalt Camry. Just didn’t get the finish that we probably should have and could have.”
“We got all the tools in the toolbox. You know, our teammates are killing it right now. So, we got everything we need to go do it. We just got to go do it.”
As mentioned above, Joe Gibbs Racing has gone 2-2 to open 2025’s Playoffs with two different drivers. Can Christopher Bell make this a perfect winning trio at Bristol? An angry and determined Bell may leave it all on the track in chasing a maiden Bristol Night Race victory.
Chase Elliott
Last year’s Bristol Night Race runner-up, Chase Elliott tied his best result here 12 months ago. Both of his Bristol 2nd-place runs have come in the Next Gen car, showing that team 9 is slowly learning this track. Elliott was asked what he could do to possibly finish one spot better this Saturday night.
“Probably qualify better,” Elliott said. “Last year, we qualified OK, but you just get put in a tough spot because it’s really tough to pass the leader there. We kind of fell into that last season. So, then your opportunities kind of come up, how else can you get the lead, right? It’s on pit road or on a restart. So, to have a better chance on pit road you’ve got to qualify better to put your team in a better position to try and do that. I think that was probably the missing piece. We had some great pit stops last year from what I remember. I just don’t think we were in a great stall and that puts you at a disadvantage.”
Third a week ago in Gateway marked Chase Elliott’s best finish since Sonoma in July. This strong performance saw Elliott gain ground above the cut line, now entering Bristol +28 on the grid. While teammate Larson is the rightful favorite this weekend, do not be shocked to see the 9 also migrate to the front with the right strategy plays.
Chase Briscoe
Nobody’s been more consistent through the Playoffs’ opening two weeks than Chase Briscoe. Winning Darlington parlayed into a Gateway runner-up, team 19 appears to be peaking and in full championship form. Teammates with some of the best active drivers at Bristol, Briscoe is ready to add his name to this track’s list of winners.
“It’s been a good start,” Briscoe said. “Honestly we’ve kind of just carried on how we were before the Playoffs, I feel like. So yeah, great speed, another great week for our Bass Pro Shops Toyota. We’ll go onto next week and just try to carry this momentum.”
“I feel like we can go there and win. It’s a great racetrack for me, typically in the past and was really strong for us, honestly, earlier this year. So yeah, I’m looking forward to it. You know, Darlington’s the only track that I can think of we’ve actually went as a team for the second time. Bristol will be the second time we get to do that. So hopefully we can back it up.”
The 19 team has been on cloud nine so far in this young Playoff run. Heading to Bristol with maximum momentum, Briscoe’s seen four top-fives in the last six weeks make the 19 elite. Briscoe’s best Bristol showing was fourth in April, this career-best mark may change in a matter of days.
500 laps around Bristol Motor Speedway are sure to see intrigue, drama, and unknowns aplenty. The Bass Pro Shops Night Race is a beloved NASCAR event for drivers and fans alike; each gladiator wants to be rewarded with a victory sword. 2025’s Bristol Night Race goes green Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Who rises and who stumbles in The Last Great Colosseum remains to be seen, but we are all in for a treat come Saturday night.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
