NASCAR takeaways: Kyle Larson dominates at Bristol; Martin Truex Jr. out of playoffs

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Larson was never in danger of being eliminated from the playoffs Saturday night, and he was never in much danger of even being passed for the lead.

Larson led 462 of the 500 laps — the most laps led by a Bristol winner since Cale Yarborough led 496 in April 1977 — as he added a trophy to his case and momentum into the quarterfinal round of the playoffs.

"We dominate a lot of races, but we might not close them all out, so it feels really good to close one out here," Larson said. 

It was a dominating performance in a race the polar opposite of the spring where tires wore out after 40-50 laps. Teams could go a full fuel run of 180 laps around the 0.533-mile high-banked concrete oval.

That meant lengthy green-flag runs and a race that is known for its sparks and cautions that re-rack the field ended up having three cautions for incidents and little controversy.

"I know you guys probably think that the race in the spring was better, but as a driver, I would way rather run 100 percent all night long for 500 laps than run 50 percent [managing tire wear],"  Larson said. "I don't think that's much of a race. I grew up racing different stuff where you do push the whole race, but I think that version of Bristol [tonight] is way more exciting."

With only Joey Logano locked into the quarterfinal round (Round of 12) entering the race, 11 drivers survived the first playoff round to advance: Larson, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez and Chase Briscoe.

Two past champions — Martin Truex Jr. (who is retiring from full-time competition after this season) and Brad Keselowski — were among those eliminated. Ty Gibbs and