Kyle Larson Smokes the Field: 2025 SciAps 300 Recap

In a race that was hardly in doubt, Kyle Larson paced the field for 277 of 300 laps to score his first Xfinity Series win of the season at Bristol in today’s SciAps 300.

Larson began the day on pole and held the lead for much of the opening stage while others experienced early troubles that set them back.

Harrison Burton and Mason Maggio both lost right-front tires on the exit of turn 4 on lap 2, bringing out the race’s first caution flag. Burton continued to fight with his car the whole day as it lost another tire later in the event that put his No. 25 Dex Imaging Ford out of contention.

Much of stage 1 ran under green-flag conditions with Larson picking off lapped cars, one by one. When the second caution of the day flew, the 2021 Cup Series champion put every driver up to 13th at least one lap down.

That second yellow flag happened in Larson’s rearview mirror as freshly-lapped cars Sheldon Creed and Dean Thompson made contact in turns 3 & 4 that sent Creed’s car spinning before coming to rest on turn 4’s exit.

Unable to avoid the collision, Brennan Poole slid into Creed, and the ensuing damage put the race under a lengthy red flag to clean up the mess.

Several drivers pitted with so few laps in the stage, leaving Ford drivers Sam Mayer and Ryan Sieg on the front row for the three-lap dash to the stage caution. Despite Larson’s tire advantage, he found himself unable to pass the two Mustangs with Mayer scooping up the stage 1 victory.

The late caution in stage 1 allowed several drivers to take the wavearound while the leaders ducked into the pits, putting most of the field back on the lead lap for stage 2.

Larson’s HendrickCars.com Camaro surged ahead once again in the second stage as Mayer and Sieg headed to the pits before the race went green.

Stage 2 was much of the same from the driver of the No. 17 as he continued to use his Chevy to carve through lapped track like a hot knife through butter, easily clinching a stage 2 victory with a multi-second lead over Justin Allgaier and the rest of the JR Motorsports entries.

Right behind Larson was a a heated battle for the free pass between Nick Sanchez and Christian Eckes. Sanchez leaned on Eckes’ Kaulig Racing machine, though it wouldn’t be enough to get by the No. 16 at the line. Eckes rebounded for a top-10 finish while Sanchez fell to 16th.

For those rooting against a Larson win, Justin Allgaier provided brief relief by taking the lead on the first restart to open stage 3 and held it for a handful of laps prior to Larson giving him the chrome horn in turn 1 with close to 100 laps remaining.

Allgaier tried all he could to get back to Larson’s bumper, including taking out an innocent bystander in Mason Massey whose No. 45 machine sat in the middle of the frontstretch, practically blocking the racing surface.

In the smoke and parked cars, rookie William Sawalich lost the handle on his Soundgear Toyota Supra, running into the back of Connor Zilisch and ending a day where the 18-year-old ran in the top-10 all race.

Some drivers on the tail-end of the lead lap ducked into the pits for fresh rubber, hoping to enhance their chances at victory, but even with the lower amount of drivers on the lead lap, the best car with fresh tires at the end of the evening was Corey Heim in eighth.

The final 75 laps clicked by under green, but the end result remained the same with Larson capping off a truly powerful performance with a cut-and-dry victory.

Carson Kvapil made a pass on Justin Allgaier in the closing circuits to take second with Allgaier, Sammy Smith, and late riser Brandon Jones taking the top-5 positions. Jesse Love, Ryan Sieg, Heim, Eckes, and Dean Thompson compromised the top-10.

Other notable finishers include stage 1 winner Sam Mayer in 11th, Connor Zilisch limped his wounded Chevy home 12th, modified ace Justin Bonsignore brought his JGR Supra home 17th, and Austin Hill struggled to find footing all day on his way to 24th.

For full race results, here’s a link.

(Top Photo Credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images)