"I hope I never have to run a race like that again": Kyle Larson's brutally honest views on 2024 NASCAR Cup race at Bristol

Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson drove an impressive final stint in the chaotic Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway to secure a top-five result. Despite ending the race on a high note with a P5 finish, Larson stated that he doesn't wish to go through the ordeal ever again.

The half-mile concrete oval at Bristol Motor Speedway turned into a tire shredder in the 500-lap Cup Series race on Sunday. Tire conservation became crucial as the concrete chewed up the rubber, leading to massive tire wear.

Kyle Larson ran up front with the dominant Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas before a penalty sent him to the rear of the pack. He masterfully drove through the field and cycled out to the front over the final green flag pit stop cycle.

After the eventful 500-lap race, which consisted of 54 lead changes, the #5 Chevy driver claimed he had never raced like that and hoped not to do so in the future. He also believes the excessive tire wear was a black eye for NASCAR's tire supplier Goodyear.

"I’ve never ran a race like that," Larson told Noah Lewis. "I hope I never have to run a race like that again... To have to run a race like that every week would not be good, and it’s honestly probably a black eye to Goodyear just with all the rubber that couldn’t get laid down and just wearing through tires and all that."

Although Larson was reluctant for a repeat of the 500-lap race, the 2021 NASCAR Cup champion did have fun during the event. He added:

"If I knew I was only doing this one time, I would say that was a lot of fun. It was weird, you had to manage and guess on how hard to run and guess how each run was going to play out... The strategy side and the driver seat, it was kind of fun..."

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Kyle Larson claims he could have challenged the Joe Gibbs Racing duo

In the final stage of the race, the battle for the win filtered down to veteran Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., with the former eventually claiming his second consecutive Bristol win.

Kyle Larson's race was hampered by the penalty and he believes that he did well in managing his tires. He claimed that his #5 HMS Chevy had the potential for a better result.

"I feel like I was doing a good job managing my stuff. We just never really got a long run to show how good I was doing at saving. I felt I would have been right there with how well the #11 and those guys were saving their stuff," he said in the aforementioned interview.

Kyle Larson is tied for first place in the standings with Martin Truex Jr. at 185 points.