Kyle Larson wins at Bristol as 2 former NASCAR champions eliminated from playoffs

Just minutes after Kyle Larson crossed the finish line on the most dominating victory ever for a Hendrick Motorsports driver, his team rushed his 9-year-old son to the winning Chevrolet.

Owen Larson was placed on the window, half in the car, half out, as his dad drove a victory lap around Bristol Motor Speedway with his son holding the No. 1 finger in the air. He later joined his dad atop the car during Saturday night's victory lane celebration.

“We had a little boys’ weekend here this weekend,” Larson said. “We’ll bring some hardware home tonight, too.”

Larson dominated the first elimination race of NASCAR's 10-race playoff portion of the season by leading all but 38 of the 500 laps at the track in Bristol, Tennessee — the most laps led ever in a race by a Hendrick driver. It easily moved him into the second round of the playoffs, while former NASCAR champions Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr., as well as Ty Gibbs and Harrison Burton, were eliminated from the 16-driver field.

“I’ve had a lot of good cars since I’ve come to Hendrick Motorsports, but man, that was just great execution all weekend by the team,” Larson said. “We dominate a lot of races but we might not close them all out, so it feels really good to close one out here.”

The first of three elimination races in the 10-race playoffs began with Denny Hamlin, Truex, Keselowski and Burton all below the cutline and facing elimination from the 16-driver field.

Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner with four career wins at Bristol, was never really worried and finished fourth.

“My aspiration was winning,” Hamlin said. “It's as good as what we've been here the last couple times. It's all offense from this point forward.”

Burton, who used a surprise win at Daytona last month to qualify for the playoffs in the final few weeks before he loses his seat with Wood Brothers Racing, was doubtful to recover enough to advance and finished 35th. Keselowski, the 2012 Cup champion, and 2017 champion Truex had a better shot at salvaging their playoffs but both came up empty.

Truex was penalized for speeding on pit road, taking him out of contention to advance, and Keselowski just didn't have the pace. Joe Gibbs Racing had two of its four cars eliminated from the playoffs as Ty Gibbs was also penalized for speeding.

“That was just unfortunate there,” said Gibbs, who finished 15th. “Speeding penalty is on me. It’s my fault.”

Keselowski finished 26th and lamented the lack of speed in his RFK Racing Ford.

“Didn't have the pace we wanted. We ran as hard as we could, there just wasn't anything there,” Keselowski said. “Just gotta be faster.”

Truex is retiring from full-time racing at the end of the season.

“That kind of screws up your whole season,” Truex said of the speeding penalty. “It's on me. It was my mistake. Just really sad for my guys. We had a really good car. I hate I screwed it up, would have at least tried to see what we could do.”

Larson, meanwhile, led 462 of 500 laps, the most since Cale Yarborough led 495 laps in 1977. Larson's laps led is the most ever by a Hendrick driver and marked the fifth win of the season for the driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet.

It's an impressive stat considering the Hendrick team has fielded cars for Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Terry Labonte and Dale Earnhardt Jr., among others.

“That's pretty awesome because 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. “So pretty cool to get my name on another record at Hendrick Motorsports.”

Daniel Suarez, who finished four laps down in 31st, squeezed out the final spot into the second round of the playoffs by 11 points over Gibbs.

Also advancing were Chase Elliott, who finished second, Christopher Bell, who finished fifth, regular-season champion Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe, William Byron, Austin Cindric and Alex Bowman.

Hendrick's entire four-car Chevrolet lineup advanced, as did all three Ford drivers from Team Penske. But Toyota lost a pair of JGR entries, and Ford lost two cars in Keselowski and Burton.

Corey LaJoie had already been told by Spire Motorsports it was not bringing him back next year, which gave him the rest of this season to finish out strong.

Then Spire threw him a lifeline with an unusual driver swap with Rick Ware Racing that will move Justin Haley into the Spire No. 7. LaJoie will replace Haley at RWR starting next week at Kansas Speedway.

While Haley's deal guarantees him the seat in 2025, LaJoie will have to earn the RWR ride. But in the meantime, he wanted one final good finish with Spire. He qualified ninth and was running 11th when he was involved in a crash that essentially ended his career with Spire.

NASCAR opens the second round of the playoffs at Kansas Speedway, where Reddick won last fall and Larson won in May. Bell takes a six-point lead over Larson into Kansas.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Kyle Larson, center back right, celebrates with his son Owen, center front right, and Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, center left, after a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

Kyle Larson (5) battles with Martin Truex Jr. (19) as they go into Turn 3 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

John Hunter Nemechek (42) spins while coming out of Turn 4 as Kaz Grala (15) and Josh Bilicki (66) avoid him during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

Alex Bowman (48) leads Kyle Larson (5) and Martin Truex Jr. (19) at the start of a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

Kyle Larson (5) leads Justin Haley (51) and Todd Gilliland (38) during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

Kyle Larson, center, celebrates with his son Owen after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Edwards approached for a handshake during Julius Randle's postgame TV interview, the duo putting a seal on another dominant series for Minnesota in these NBA playoffs.

Randle scored 29 points on 13-for-18 shooting to send the Timberwolves to the Western Conference finals for the second straight year with a 121-110 victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

“I just try to do my best to read the game in the best way I can,” Randle said. “They threw different coverages at us all series long.”

Edwards had 22 points and 12 assists for the sixth-seeded Wolves, who will face the Denver-Oklahoma City winner next. They could get five days off, if the Nuggets beat the Thunder on Thursday to force a Game 7 in the other West semifinal series.

Brandin Podziemski had a playoff career-high 28 points for the Warriors, who again played without star Stephen Curry because of the hamstring strain that forced him out of the second quarter in Game 1 and took the heart out of their entire offensive operation.

“I don’t want to take anything away from what Minnesota just accomplished,” coach Steve Kerr said. “No sense in even talking about Steph.”

Jonathan Kuminga provided another energy boost off the bench with 26 points, but Podziemski’s performance came too late and the production from Jimmy Butler and Buddy Hield was consistently too little after they led the series-opening win.

Golden State presented far more of a defensive challenge than the Los Angeles Lakers did for Minnesota during their five-game series in the first round, but the collection of every-level scorers the Wolves can throw at an opponent when they’re moving the ball and pushing the pace simply wore down the Warriors over the course of the series.

Rudy Gobert was a force around the rim with 17 points, Mike Conley had 16 points and eight assists, and Donte DiVincenzo snapped out of a slump with 13 points as the Wolves shot a staggering 77% on 2-pointers (36 for 47). They set franchise postseason records for assists (36) and field goal percentage (62.8%).

Series close-out games can sometimes be the toughest to win, but the Wolves played with a ferocity paired with their shooting touch that all but portended victory. Randle kept up his superb postseason, providing a constant source of energy and production.

The Wolves stretched their lead as high as 25 points in the third quarter, large enough to withstand a late Warriors push that pulled them to 99-90 with 7:11 left. But Edwards answered with a 3, and the crowd started mixing “Wolves in 5! Wolves in 5!” chants in with the roars for each made basket that got them closer to advancing.

“There is no satisfaction,” Edwards said. “We just got here.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Minnesota Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards celebrates a basket and a foul for Julius Randle in 2nd quarter in NBA Western Conference Semifinals' Game 5 at Target Center in Minneapolis on Wednesday, May 14, 2025.(Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle (30) shoots over Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos (15) during the second half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) looks on near the bench during the second half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) celebrates after scoring during the second half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) looks to shoot against Golden State Warriors' Pat Spencer, right, and Buddy Hield, left, during the second half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)