PREVIEW: It’s not just “The Kyle Larson Show” in Bristol
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Tyler Tomassi, @TomassiTyler
Friday, April 11, 2025 (Green Flag 7:50 P.M. ET, FS1)
TRUCKS Race 6 of 25
Weather Guard Truck Race at Bristol
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Justin S. Carroll
ENTRY LIST
There are 35 drivers entered for 36 spots, marking the fifth consecutive short field in six races in 2025.
DRIVER CHANGE: #1-TRICON Garage
Fresh off last Saturday’s big win in Darlington, Brandon Jones pulls double-duty with both Trucks and XFINITY this week, returning to the Trucks for the first time since his 12th-palce run at Homestead earlier this year. He again drives the TRICON #1, this time in place of 10th-place Martinsville finisher Lawless Alan, and carries sponsorship from the University of Arkansas College of Engineering.
DRIVER CHANGE: #2-Reaume Brothers Racing
After Cody Dennison finished 30th in his Truck Series debut at Martinsville, Stephen Mallozzi is back in the Reaume team’s #2 entry for the first time since his back-to-back last-place finishes at Las Vegas and Homestead. It was at this Bristol track in 2023 that Mallozzi first ran sponsorship from Outback Steakhouse, finishing 32nd.
DRIVER CHANGE: #22-Reaume Brothers Racing
The Martinsville race saw team owner Josh Reaume take the place of first-time Truck Series starter Alan Waller, who was overcome by heat exhaustion. After steering Waler’s truck to a 31st-place finish on the short track, Reaume will both start and race the #22 this week with Aerial Titans as sponsor. Reaume’s season best remains his pair of 18th-place runs in the opening two rounds at Daytona and Atlanta.
DRIVER CHANGE: #44-Niece Motorsports
Bayley Currey returns to his now shared ride in Al Niece’s #44, this time with backing from Masked Owl Technologies and DQS. He takes the place of Matthew Gould, whose season debut yielded a 23rd-place finish in Martinsville. Currey last took the wheel of the #44 in Las Vegas, taking home 18th. His best Bristol finish in five starts came in this race last year, when he came home 11th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #66-ThorSport Racing
Luke Baldwin gained valuable experience in his Truck Series debut at Martinsville, where he battled into the Top Ten before at least one spin dropped him to 22nd in the final running order. This week, Luke Fenhaus returns to the ride with Soda Sense as sponsor. This will be Fenhaus’ only second Truck Series start on a short track and first at Bristol – he earned a career-best 7th at IRP.
MISSING: #67-Freedom Racing Enterprises
The Martinsville race saw Ryan Roulette involved in an early crash which ultimately left him in last place – the first for the #67 in Truck Series history. After both this run and Michel Disdier’s series return the race before in Homestead, the FRE team has not entered the #67 this week.
RETURNING: #75-Henderson Motorsports
Bristol means another homecoming for the Charlie Henderson team, and this one may well be a matter of redemption. This will be Parker Kligerman’s first Truck Series start since his win at Daytona was stripped due to a reported technical infraction in post-race inspection. Kligerman has four top-five finishes in ten Truck Series starts at Bristol, but wasn’t in either race last year during his last full-time effort in the XFINITY Series.
DRIVER CHANGE: #07-Spire Motorsports
Following both contact from Sam Mayer on a late-race restart which averted a certain weekend sweep at Homestead, then a disastrous afternoon in last Sunday’s Cup race at Darlington where he wrecked on Lap 4, Kyle Larson is back for another bid at a tripleheader, replacing 14th-place Martinsville finisher William Byron. This time, Larson looks to accomplish the feat at the very track where Kyle Busch has already done it twice – both in 2010 and 2017.
CUP INVADERS: #07-Kyle Larson
Saturday, April 12, 2025 (Green Flag 5:10 P.M. ET, CW)
XFINITY Race 9 of 33
SciAps 300 at Bristol
2020 Last-Place Finisher (June): Michael Annett
ENTRY LIST
There are 40 drivers entered for 38 spots, meaning two will fail to qualify.
MISSING: #9-JR Motorsports
This Saturday’s XFINITY Series race sees Kyle Larson as the only Cup Series invader as 4th-place Darlington finisher Ross Chastain is not among the entrants following his fender-banging conclusion to the race.
DRIVER CHANGE: #17-Hendrick Motorsports
Kyle Larson will this week take the place of Darlington runner-up Chase Elliott.
DRIVER CHANGE: #19-Joe Gibbs Racing
After he fell short of a win in Darlington, taking home 25th after leading 27 laps, three-time Cup Series race winner in 2025 Christopher Bell hands the steering wheel back to Justin Bonsignore, who most recently finished 16th in Homestead, a race where he ran the fastest lap for much of the event. This time, he has a sponsor on board in Highway Self Storage.
RETURNING: #24-Sam Hunt Racing
Bristol is another opportunity for Corey Heim to go double-duty with the XFINITY Series, his first since a frustrating weekend at Homestead where electrical issues sabotaged both starts. He finished next-to-last on the XFINITY side, out after 57 of 201 laps. Heim again drives for Sam Hunt in the #24, this time with Upper Deck as sponsor for his 20th series start.
MISSING: #32-Jordan Anderson Racing
The Jordan Anderson team has not entered the #32 with which Austin Green failed to qualify last week in Darlington, his first career DNQ.
DRIVER CHANGE: #53-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
After David Starr restarted in the Top Five on old tires at the end of last week’s Darlington race, he slipped to 26th by the checkered flag in an event that saw 33 drivers finish with him on the lead lap. This week, Mason Maggio returns to the ride after a week off, his first in the Gase #53 since a season-best 25th in Martinsville.
RETURNING: #66-MBM Motorsports
Tyler Tomassi looks to rebound from a disappointing DNQ in Martinsville as Carl Long’s team is entered in both the XFINITY and Cup Series races this weekend. This week, Tomassi is sponsored by NASCAR YouTuber Elly Productions, and carries the names of several supporters on the rear decklid. This would be Tomassi’s series debut.
DRIVER CHANGE: #70-Cope Family Racing
A brutal crash in Turs 1 and 2 destroyed one of the best “throwback” schemes of last Saturday’s race when Leland Honeyman, Jr. lost control in heavy traffic, leaving him 37th and angering fellow competitor Anthony Alfredo. This week, the Cope team again swaps in Thomas Annunziata for what would be only his second series start on a short track, following a 31st-place run in Martinsville last month. Bayshore Mortgage returns as sponsor.
DRIVER CHANGE: #91-DGM Racing x JIM
C.J. McLaughlin makes only his second series start of the season and first since a 25th-place run in Atlanta, this time in DGM Racing’s #91 instead of the #92 from before. He thus takes the place of Josh Bilicki, who after a 24th-place finish in Darlington will instead focus on this Sunday’s Cup race for Garage 66 (see below).
CUP INVADERS: #17-Kyle Larson
Sunday, April 13, 2025 (Green Flag 3:11 P.M. ET, FS1)
CUP Race 9 of 36
Food City 500 at Bristol
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Zane Smith
ENTRY LIST
There are 39 drivers entered for 40 spots, marking the eighth consecutive short field in nine races in 2025.
DRIVER CHANGE: #33-Richard Childress Racing
After a strong start to his sophomore season that’s seen him already score his second career win, Jesse Love will make his Cup debut on Sunday in the RCR #33, taking the place of 31st-place Darlington finisher Austin Hill, his XFINITY teammate. Love will carry sponsorship from C4 Energy.
MISSING: #44-NY Racing Team
Not among the entrants this week is J.J. Yeley, who after a blown tire was ultimately eliminated from last Sunday’s race as the crew couldn’t obtain a replacement brake line for their Bill Elliott “throwback” scheme. Yeley took over last place from Kyle Larson when the #5 returned to the track just over 160 laps down.
RETURNING: #66-Garage 66
Josh Bilicki makes his first Cup start of the season in Carl Long’s #66, his first in the series since driver and team finished last at Martinsville last fall following mid-race brake issues. Bilicki finished last summer’s Cup race at Bristol in 34th, though 33 laps down to the leaders. Bilicki is sponsored by Manscaped in conjunction with the Testicular Cancer Society.
RETURNING: #01-Rick Ware Racing
After running the season’s first two superspeedway events, it’s the concrete short track of Bristol that will see Corey LaJoie return for his first Cup race since, again in Rick Ware’s #01 and this time with returning backing from Schluter Systems. LaJoie has 13 career Cup starts at Bristol, but has yet to finish better than 15th, and has yet to finish on the lead lap.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (April 11, 1998): Dennis Setzer picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Busch Grand National Series career in the Galaxy Food Centers 300 at Hickory when his #4 Lance Snacks Chevrolet fell out with crash damage after 59 laps. This occurred in the 42nd and most recent XFINITY Series start at the 0.363-mile Hickory track.
