With added motivation to honor a late friend, Kyle Larson seemed to have an extra gear Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The Hendrick Motorsports star led 411 of 500 laps in a victory that was dominant as it was emotional.

Larson, racing days after the death of Jon Edwards, his former public relations representative, picked up his second Cup win of the season. It was his 31st Cup victory and third at Bristol.

“This one is definitely for Jon,” Larson said. “He is just a great guy, so we’re going to miss him. Wish he was going to be here with us to celebrate, but I know he’s celebrating with us in spirit. Just a flawless race at Bristol for the team. Really, really good car. That was a lot of fun.”

Denny Hamlin finished second in his 400th consecutive Cup start, falling one spot short in his bid for a third consecutive win. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was gracious in defeat, noting Larson’s victory came after a somber week that also included the deaths of longtime motorsports journalist Al Pearce and championship truck owner Shigeaki Hattori.

“You’ve got to give that team their due and Kyle his due,” Hamlin said. “Just a dominant performance. Looked like a pretty flawless day for him. It was all I had to try to keep up. Glad we were able to give him a little bit of a run, but this weekend we’re all thinking about Jon Edwards and his family, Al Pearce, Shigeaki Hattori. We’ve lost a lot of great people in our sport over this past week. So our thoughts are with them.”

Ty Gibbs was third, followed by Chase Briscoe and Ryan Blaney, who led 48 laps but faded to fifth after pitting late and betting on catching a caution.

Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet was one of several cars sporting a decal in the memory of Edwards, the Hendrick Motorsports director of communications whose death was confirmed in a Thursday statement from the team. The cause of death was not announced.

Edwards, 53, was a PR specialist during Jeff Gordon’s four Cup championships. After becoming Gordon’s right-hand man, Edwards also worked closely with Larson since the star joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2021 and won his first championship.

FORMULA 1

Oscar Piastri took his second win of the Formula 1 season in dominant style at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Piastri started on pole and kept Mercedes’ George Russell behind him, fending off a challenge for the lead after a safety-car restart.

Russell held on to second after defending his position on the last lap from Piastri’s McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who finished third after starting sixth.

NHRA

Former NASCAR star Tony Stewart won the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas for his first career Top Fuel victory.

Stewart, 53, had a winning run of 3.870 seconds at 317.42 mph at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He held off Antron Brown at the finish, and also beat Justin Ashley and Jasmine Salinas in the final.

Austin Prock topped the Funny Car field and Dallas Glenn won in Pro Stock.