Kyle Larson entered the NASCAR race weekend trying to do what only one other driver has done in NASCAR national series history: win the Truck Series race, the Xfinity Series race, and the Cup Series race during the same weekend.
Only Kyle Busch has ever pulled it off, and he has done so twice, both times at Bristol Motor Speedway (2010 and 2017). Larson made his first Truck Series start since 2023 for Spire Motorsports on Friday night, and he overcame a spin to find victory lane.
He then dominated Saturday's Xfinity Series race for Hendrick Motorsports. But when he had opened up a 16-second lead with just a handful of laps remaining, a late spin by Joe Gibbs Racing rookie Taylor Gray caused a caution which led to a restart.
And on that restart, Larson fell back to fourth place due to contact from behind from Haas Factory Team's Sam Mayer.
That fourth place finish ended Larson's opportunity for a tripleheader sweep over the weekend. And lo and behold, the pre-race favorite won Sunday's Cup Series race, giving him two wins in three races.
As a result, the late caution on Saturday night – specifically the late spin by Gray – created a domino effect that robbed Larson of a chance at history.
With that in mind entering Sunday's race, Gray was probably the last driver who wanted to see Larson find victory lane. Now, unfortunately for him, his spin is what ultimately prevented the sweep.
Mayer probably wasn't exactly cheering for Larson on Sunday either, but at least in his case, he actually finished the race in second place behind JR Motorsports' Justin Allgaier after the contact. He was being aggressive on the restart and simply made a mistake.
And of course, the reigning series champion Allgaier is probably feeling pretty good, having now won back-to-back Xfinity Series races for the first time since 2020.
Larson is set to attempt the feat again at Bristol in mid-April. He has never competed on the Bristol concrete in the Truck Series, though he won his most recent Xfinity Series start there in 2018 and has been the driver to beat in the Cup Series, winning in 2021 and 2024 and never finishing lower than fifth place since 2019.
Beyond that, Larson does not have any more starts confirmed for the Truck Series or the Xfinity Series this season, so if he wants to make it happen and join Busch in an exclusive NASCAR national series club in 2025, it probably has to happen at the "Last Great Colosseum" in a few weeks.