Larson Races On for Late Team Member Despite Dashed Bristol Sweep Bid

Despite the end of his hopes for a weekend sweep, Kyle Larson is racing on and chasing wins in memory of his public relations representative Jon Edwards, who passed away earlier this week.

Kyle Larson, racing with a heavy heart this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, saw his chances at a weekend sweep evaporate before they even began, finishing second in Friday's Truck Series event. | Photo: Jonathan McCoy (used with permission)

What could have been a fairytale-like weekend for Kyle Larson and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, competing in Bristol just days after the passing of long-time public relations representative and current HMS Director of Communications Jon Edwards, just wasn’t meant to be.

For the second time in the last four weeks, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion embarked on a weekend-long journey to become the second driver to sweep a tripleheader weekend, winning NASCAR Truck, Xfinity, and Cup Series events at the same racetrack.

However, Larson’s journey ended before it really even began, finishing runner-up to Chandler Smith in Friday’s Weather Guard Truck Race.

“Yeah, sure, I mean I’m bummed because it’s already over,” Larson said post-race. “Homestead was probably a little bit more of a bummer just because it was at our fingertips really, but I don’t know… you just want to win. I could be racing one race this weekend and run second and I would have still been bummed.”

The Elk Grove, California-native ended up having an eventful night in Bristol, Tennessee, after inclement weather forced the cancellation of practice and qualifying and left Larson and the No. 07 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado to start in 11th.

During the first half of the 250-lap contest, Larson wasn’t the dominant driver by any means, and spent lots of time hovering around the back-half of the top-10, especially after struggling during the long-run that ended the race’s second stage.

Then, to make matters even worse, the NASCAR Cup Series veteran ended up getting a speeding penalty on Lap 136, giving himself just over 100 laps to get his Spire Motorsports entry back to the front of the pack after being kicked to the tail-end of the line.

Larson was able to drive himself back into the top 10, and eventually the top five, the 30-time NASCAR Cup Series race-winner found himself in contention to win the race after a series of late restarts put him just behind eventual winner Chandler Smith,

However, in the final eight-lap run to the finish, Larson couldn’t catch the Front Row Motorsports driver and would have to settle for a second-place run.

“It doesn’t really sting because I wasn’t that good in the middle portion of the race, and I had a speeding penalty,” said Larson. “So, we overcame a lot to get back to second and passed a lot of good trucks doing it. Obviously, yeah, I’d have loved to have won, but to work hard and keep ourselves in the hunt again and just come up a little bit short was okay by me.”

Thus, before the 32-year-old driver even had the opportunity to hype up the possibility of achieving something so rare in NASCAR’s National Series, the chance of joining Kyle Busch in the record books was already smashed.

But, Larson, along with everyone at Hendrick Motorsports, will continue to race their hearts out this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, as they look to collect a win in either the NASCAR Cup Series or NASCAR Xfinity Series in honor of Jon Edwards.

Remembering our friend Jon Edwards. pic.twitter.com/44EQQoY5mz

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 12, 2025

“He meant a lot to me personally, just getting to be with him since 2021 and going on a couple of vacations with him, getting to know him and being around him a lot – he’s probably the gut I’m around the most on the No. 5 team,” said Larson. “Gonna miss having him around, he’s had a long career with Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports. Definitely a sad week for the industry, but we’re going to mourn his loss and try to win some races for him this weekend.”

Edwards, a veteran of three decades in the public relations field, spent most of his career in NASCAR working alongside four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon during his illustrious career. After spending a lot of time around Hendrick Motorsports, Edwards officially joined the organization in 2021 and was named Director of Communications the following year.

Edwards was a three-decade veteran of the public relations field, spending most of his career working alongside NASCAR Cup Series champion and Hall of Fame driver Jeff Gordon throughout his time at NASCAR’s top-level.

After spending a lot of time around the Hendrick Motorsports organization, Edwards was hired by the team in 2021, where he’s worked closely with Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, since. The following year, in 2022, Edwards was named Director of Communications for the championship-winning organization.

"He would want us to not be sad; he was a happy person, so we're going to hold our heads high and represent him well this weekend."

Kyle Larson on Jon Edwards