“We’re not enemies…we respect each other. We’re rivals.” These were Christopher Bell’s words two weeks ago after a thrilling Atlanta race. Indeed, both Bell and Kyle Larson have competed with each other on various occasions from their dirt racing origins right up to the NASCAR Cup Series. But in the 2025 season, Bell has been outsmarting Larson – who washed up against another such encounter at Phoenix Raceway. Yet Larson chose to play fair with his rival.
Kyle Larson confesses to choosing the righteous path
Well, NASCAR is a beating-and-banging sport. In several situations, you cannot score victories unless you take a little risk and upset your rivals. However, Kyle Larson steered clear of such a controversy at the Shriner’s Children 500 race at Phoenix Raceway. Using Goodyear’s option tires optimally, the Hendrick Motorsports driver shot into the top ten by stage 1 despite starting 17th. He slowly moved up the ranks until becoming a force to reckon with by lap 224, when he was running third.
The last few laps witnessed a fierce battle between Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, and Denny Hamlin. Entering Turn 3 on the final lap, Bell forced Hamlin to lift, allowing Larson to charge to the inside for a three-wide dash. However, the No. 5 driver didn’t force the issue, allowing the race to end cleanly. Seeing his rival, Bell complete a three-peat would’ve been a crushing sight. But he wasn’t going to pull off Austin Cindric 2.0 after the COTA controversy. And in the pit road interview, Larson deemed it to be the right call. “I felt like that was our only hope. yeah, I felt like I made the correct decisions there.”
Kyle Larson also emphasized that had he put in too much force, things would have turned haywire. “I don’t know, I’d have to look back at it. I thought being patient to try and keep them side by side down the back was good. I could have shot to the bottom but I felt like I would have wrecked everybody there. Yeah, just gave ourselves a shot for them to maybe get into each other and us sneak by.”
Christopher Bell fends off Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson to win the Cup race at Phoenix
12th career win; three in a row
First driver since Larson in 2021 to win three in a row
First to win three of the first four since 2018 Kevin Harvick
Another respectful finish
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) March 9, 2025
Lastly, the Hendrick Motorsports driver piled up praises for his No. 5 HMS team. Slicing up track positions from 17th place to third is no mean feat, as Kyle Larson said: “Good to finish third. I thought we were going to be lucky to finish top-ten. Pit crew did a great job there that last stop. They made good adjustments compared to our first option tire round two. Yeah, got better, but need to be a lot, lot better to have a shot to win here in the fall when it really matters. Great to get a solid finish in here. It’s been kind of a struggle for us here to start the year. Happy about that. Go to Vegas and try to do good again.”
Evidently, Kyle Larson maintained a level of respect for his old dirt racing rival. As Christopher Bell soaks in his third consecutive victory, his rival is preparing to break his streak.
The post “I’d Have Wrecked Everybody”: Kyle Larson Loses ‘Only Hope’ in Phoenix Amid Defeat to His Biggest Rival appeared first on EssentiallySports.
