Kyle Larson reflects on late friend Jon Edwards: 'He would want us to not be sad'

Tonight, Kyle Larson came up short of the Truck Series win at Bristol, and his hopes of a weekend sweep were dashed with it. The NASCAR Cup Series champion couldn’t be too upset with the result, considering the devasting news of Jon Edwards’ death on Thursday night.

Kyle Larson really put things into perspective after the race. Edwards was a longtime PR representative for Hendrick Motorsports. He spent most of his career working with Jeff Gordon and later, with Larson.

Talking to Dustin Long of NBC Sports after the race, Larson reflected on the loss of his friend. The NASCAR industry suffered multiple losses in the last week with the deaths of Truck Series team owner Shige Hattori and longtime journalist Al Pearce in addition to Edwards.

“He meant a lot to me, personally. You know, just getting to be with him since 2021, going on a couple of vacations and stuff with him, getting to know him and just being around him a lot,” Larson said. “He’s probably the guy I’m around the most on the 5 team. So, I’m going to miss having him around.

“You know, he’s had a long career with Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports. Definitely a sad week for the industry, but yeah, we’re going to mourn his loss and try to win some races for him this weekend. 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 has two more chances to get a win for Jon this weekend. If I were a betting man, I’d say he gets at least one.

Kyle Larson falls short to Chandler Smith at Bristol

When the final caution was lifted, there were only six laps to go in the race. Kyle Larson had to try and run Chandler Smith down in that time, but it just wasn’t meant to be. In the process, Larson managed to run the fastest lap of the race with only four laps to go.

Smith was the best driver all night. 127 laps in the lead, a Stage 1 win, a P2 in Stage 2, and ultimately the win. The final restart, Smith had Larson and Layne Riggs behind him with fresher tires. He couldn’t be thrown off his game.

These Truck Series races have really been a lot of fun. Quick races that last about two hours, lots of action, and one mistake can throw a driver off for the rest of the night. 250 laps at Bristol go back so quickly, and it looked like these trucks were going 200 MPH on the high banks.

Kyle Larson didn’t have a great truck, but his team worked on it. By the end of the race, he had a very fast truck. The only problem is that he didn’t have enough laps at the end of the race to truly challenge Smith. Two more races this weekend. Can Larson pick up a win?