Did Larson just have the most dominant race of the Next Gen era?

Parity has always been the goal with this generation of a car and as a result, dominant performances like the one we saw last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway have become a rarity. Kyle Larson moved ahead pole-sitter Alex Bowman just 33 laps into the race and never looked back.

He was not passed under green-flag conditions again and dominated the remainder of the race. Larson’s victory was unlike anything we’ve seen at Bristol since 1977 when Cale Yarborough led 495 of 500 laps, and the most laps ever led by a Hendrick driver in a single race. Did we mention that he swept both of the stages as well?

Larson crossed the line just over seven seconds ahead of teammate Chase Elliott, which was also the largest margin of victory at the half-mile short track in 30 years. NASCAR is nearing the end of its third year of competition with the Gen-7 car, so where exactly does this performance rank since the car’s 2022 debut? Looking primarily at laps led by race winners, here’s the most dominant wins of the Next Gen era…

5. 2024 Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

In Larson’s first victory of the 2024 season, the Hendrick driver also swept both stages on his way to leading 182 of 267 laps — 67.8%. What made it more impressive is that he didn’t run away with this victory. He battled door-to-door with Ross Chastain on the final restart and then held off a charging Tyler Reddick at the finish, winning by less than half-a-second.

Watch: Kyle Larson fends off Tyler Reddick in closing laps for Las Vegas victory

4. 2023 Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International

Yet another case of Hendrick domination, and not the last you will see on this list. William Byron came one point short of scoring maximum points at last year’s event at the New York road course. He took the lead on Lap 21 and led 66 of 90 laps, only briefly losing it again through the cycle of pit stops. He crossed the line 2.6 seconds clear of the nearest competition, leading 73.3% of laps that day.

Watch: William Byron secures first road-course win at Watkins Glen

3.  2022 Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway

Another appearance by Larson, who again swept both stages on his way to winning the 2022 Homestead race. He lead 74.5% of the race, controlling the event…