NASCAR drivers on the gas as Cup Series returns to action at Bristol Motor Speedway

“I wish I could get more of it, but at the same time, I just want to race to get better,” said Larson, who is mired in a 31-race victory drought dating to last May. “You take a week off, and it’s like, ‘Man, I just want to keep going.’"

He expects the rest of the field to be as eager to climb behind the wheel Sunday in Bristol, Tennessee — just as he said his rivals have been this year, despite a new championship structure that penalizes aggression.

For the first time in more than a decade, cumulative points totals will determine the 16-driver Chase field that will compete for the title, and the driver who scores the most points in the final 10 races will be crowned champion.

It’s a departure from the 2014-25 format that put a bigger reward on high-risk maneuvers because a win would qualify for the playoffs.

Yet if drivers have raced conservatively this year, Larson said he hasn’t noticed.

“I feel like it’s just as aggressive as it’s been,” he said. “At most racetracks, it’s wild. With this car, you can get into people. So I didn’t expect it to change a whole lot, but maybe it will as we get into The Chase.”

Brad Keselowski has been surprised by what he perceives as a lack of adaptation to The Chase.

“I’m actually quite shocked we haven’t seen more of a different style,” said Keselowski, who won the 2012 title under a previous Chase format. “I don’t think it’s really clicking yet for a good part of the field who just never grew up racing in a system like this. They’re going to have to adapt or be replaced. Sometimes you have to feel the pain first.”

Sunday’s 500-lap race at Bristol, a track known for its rough-and-tumble racing, could provide a good indicator of whether drivers are choosing discretion — and one statistical category indicates some might be this season.

There have been 42 yellow flags through seven races — the fewest cautions at this point in the season since 2018.

Josh Berry said his mindset has been different.

“There’s a higher penalty for wrecking out,” the Wood Brothers Racing driver said. “Subconsciously, there probably is more give and take because there should be. Your finishes are going to determine whether you make The Chase or not and have a chance to win the championship.”

For Larson, though, the primary goal remains winning at a track where he has dominated.

“It’s kind of wild to think that it’s almost been a year since I’ve won,” said Larson, who led 873 of 1,000 laps in winning two of the past three races at Bristol. “We’re working as hard as ever. It’s just gotten really tough for whatever reason. This series is tough. A lot of times we’ve made winning maybe look easy, but it’s not.”

Bowman’s back

Alex Bowman thought his NASCAR career was over after being sidelined by a bout of vertigo. But after missing four races while rehabbing with multiple doctors, the Hendrick Motorsports driver feels well enough to return at Bristol without a relief driver on standby.

Bowman, who suffered from dizziness and vomiting during the March 1 race at Circuit of the Americas, concedes that Bristol is “probably the worst place possible to come back.” The high-banked 0.533-mile oval has a teeth-rattling concrete surface, and racing at 130 mph inside its tight confines has been compared to flying a fighter jet in a gymnasium.

But it’s a strong track for Bowman, who started on the pole for two of the past three races at Bristol and has three top-five finishes there.

“It’s a track that is extremely difficult," he said. "I’m trying to get back up to speed. I think expectations probably change a little bit this week. If we could get out of here with a top 10, top 15, I’d be happy.”

Bowman feels “super confident” after testing without dizziness this week at a high-performance road course. He is eager for another comeback after missing two races with a concussion in 2022 and three races with a back injury from a sprint car crash in 2023.

“I’ve put (the team) in a tough spot multiple times, so they’ve probably given me more grace at times than I deserve,” he said. “So super thankful for that and just ready to get back rolling.”

No phone zone

Trackhouse Racing driver Connor Zilisch hung out this week at the Masters, and the 19-year-old rookie was impressed by the Augusta National ban on cellphones.

“As a kid, it kind of felt weird every time I went to go take a picture, and I’d reach for my pocket, there was nothing there,” he said. “It was awesome not having your phone. Every sporting event nowadays, you look at every big moment, and everybody’s always filming it with their phones or trying to take pictures. And to have so many people there that were just engaged in the event, it definitely made it different and unique.”

Odds and ends

Kyle Larson (+375), who has led 1,762 laps in 19 starts at Bristol, is favored by BetMGM Sportsbook, followed by four-time Bristol winner Denny Hamlin (+550), Ryan Blaney (+650) and Christopher Bell (+650), who won Friday night’s truck race. … Bristol is known for spawning yellow flags, but the last time that the Cup Series went into overtime at the track because of a late caution was in April 2015, an 18-race stretch.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing