I think the perception that there was no passing is a combination of Larson's dominance and the TV coverage focused on of the cut line drivers. According to Nascar loop data at Racing-reference.info, there were 2,287 green flag passes for position in the race. The previous 3 Bristol fall races, 1,868, 2,690, 1,881.
There were also 785 Quality Passes, which are green flag passes of a car in the top 15. If Larson isn't dominating I suspect we would have seen a good battle because Elliot, Hamlin, Bubba, Bell, Blaney, Briscoe, etc, were back there racing and passing each other. Even though Gibbs got stuck behind Suarez, we saw numerous other drivers passing both of them.
That said, I agree that there is an issue with this car/package on short tracks, I'm just saying I don't think it was as bad as it appeared.