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Tag: Bristol Motor Speedway

  • Remembering the Underbird

    Remembering the Underbird

    Hooters 500I still can’t imagine that it has been 23 years since we lost Alan Kulwicki in a plane crash as he was headed to Bristol Motor Speedway. The sight of the No. 7 hauler taking the lap around Bristol before leaving the track still brings a chill up my back.

    Kulwicki did things his way. He brought engineering into NASCAR and now 23 years later, most crew chiefs are engineers. Future crew chief and owner, Ray Evernham, lasted six weeks with Kulwicki in 1992. Evernham later said, “The man was a genius. There’s no question. It’s not a matter of people just feeling like he was a genius. That man was a genius. But his personality paid for that. He was very impatient, very straightforward, very cut-to-the-bone.”

    When Kulwicki started his own team he served as his own engineer and crew chief. Eventually, he hired Paul Andrews as the crew chief and the team also featured two future crew chiefs, Tony Gibson, the current crew chief for Kurt Busch at Stewart-Haas Racing and Brian Whitesell who succeeded Ray Evernham as the crew chief for Jeff Gordon.

    In the early 1990s, very few people would say no to Junior Johnson. When Johnson was looking to replace Terry Labonte, he offered the seat to Kulwicki who said no because he wanted to run his own team. Kulwicki had another run-in with Johnson. In 1991, Johnson wanted to start a second team and offered Kulwicki $1 million to drive for him. The Wisconsin owner/driver turned him down thinking he had secured Maxwell House as a sponsor for his team. Johnson wound up taking the Maxwell House sponsorship and hired Sterling Marlin to drive the No. 22 Maxwell House Ford for Johnson and Kulwicki started the 1991 season without sponsorship.

    Kulwicki would eventually secure Hooters to sponsor his car for one race in 1991 and it grew into a multi-year commitment. That commitment from Hooters and Kulwicki’s determination turned into magic in 1992. It was a season of consistency. He scored two victories and only had two finishes outside the top-20 all season. When the team rolled through the gates for the 1992 Hooters 500, Kulwicki was second in points, trailing Davey Allison by 30 points. He went to Ford and NASCAR to get approval to have Underbird on the car because he relished the underdog role.

    During the race, points leader Allison was involved in a wreck with Ernie Irvan and fell out of contention. It became a battle between Bill Elliott and Kulwicki to determine the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup championship. Elliott won the Hooters 500, but Kulwicki managed  a second place finish to capture the series championship.

    The 1992 Hooters 500 is one for the NASCAR record books. It was Richard Petty’s final race, Jeff Gordon’s first race and the day the Underbird took Alan Kulwicki to the championship.

    It was a championship he wouldn’t defend. After an appearance at the Hooters in Knoxville, Tennessee, Kulwicki was flying to Bristol when his plane crashed on final approach to the airport. Kulwicki was gone at the age of 38.

    His legacy continues in the sport. Tony Gibson is still on a pit box, engineers are the life blood of Sprint Cup success for any team and now the Alan Kulwicki Driver Development Program is helping worthy drivers along the way to reaching their dream.

    It’s been 23 years since NASCAR lost a true independent owner/driver who did it his way. Tony Stewart has won a championship since Kulwicki as an owner-driver, but Stewart also had the partnership with Gene Haas and support from Hendrick Motorsports. Kulwicki did it on his own.

    I can still see the Hooters No. 7 taking the Polish Victory Lap waving to the fans and I will always wonder how much more he could have accomplished if he wasn’t taken so soon.

    Rest in peace, Alan Kulwicki. You are still missed.

  • More football is coming to Thunder Valley

    More football is coming to Thunder Valley

    BRISTOL, Tenn.- Two other schools will be playing pigskin at Thunder Valley at the tail end of the summer.

    The East Tennessee State University Buccaneers will open their Southern Conference portion of play against the Western Carolina Catamounts at Bristol Motor Speedway. The game will take place on Sept. 17.

    Buccaneers head coach Carl Torbush said that everybody at the ETSU football program is “very excited about this opportunity to play at Bristol Motor Speedway. We are very appreciative of Jerry Caldwell and everyone at BMS in making this happen.”

    Western Carolina head coach Mark Speir, who was born and raised in Kannapolis, N.C. and is a diehard NASCAR fan, said that he’s looking forward to the opportunity to “welcome ETSU back to the SoCon – and to be able to do so in such a storied American sports venue like Bristol Motor Speedway is an awesome opportunity for both our programs.”

    Jerry Caldwell, general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway, said that “it’s exciting for us to support ETSU’s return to football and offer these athletes an experience they’ll never forget.”

    Caldwell also said that only the backstretch stands will be used for this game.

    Thunder Valley is no stranger to hosting football games. It played host to an NFL preseason game in 1961 between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins. On Sept. 10 of this year, it will play host to the Tennessee Volunteers and the Virginia Tech Hokies in the Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol.

  • Bristol Night Race Has a New Sponsor

    Bristol Night Race Has a New Sponsor

    Bristol’s night race will have a new sponsor next season.

    Bristol Motor Speedway announced that Bass Pro Shops and the National Rifle Association will co-sponsor next year’s night race. It will be titled the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race.

    “NASCAR fans love racing, hunting and the outdoors and we are excited to spotlight them together in Bristol,” said Johnny Morris, founder of Bass Pro Shops. “Located in the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountain region, the Night Race is the perfect venue for us to celebrate our shared love of the outdoors and the importance of protecting natural resources for future generations.”

    The partnership makes sense with East Tennessee being home to great lakes for fishing and mountains for hunting.

    Jerry Caldwell, executive vice president and general manager for Bristol Motor Speedway, commented that the famous “nature of The Night Race and the natural beauty of our region create the perfect opportunity to highlight conservation on a national stage. Hunters and sporting enthusiasts attend NASCAR races in droves. We share the same customers and that makes this a well-suited partnership.”

    Richard Childress, team owner of Richard Childress Racing, stated that fans and members of the NRA “treasure their freedom and outdoor heritage, and the Night Race is where we go to celebrate that love of freedom, love of the shooting sports, and love of the great outdoors. It’s an electrifying race and an exciting way to celebrate the American values we share and the legacy we preserve for young sportsmen and hunters all across this great nation.”

    Since it’s opening in 1961, Bristol Motor Speedway has been among the premier venues in NASCAR. It’s been home to some of the most famous finishes, crashes and fistfights in its 54 years on the NASCAR rotation. While there are those who’ll say Bristol isn’t as great as it was long ago, I will argue until the day I die that the changes made to Bristol in 2007 and 2012 have made the racing at Bristol better than it was long ago.

    I loved Bristol when I attended my very first NASCAR race there in 2003 and I’ve loved it since attending at least one Bristol race every year since. Take it from someone who lives in the East Tennessee area, you don’t want to miss a race at Bristol. Even if you attend a race here once, it’s worth every penny.

    Tickets to both this race and next April’s Food City 500 can be purchased by calling (855) 580-5525 or visiting BristolTix.com. It’s not just a race, “It’s Bristol Baby!”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Bristol Irwin Tools Night Race

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Bristol Irwin Tools Night Race

    With lots of discussion and questions about restarts in the drivers’ meeting prior to the race, here is what was surprising and not surprising after the checkered flag flew on the 55Th Annual Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Surprising:  Joey Logano took a page from ‘Through the Looking Glass’ as he battled against Kevin Harvick and the rest of the field to take the checkered flag at Bristol Motor Speedway. This was the third win of the season for the driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford for Team Penske.

    “It was kind of interesting to watch it in the mirror,” Logano said. “I was watching him (Harvick) drive in and I was like, ‘He’s going to get me eventually,’ so I just wanted to make sure I stayed at least three or four car lengths up on him so he didn’t get to me.

    “There’s not much time to look in the rearview mirror, but I realized how different his line was than mine.  He’d drive in so hard and almost get to my back bumper and then I’d drive off really good.  It’s kind of interesting to watch a race like that when two cars are a similar speed but in two complete different ways.  That’s what’s so fun about Bristol is you can drive the car about five or six different ways and make it fast, so it’s fun to race here.

    “That’s what we did and that’s what we do every week.  We just try to keep our heads calm and cool and just run our race.

    “I feel like we’re right where we need to be, just like we were last year at this point.  I can’t wait for the Chase to start.”

    Not Surprising:  It was a twofer for the No. 4 car, who turned two pit road penalties into another second place finish.

    “Yeah, we had an interesting night,” Kevin Harvick said after finishing second for the 10th time this season. “We went to the back twice and passed a bunch of cars.

    “I think, all in all, it’s just a huge credit to the team. They just keep bringing fast cars to the race track and we’re able to overcome a lot of things.

    “So, it’s just great to be a part of a team like this and just really excited to be able to run like this at Bristol.”

    Surprising:  It was a blowout of the unwanted kind for Kyle Larson, who had such high hopes coming into the Bristol night race. The driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet had a tire blow out when he stayed out after taking just two tires, finishing 41st.

    “The first time we blew our left front we stayed out on two tires and we had a lot of laps on our lefts,” Larson said. “And we blew that one out. Later on we had a lot of damage and got really tight and blew the right front.

    “I guess on our left front the side wall got cut out. I don’t know if that was a wear issue or not. Then we got into the wall and we were pretty tight after that with lots of damage on the right side. So, probably just used up our right front tire because I couldn’t turn. I just hate it we hit the wall with a blown right front and ended our night.”

    Not Surprising:  By no means out but……could best describe Paul Menard, who finished 24th at Bristol and is hanging on to 12th in the point standings and 14th in the Chase grid at present.

    “This was not the finish we wanted when the weekend started at Bristol,” the driver of the No. 27 Knauf/Menards Chevrolet said. “We got behind early in the race and then were never able to make the improvements work to our advantage during the night. Then we ended up getting some damage there near the end and that didn’t help us any.

    “But, the good news is we fought through all that and finished the race. We are by no means out of the Chase for the Championship and look forward to being there after Richmond.”

    Surprising:  Ryan Newman apparently was doing his best imitation of David Copperfield, working some magic on his. No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet.

    “We took a 20th place car from Friday and turned it into a top 10 on Saturday,” Newman said. “Not the end result that we wanted, but a good points day for us. That is part of what we are racing for right now.”

    This was Newman’s second straight top-10 finish at Bristol and his 10th place finish advance him up to the 11th place in the championship point standings and 13th in the Chase Grid.

    Not Surprising:  After the devastating news of the demise of Michael Waltrip Racing for the 2016 season, Clint Bowyer fought the hard fight for his team, finishing fifth in his No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota.

    “MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) really needed that run,” Bowyer said. “With that being said we desperately needed a solid run right there. I mean obviously you’re hungry for a win with this organization given everything it had and I drove my ass off, we just come up short.

    “I’m really proud of all of these guys on the 5-hour ENERGY Toyota. They’re digging man. It’s fun to be a part of this. It’s fun to be a part of a group that can answer the call when you gotta dig down and reach down a little bit more to get in that Chase and be a part of that elite group.

    “These guys are up for the challenge.”

    Surprising:  One young driver surprisingly logged an incredible number of laps at Bristol Motor Speedway, in fact, one thousand to be exact.

    “I could do it again,” Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 21 SKF Ford in the Cup race and driver in the Truck and Xfinity races as well. “It’s just nice to get all those laps under your belt and know the race track, what it does and learn for next time.”

    In the Cup race and after completing his one thousand Thunder Valley laps, Blaney finished 22nd.

    “It’s not the night we wanted, but we gained some good experience and hopefully we come back better.”

    Not Surprising:  As they have done for much of the season, Hendrick Motorsports shop mates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. fared fairly well at Bristol where shop mates Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne continued to struggle.

    Johnson finished best in fourth in his No. 48 Lowe’s Pro Services Chevrolet, and Earnhardt Jr. popped off another top-10 finish in his No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet.  Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon, however, finished 16th and 20th respectively.

    Jeff Gordon, in his final year of Cup competition, currently sits 15th in the Chase grid after the Bristol race.

    Surprising:  Martin Truex Jr., who has been so consistently running for much of the season to date, took the biggest tumble in the point standings, falling two spots to the sixth spot. Truex had to go to a backup car, then had a lug nut issues, which put him back in the field, and finally was collected in an accident.

    “I felt we had a top-three car tonight, but the loose wheel really hurt our chances,” Cole Pearn, crew chief, said after the race.

    Not Surprising: As usual, given his dry wit, Matt Kenseth had the quote of the race after finishing 42nd due to engine failure, wishing for at least a text before going up in smoke.

    “It broke in the middle of the straightaway – it had that hop and that noise that it makes when you know you dropped a valve,” the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry said. “Something in the valve train, we dropped a valve or something it felt like and sounded like. Things like that happen.

    “They never warn you, it would be cool if they would send you a text or something. Just the middle of the straightaway it made that pop where you knew that was it.”

    As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series prepares to head into the Chase, the racers get a needed weekend off next weekend.  On Sunday, September 6, racing will resume at historic Darlington Raceway.

     

  • Logano Holds Off Harvick to Defend Bristol Night Race Title

    Logano Holds Off Harvick to Defend Bristol Night Race Title

    By Reid Spencer
    NASCAR Wire Service

    BRISTOL, Tenn. – With Kevin Harvick hounding him mercilessly for 63 laps, Joey Logano kept his No. 22 Team Penske Ford out front after taking the lead on a Lap 438 restart and held on to win Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.Successfully defending last year’s victory at Thunder Valley, Logano won his third race of the season, his second at the .533-mile short track and the 11th of his career.Harvick recovered from two pit road speeding penalties to finish second, a mere .220 seconds behind Logano. Polesitter Denny Hamlin ran third, and Clint Bowyer got a much-needed fourth place result in his No. 15 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota.

    It was a fascinating Chase over the final 63 laps, as Harvick would bury his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet into the corner at the top of the track, catch Logano in the turns and watch as Logano dived to the bottom on corner exit and pull away.

    “There’s not much time to look in the rearview mirror, but I realized how different his line was than mine,” Logano said. “He’d drive in so hard and almost get to my back bumper, and then I’d drive off really good.

    “It’s kind of interesting to watch a race like that when two cars are a similar speed, but in two completely different ways. That’s what’s so fun about Bristol is you can drive the car about five or six different ways and make it fast, so it’s fun to race here.”

    Harvick said Logano’s ability to diamond the corner gave the Ford an advantage when it came to working traffic.

    “He was just one step ahead of me in traffic,” Harvick said. “I couldn’t get my car to rotate across the center like I needed it to, and every time I tried to force it, it would snap the back out. He was able to go in really high and before the center of the corner drive down the corner and I was just having to wait just a split second to be able to put the throttle back down, and I couldn’t do that, that huge diamond all the way to the bottom like he could, and that was really beneficial for him through traffic…

    “He was able to get those huge runs up off the exit of the corner and just stayed one step ahead of me through traffic, I felt like, and in clean air we probably were a little faster, but it didn’t really matter. I had to be in front of him to show that.”

    Brad Keselowski came home fifth, followed by Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch, who led a race-high 192 laps but was hit with a pit road speeding penalty on his last stop under yellow on Lap 432.

    Logano took over from there and racked up 176 laps out front in a race that saw 14 lead changes among five drivers. The runner-up finish was Harvick’s 10th of the season.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished ninth, followed by Ryan Newman and Jamie McMurray, who solidified their positions in the fight for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup berths on points. McMurray and Newman are 10th and 11th in the standings, respectively, the highest-scored drivers without a victory this season.

    Given that there have been only 11 different winners in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this year, at least three drivers are certain to qualify for the Chase on points.

    Kyle Busch, a four-time winner, and 29th in the standings, also moved closer to locking up a Chase berth, padding his advantage to 46 points over 31st-place Cole Whitt. Busch, who missed the first 11 events of the season because of injury, must remain in the top 30 for the next two races to qualify for the Chase.

    Busch wasn’t pleased when NASCAR flagged him for the speeding penalty, but he made a masterful drive from the rear of the field to eighth place.

    “I was proud of Kyle, keeping his cool and getting back up, because I think that gave us some more points, some more cushion there,” team owner Joe Gibbs said. “I think he’s doing a really good job of focusing and not losing his poise.”

    NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race – IRWIN Tools Night Race
    Bristol Motor Speedway
    Bristol, Tennessee
    Saturday, August 22, 2015

    1. (5) Joey Logano, Ford, 500, $365198.
    2. (7) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 500, $262605.
    3. (1) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 500, $195330.
    4. (10) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 500, $190166.
    5. (9) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 500, $166213.
    6. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 500, $167786.
    7. (3) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 500, $121995.
    8. (2) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 500, $175286.
    9. (20) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 500, $135970.
    10. (18) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 500, $145670.
    11. (21) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 500, $142826.
    12. (14) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 500, $138468.
    13. (16) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 500, $147896.
    14. (11) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 499, $124060.
    15. (22) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 498, $150985.
    16. (19) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 498, $122685.
    17. (31) Aric Almirola, Ford, 497, $150171.
    18. (26) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 497, $133905.
    19. (40) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 497, $134049.
    20. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 496, $151521.
    21. (8) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 496, $113535.
    22. (15) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 496, $101285.
    23. (28) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 496, $128468.
    24. (29) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 496, $111635.
    25. (17) Greg Biffle, Ford, 496, $134018.
    26. (25) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 495, $130818.
    27. (32) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 495, $109440.
    28. (23) Martin Truex Jr, Chevrolet, 495, $127175.
    29. (33) Cole Whitt, Ford, 495, $112278.
    30. (27) Brett Moffitt #, Ford, 495, $103385.
    31. (30) Michael McDowell, Ford, 495, $97275.
    32. (36) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 494, $109712.
    33. (42) Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, 493, $99555.
    34. (38) JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, 492, $96895.
    35. (34) Josh Wise, Ford, 491, $96760.
    36. (37) David Gilliland, Ford, 488, $104675.
    37. (43) Mike Bliss(i), Chevrolet, 486, $96505.
    38. (39) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 480, $91228.
    39. (41) Timmy Hill(i), Ford, 476, $87165.
    40. (4) David Ragan, Toyota, Accident, 443, $110479.
    41. (12) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Accident, 356, $107073.
    42. (13) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, Engine, 110, $112101.
    43. (35) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, Engine, 0, $71665.

    Average Speed of Race Winner: 96.89 mph.
    Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 45 Mins, 02 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.220 Seconds.
    Caution Flags: 8 for 52 laps.
    Lead Changes: 14 among 5 drivers.


    Lap Leaders: D. Hamlin 1-26; Kyle Busch 27-52; D. Hamlin 53; Kyle Busch 54-127; D. Hamlin 128-154; Kyle Busch 155-224; J. Logano 225-252; C. Edwards 253-280; Kyle Busch 281-302; C. Edwards 303-345; J. Logano 346-350; C. Edwards 351-353; J. Logano 354-432; B. Keselowski 433-436; J. Logano 437-500.

    Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Busch 4 times for 192 laps; J. Logano 4 times for 176 laps; C. Edwards 3 times for 74 laps; D. Hamlin 3 times for 54 laps; B. Keselowski 1 time for 4 laps.

    Top 16 in Points: K. Harvick – 908; J. Logano – 865; D. Earnhardt Jr. – 819; B. Keselowski – 793; J. Johnson – 792; M. Truex Jr – 771; M. Kenseth – 753; Kurt Busch – 713; D. Hamlin – 712; J. McMurray – 696; R. Newman – 683; P. Menard – 674; J. Gordon – 672; C. Edwards – 666; C. Bowyer – 655; A. Almirola – 620.

     

  • Kyle Busch Grabs Overtime XFINITY Win at Bristol

    Kyle Busch Grabs Overtime XFINITY Win at Bristol

    By Reid Spencer
    NASCAR Wire Service

    BRISTOL, Tenn. – When Chris Buescher’s Ford faltered on a green-white-checkered restart on Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch took full advantage, as is his custom.

    In a Food City 300 that went to two laps of overtime at the .533-mile short track, Busch finished .427 seconds ahead of Kyle Larson, as Buescher faded to 11th after his car failed to pick up fuel off Turn 2 of the next-to-last lap.

    The victory was Busch’s third of the season in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, his eighth at Bristol and the 73rd of his career, extending his own series record.

    “This is home—this is where I’m supposed to be,” Busch said, standing outside the car in Victory Lane. “I wish I was here Wednesday night (after the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race), so we could continue the sweep lookout for (Saturday), but that was a second place. Oh, well.”

    Polesitter Denny Hamlin ran third, followed by Ty Dillon and Daniel Suarez, who got a bonus for his top-five run. As the highest finishing eligible driver in the XFINITY Dash 4 Cash program, Suarez picked up an extra $100,000.

    Pit strategy put Buescher at the front of the field under the fourth caution of the race, caused by Cale Conley’s spin in Turn 4. Staying out on older tires while most of the lead-lap cars came to pit road for fresh rubber and fuel, Buescher nevertheless pulled away from Busch during a succession of restarts, as Busch saved his equipment for what he thought would be the inevitable late-race caution.

    “I let the 60 (Buescher) go,” Busch said. “He ran out there to about a straightaway on us, and I was just trying to save and do what I could to keep my tires underneath me. I knew we were going to get some cautions at the end to bunch us back up, and fortunately we did.

    “I wasn’t sure they were going to make it on fuel (having pitted on lap 131 of 302), and obviously they cut it close—a little too close.”

    Busch got the yellow he needed, just in time. Brad Teague’s wreck on the frontstretch with five laps left set up the green-white-checkered and gave Busch the chance he needed.

    Buescher, who saw his series lead shrink to 19 points over Ty Dillon, knew he could have made it to the end on fuel, had the race not gone to overtime.

    NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – Food City 300
    Bristol Motor Speedway
    Bristol, Tennessee
    Friday, August 21, 2015

    1. (2) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 302, $53821.
    2. (7) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 302, $39921.
    3. (1) Denny Hamlin(i), Toyota, 302, $40792.
    4. (11) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 302, $34852.
    5. (9) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, 302, $34467.
    6. (4) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 302, $30854.
    7. (10) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 302, $31485.
    8. (3) Kevin Harvick(i), Chevrolet, 302, $24344.
    9. (12) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 302, $30097.
    10. (15) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 302, $30769.
    11. (5) Chris Buescher, Ford, 302, $31717.
    12. (14) Darrell Wallace Jr. #, Ford, 302, $29516.
    13. (13) Brandon Jones(i), Chevrolet, 302, $29416.
    14. (27) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 302, $29350.
    15. (16) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 302, $29904.
    16. (19) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 302, $29269.
    17. (21) Ross Chastain #, Chevrolet, 302, $29224.
    18. (20) Cale Conley #, Toyota, 301, $29178.
    19. (18) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 299, $29143.
    20. (32) David Starr, Toyota, 298, $29603.
    21. (29) Blake Koch, Toyota, 298, $29037.
    22. (6) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 297, $28987.
    23. (24) John Wes Townley(i), Chevrolet, 297, $28926.
    24. (22) Dakoda Armstrong, Ford, 297, $28865.
    25. (17) Ryan Reed, Ford, 295, $28955.
    26. (40) Brad Teague, Toyota, 291, $28739.
    27. (33) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 289, $28678.
    28. (37) Ryan Ellis(i), Chevrolet, 288, $28588.
    29. (25) Hermie Sadler III, Toyota, 287, $28547.
    30. (36) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 275, $22802.
    31. (8) Elliott Sadler, Ford, Accident, 254, $28461.
    32. (28) Dylan Kwasniewski, Chevrolet, Accident, 253, $28391.
    33. (34) Eric McClure, Toyota, 252, $28366.
    34. (23) Harrison Rhodes #, Chevrolet, Accident, 247, $28345.
    35. (30) Mario Gosselin, Chevrolet, Handling, 180, $28318.
    36. (38) Jordan Anderson(i), Dodge, 170, $20227.
    37. (26) Benny Gordon, Toyota, Electrical, 65, $19227.
    38. (39) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Brakes, 28, $18227.
    39. (35) Carl Long, Dodge, Handling, 22, $17227.
    40. (31) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 3, $16227.

    Average Speed of Race Winner: 86.27 mph.
    Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 51 Mins, 57 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.426 Seconds.
    Caution Flags: 8 for 52 laps.
    Lead Changes: 10 among 4 drivers.

    Lap Leaders: D. Hamlin(i) 1-2; K. Busch(i) 3-12; D. Hamlin(i) 13-26; K. Busch(i) 27-54; D. Hamlin(i) 55; K. Busch(i) 56-104; D. Hamlin(i) 105-124; K. Harvick(i) 125; D. Hamlin(i) 126-194; C. Buescher 195-300; K. Busch(i) 301-302.

    Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): D. Hamlin(i) 5 times for 106 laps; C. Buescher 1 time for 106 laps; K. Busch(i) 4 times for 89 laps; K. Harvick(i) 1 time for 1 lap.

    Top 10 in Points: C. Buescher – 800; T. Dillon – 781; C. Elliott – 777; R. Smith – 749; E. Sadler – 718; D. Suarez # – 697; D. Wallace Jr. # – 697; B. Scott – 681; B. Gaughan – 676; R. Reed – 606.

  • Hamlin Wins Coors Light Pole at Bristol

    Hamlin Wins Coors Light Pole at Bristol

    By Reid Spencer|NASCAR Wire Service

    BRISTOL, Tenn. – If it’s pole day in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Joe Gibbs Racing must be celebrating.

    Denny Hamlin powered his No. 11 Toyota around .533-mile Bristol Motor Speedway in 14.602 seconds (131.407 mph) on Friday to win the pole for Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race (on NBCSN at 7:30 p.m. ET).

    In breaking Kevin Harvick’s August 2014 track qualifying record by .005 seconds, Hamlin won his second Coors Light Pole Award of the season, his third at Bristol and the 22nd of his career.

    JGR swept the top three spots in qualifying for the second straight week, having accomplished the feat last Saturday on the two-mile track at Michigan International Speedway. The pole was JGR’s fifth straight on an oval track (AJ Allmendinger, in a JTG Daugherty Chevrolet, claimed the top starting spot for the Aug. 9 race on the road course at Watkins Glen).

    Hamlin edged teammate Kyle Busch (131.263 mph) by .016 seconds. Carl Edwards (130.655 mph) took the third starting spot, followed by David Ragan in a Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota (130.460 mph) and Joey Logano in a Team Penske Ford (130.344 mph).

    Hamlin also won the pole for Friday night’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race.

    “To have that two nights in a row here is hopefully going to pay dividends,” Hamlin said. “We’re excited. Bristol’s been a great track for me in the past, and we’ve got nothing to lose this weekend, just gearing up for the Chase, so I think our FedEx team’s ready.”

    Hamlin has a victory at Bristol in addition to his two poles, and with a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup position guaranteed by virtue of his victory at Martinsville in April, he can go all-out for a win on Saturday night without fear of consequences.

    Busch fought handling issues in the final two rounds of knockout qualifying and went for broke on his final attempt in the last round.

    “We were just a little too free there the second segment and the first run of the third segment,” Busch said. “It’s a little edgy up there, so you try not to push too hard, but still make a good lap and come back safely.

    “Then there at the end we tried a ‘Hail Mary’ and it worked. It picked us up speed, but it didn’t pick us up that spot.”

    Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Clint Bowyer andJimmie Johnson grabbed the sixth through 10th spots on the grid, respectively. The qualifying effort was Stenhouse’s best of the year.

    Jeff Gordon will start 24th in his last race at Bristol as a full-time Sprint Cup driver.

    Travis Kvapil, Jeb Burton and Reed Sorenson failed to make the 43-car field.

    Irwin Tools Night Race Starting Lineup:

     

    bristolstartinglineup

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Bristol Motor Speedway

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Bristol Motor Speedway

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series all head to Bristol Motor Speedway this week. Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series practices, qualifying sessions and races can be seen on NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra. Camping World Truck Series events will be televised on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. Please see the full schedule below.

    All times are Eastern.

    Wednesday, Aug. 19:

    On Track:

    11 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series final practice – FOX Sports 1
    4:45 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FOX Sports 2
    5 p.m.: NASCAR America – NBCSN
    6 p.m.: NASCAR Race Hub – FOX Sports 1
    6:15 p.m.: Whelen Modified Tour Bush’s Beans 150 (150 laps, 79.95 miles)
    8:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series UNOH 200 presented by ZLOOP (200 laps, 106.6 miles) – FOX Sports 1

    Friday, Aug. 21:

    On Track:

    9-11:25 a.m.: XFINITY Series final practice – NBCSN/Live Extra
    11:30 a.m.-12:55 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series practice – NBCSN/Live Extra
    1:30-2:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series final practice, NBCSN/Live Extra
    3:45 p.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN/Live Extra
    5 p.m.: NASCAR America Live – NBCSN
    5:45 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN/Live Extra
    7 p.m.: XFINITY Series Countdown to Green – NBCSN
    7:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series Food City 300 (300 laps, 159.9 miles) – NBCSN/Live Extra

    Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

    10:15 a.m.: AJ Allmendinger
    10:30 a.m.: Matt Kenseth
    10:45 a.m.: Clint Bowyer
    1 p.m.: Elliott Sadler
    3:30 p.m.: Jeff Gordon
    6:45 p.m.: Post-NSCS Qualifying Press Conference
    9:45 p.m.: Post-NXS Race Press Conference

    Saturday, Aug. 22:

    On Track:

    5 p.m.: NASCAR RaceDay: Bristol – FOX Sports 2
    6 p.m.: NASCAR America Saturday – NBCSN
    7 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series: Countdown to Green – NBCSN
    7:30 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Irwin Tools Night Race (500 laps, 266.5 miles) – NBCSN/Live Extra
    11 p.m.: NASCAR Post-Race Show – NBCSN
    Midnight: NASCAR Victory Lane – FOX Sports 1

    Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

    10:45 p.m.: Post-NSCS Race Press Conferences

  • Matt Kenseth Wins Epic Bristol Battle

    Matt Kenseth Wins Epic Bristol Battle

    April 19, 2015, Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — In a race delayed and interrupted by rain, and ended in overtime, Matt Kenseth broke a drought of more than a year’s standing in Sunday’s Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    In a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race that went 11 laps past its scheduled distance of 500 laps — making it the longest race in the history of the 0.533-mile short track — Kenseth crossed the finish line 0.287 seconds ahead of Jimmie Johnson, who recovered from a succession of issues to claim the runner-up finish.

    Kenseth, who inherited the top spot when Kurt Busch pitted from the lead under the ninth caution on Lap 477, stayed out front the rest of the way. He was three car lengths ahead of third-place finisher Jeff Gordon when Carl Edwards got loose underneath Gordon’s No. 24 Chevrolet and ignited the wreck that brought out caution No. 11 and demolished Busch’s Chevy in the process.

    After a brief delay because of a late shower, a far cry from the 3-hour, 58-minute hiatus that came after the first 22 laps, Kenseth pulled away on a green-white-checkered-flag restart and was unchallenged to the finish, as Johnson got past Gordon for second.

    The victory was Kenseth’s fourth at Bristol, his most at any track, and the 32nd of his career. Kenseth broke a 51-race winless streak dating to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September 2013. The win all but locks up Kenseth’s spot in the Chase.

    “It feels good to be back here,” Kenseth said, sitting at the dais for the winner’s press conference. “Really, honestly, it does, it wears on you a little bit. We had such a good 2013 (seven victories), we came a little short of the ultimate prize there, but we had such a great season, and last year there were some races we had some chances to win and just things wouldn’t line up for us.

    “We just couldn’t get it to happen. Tonight was kind of the opposite. Everything worked out. We had a good car on the short run, not so good on the last 40 or 50 laps of the run, and we had all them cautions and short runs at the end that really benefited us.”

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ran fourth, followed by Ryan Newman. Danica Patrick was ninth, recording her second top-10 of the year and the sixth of her career, breaking a tie with Janet Guthrie for most ever by a female driver.

    Johnson’s second-place finish was an adventure. The driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet survived two wrecks and a lost lap (which he regained as the highest scored lapped car under caution for debris on Lap 344).

    Johnson first sustained damage when Kurt Busch’s car twitched underneath him in Turn 3 and sent Johnson’s Chevrolet spinning.

    “Yeah, the first half of the race or first third of the race I was behind the 24 (Gordon), and we just worked our way up through the field and things went pretty smoothly,” said Johnson, who started 28th after a lackluster qualifying effort. “I had a very fast race car and felt like we were going to have a strong night. And then one of the restarts midway through the race, the 41 (Busch) — I don’t know what happened — but he lost control, got into me.

    “I went into the outside wall in Turn 3, and a caution came out. We had a fair amount of damage to the right rear quarter panel. I didn’t think I hit that hard, but after I got out of the race car and saw the damage, no wonder it didn’t drive very good after that, and we needed two or three pit stops to get the quarter panel pushed back down so there was some sideforce on the back of the car on corner entry and once we did that, we weren’t as good as we were at the start of the race but still very competitive.

    “(Crew chief) Chad (Knaus) called for two (tires) late in the race. That picked us up a few more spots, and then I think the last two restarts I was in the outside lane, and that helped me out quite a bit. Wild night, but glad to get it in.”

    If Kenseth’s winless streak ended, so did the productive streaks of three other drivers. Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. all had posted top 10s in each of the first seven Cup races this season, but all three drivers had major issues on Sunday.

    Logano slammed into Penske teammate Brad Keselowski after Keselowski lost control on a slick track on Lap 18. After extensive repairs, Logano finished 40th.

    Truex’s Chevrolet experienced a bad vibration, then a loose wheel. He finished 29th, seven laps down.

    Harvick was unable to avoid the wrecked car of David Ragan after contact between Johnson and Jeb Burton started a melee on lap 310. Harvick, who led 184 laps before the accident, spent 43 laps in the garage for repairs and came home 38th.

    Nevertheless, Harvick, Logano and Truex hold the top three positions in the series standings. Harvick leads Logano by 30 points and Truex by 33. Johnson is fourth, 56 points back.

     

  • Matty’s Picks 2015: Bristol – Part 1

    Matty’s Picks 2015: Bristol – Part 1

    It has been a couple weeks since you’ve heard from me, and I couldn’t pick a better track to make my return on. Not only is it one of the best venues on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit, but its one of the best venues in all of sports. From the 160,000 seats, to the extreme banking, to the tiny pit stalls, to the extreme speeds for a short track, Bristol is a bucket list race for any NASCAR fan, despite the claims that the racing was ruined in 2007 when the track was re-paved and progressive banking added. If you’re a fan of racing, Bristol Motor Speedway is on your list.

    I watched my first race at Bristol Motor Speedway in August of 2002, amongst a sold out crowd of over 150,000 when I watched Jeff Gordon execute the bump and run on Rusty Wallace with three laps remaining in the Sharpie 500. I happened to be sitting with a Rusty Wallace fan at the time, who was not happy with the move, but later on admitted if the roles were reversed, Wallace would have done the same thing. It’s just the way things went back then, if you were not on the bottom, you were losing positions. With the progressive banking, drivers are using all parts of the track to improve their position. The top side can be as good as the bottom, and the middle groove offers a safe haven for drivers with ill-handling cars that will not make it to the bottom or for those without the courage to run up next to the wall.

    I will save you all the grief of reading through my last few weeks of finishes, and let you know that I am sitting fourth in the CNY Sports Fans group and 12,044th on the FoxSports Fantasy Auto Leaderboards. I will let you know that I’ve finished second and third the last two weeks on my trek out of the basement.

    (more…)