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  • Hamlin manages tire wear to claim dramatic Cup victory at Bristol

    Hamlin manages tire wear to claim dramatic Cup victory at Bristol

    In an event where tire management was the name of the game, Denny Hamlin implemented his racing roots by preserving his tires to the very end, which enabled him to fend off teammate Martin Truex Jr. and win a wild conclusion to the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 17. 

    The three-time Daytona 500 champion from Chesterfield, Virginia, led 13 times for a race-high 163 of 500-scheduled laps after starting in third place and quickly making his presence at the front known by leading for the first time on Lap 21. Then, amid a series of caution periods and tire wear issues that plagued several front-runners and stars, Hamlin preserved his tires and managed to carve his way through traffic and run up front.

    He traded the lead on several occasions with his fellow competitors and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates and stretched his worn tires further than his competitors before pitting under green with 53 laps remaining. After cycling back to the lead shortly after, he then managed to fend off a late challenge from Truex while leading 47 of the remaining 48 laps, which was enough for him to claim his first checkered flag of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series. 

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, March 16, Ryan Blaney secured his first Cup pole position of the 2024 season and the 10th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 124.954 mph in 15.356 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Josh Berry, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 124.792 mph in 15.376 seconds. 

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Blaney muscled his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead to take the lead and managed to fend off both Berry and teammate Joey Logano for a full circuit around the Last Great Coliseum’s concrete surface to lead the first lap. Blaney and Berry battled dead even for the lead during the following two laps before Berry muscled his No. 4 SunnyD Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead of Blaney who fell back to second in front of teammate Logano and Chase Briscoe while Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott joined the battle. 

    Through Laps 5 to 10, Berry retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Blaney while Briscoe, Hamlin and Elliott were running in the top five. Behind, Michael McDowell moved up to sixth followed by Bubba Wallace and Truex while Logano fell back to ninth in front of Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell and William Byron. 

    Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Berry was leading by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin followed by Blaney, Elliott and Wallace while Chase Briscoe, Truex Jr., McDowell, Larson and Brad Keselowski were running in the top 10 ahead of Harrison Burton, Erik Jones, Ty Gibbs, William Byron and Christopher Bell. Meanwhile, Logano had fallen to 16th ahead of Kyle Busch, rookie Zane Smith, Austin Cindric and Tyler Reddick. 

    A lap later, however, Hamlin overtook Berry for the lead. By then, Byron, who was running in the top 15, had fallen off the pace after he was hit by Logano, who was hit by Bell first, entering the backstretch, which resulted in Byron getting loose, scraping the backstretch’s outside wall and bumping across Bell before slipping towards the outside wall in Turn 3. Byron would pit with a broken toe link to his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as the event’s first caution period flew on Lap 22 due to debris reported in between Turns 3 and 4. 

    During the event’s first caution period, nearly the entire field led by Hamlin pitted for service for the first time while Reddick remained on the track. Following the pit stops amid mixed strategies, Berry exited first with two fresh tires ahead of Wallace, Elliott, Truex, McDowell and Hamlin. Amid the pit stops, Erik Jones was penalized for equipment interference. 

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 30, Reddick muscled ahead with the lead ahead of Berry and teammate Wallace. As the field cycled back to the frontstretch, however, the caution quickly returned after Reddick received a bump from Berry and was pinned in a tight three-wide battle with Wallace and Berry for the lead entering the frontstretch that got Reddick’s No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE spinning sideways in front of McDowell, Elliott and the field. With Reddick spinning below the track, he was then hit by rookie Zane Smith while Daniel Hemric, Corey LaJoie, AJ Allmendinger and rookie Carson Hocevar, all of whom were running towards the rear of the field, all wrecked across the frontstretch while stepping off the gas. 

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 38, Wallace fended off Berry from the outside lane to retain the lead while McDowell followed suit in a close third place. With Wallace still leading just past the Lap 40 mark, Hamlin and Elliott battled dead even for fourth place while Blaney and Ty Gibbs battled for sixth. Berry, however, would make his move beneath Wallace to reassume the lead through the frontstretch by Lap 41 while McDowell tried to follow suit. This allowed Hamlin to narrow the gap and challenge McDowell for third place, which he would succeed in doing so on Lap 44 while Blaney and Elliott joined the battle. Amid the early battles towards the front, Berry continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Wallace. 

    On Lap 47, Wallace cycled his No. 23 Leidos Toyota Camry XSE past Berry to reassume the lead. Team owner Hamlin would quickly follow suit in second along with Blaney and Elliott as Berry settled in fifth by the Lap 50 mark, where Wallace would continue to lead. Three laps later, however, Hamlin assumed the lead in his No. 11 Express Oil Change Toyota Camry XSE following a strong move to the outside lane with four fresh tires entering the backstretch over Wallace. Blaney would also follow suit to move into the runner-up spot followed by Elliott while Wallace fell back to fourth as he was being challenged by Brad Keselowski, Ty Gibbs and Briscoe for more. 

    Just past the Lap 60 mark, Hamlin was overtaken by Elliott for the race lead in front of a stacked field jostling for positions amid two lanes. With Elliott leading in his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Blaney battled Hamlin for second in front of Keselowski while Kyle Busch battled Wallace for fifth place. 

    Nearing the Lap 70 mark, the event’s second caution period flew due to debris reported across the frontstretch after Zane Smith blew a right-front tire. By then, Blaney had led Laps 65 to 68 before the lead was acquired by Kyle Busch, starting on Lap 69. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Busch returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin exited pit road first ahead of Blaney and Elliott while Busch, Keselowski, Briscoe and Bell followed suit. Amid the pit stops, McDowell was penalized for having too many crew members over the pit wall. 

    With the event restarting under green on Lap 79, Hamlin retained the lead after rocketing away from the field past the restart zone as Blaney and Elliott battled for second in front of Busch, Keselowski and Briscoe. With the field behind battling dead even amongst one another for spots, Hamlin would continue to lead until Blaney shoved his way into the lead through the frontstretch on Lap 83. Blaney would stretch his advantage to as high as two-tenths of a second during the following six laps until Hamlin cycled back into the lead on Lap 89. Behind, Kyle Busch prevailed in a tight battle with Elliott for third place as he tried to close in on the two leaders while Keselowski, Briscoe, Bell, Larson Ty Gibbs and Wallace followed suit in the top 10. 

    Through the first 100 scheduled laps, Hamlin stretched his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Busch followed by Blaney, Elliott and Keselowski while Bell, Briscoe, Gibbs, Larson and John Hunter Nemechek occupied the top 10 in front of Wallace, Alex Bowman, Chris Buescher, Berry and Justin Haley. Meanwhile, Erik Jones was in 16th ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Truex, Logano and Todd Gilliland while Ryan Preece, McDowell, Austin Cindric, LaJoie and Ross Chastain trailed in the top 25. 

    Ten laps later, Hamlin continued to lead by over three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Busch as Blaney and Bell were running third and fourth, with teammates Elliott and Larson fending off Gibbs for fifth and sixth. Hamlin would then stretch his advantage to more than a second over Blaney, with he and Bell overtaking Busch by the Lap 115 mark. By then, Larson retained fifth in front of Gibbs while Elliott was overtaken by Keselowski and Buescher for seventh and eighth. 

    Then on Lap 120 and with the majority of the field being mired with tire wear concerns, Blaney overtook Hamlin for the lead as Gibbs and Larson followed suit while Hamlin went wide up the track in Turn 1. By then, Busch and Wallace were falling off the pace and losing a bevy of spots amid concerns of losing their tires towards the end of the first stage period. Gibbs then overtook Blaney for the lead on Lap 121 as he proceeded to lap Austin Cindric while Larson moved into the runner-up spot.  

    Two laps later, the caution flew after Busch spun in Turn 2 after he lost a right-tire tire to his No. 8 FICO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, where Busch would proceed to reverse his entry through the backstretch before spinning it back to the front below the apron as he lost a lap to the leaders. Busch’s incident occurred after Hamlin had hit the outside wall entering the frontstretch due to getting bumped by Byron, with Hamlin also cutting a tire but proceeding straight.

    Busch’s incident was enough for the first stage period to conclude under caution as Ty Gibbs captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season and of his career. Larson settled in second followed by Buescher, Keselowski and Nemechek while Blaney, Truex, Preece, Berry and Bell were scored in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Gibbs returned to pit road for service and for another round of fresh tires. Following the pit stops, Larson edged Gibbs off of pit road to exit first while Keselowski, Blaney, Buescher and Nemechek followed suit.  

    The second stage period started on Lap 140 as Larson and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Larson muscled ahead with a brief advantage through the first two turns and the backstretch before Gibbs rocketed his No. 54 SiriusXM Toyota Camry XSE back into the lead during the following lap. John Hunter Nemechek would follow suit in second along with Berry, with the latter then battling Nemechek for second and challenging Gibbs for the lead by the Lap 145 while Larson fell back to fourth along with Nemechek. Shortly after, teammate Martin Truex Jr., who was quick to carve his way to the front, rocketed his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry XSE into the lead by Lap 146 before teammate Gibbs cycled back into the lead by Lap 150. By then, all four Joe Gibbs Racing entries were running in the top five while Larson was battling for second in front of Bell, Truex and Hamlin.  

    On Lap 154 and with the field running stacked amongst one another through the high banks of Bristol, Larson assumed the lead. Gibbs would reassume the lead three laps later before teammate Hamlin cycled into the lead another two laps.  

    By Lap 175, Gibbs, who reassumed the lead four laps earlier, was leading by nearly two-tenths of a second over teammate Truex followed by Berry, teammate Bell and Buescher while Keselowski, Larson, Logano, Preece and Nemechek occupied the top 10. Meanwhile, Hamlin had fallen to 11th in front of Blaney, Haley, Daniel Suarez and Kaz Grala. 

    A lap later, the caution flew after Stenhouse, who was running in the top 20, was mired in a midfield stack-up that started with him making contact with McDowell through the backstretch before he made contact with Hemric and Zane Smith through Turn 4 as Stenhouse’s No. 47 Ball Park Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 emerged wobbling entering the frontstretch while Hemric and Smith hit the outside wall. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Gibbs returned to pit road for service and fresh tires. Following the pit stops, Buescher exited first followed by Gibbs and Truex while Bell, Gilliland, Larson, Logano and Keselowski followed suit. Not long after, Ty Gibbs made an extra pit stop for qualifying scuff tires to preserve his sticker tires. 

    As the field restarted under green on Lap 189, Buescher retained the lead from the outside lane over Bell and Truex. Buescher would continue to lead by the Lap 200 mark before Bell would zip by Buescher through the frontstretch during the following lap. Teammate Truex would follow suit in second over Buescher while Nemechek and Larson were running in the top five in front of a stacked field. A few laps later, Daniel Suarez nearly wrecked after making contact with Justin Haley through Turns 1 and 2 while battling for a top-10 spot, but he kept his car straight and dropped to 17th while the event remained under green flag conditions. 

    Twenty-five laps later and amid a series of jostling for positions occurring around the field, Truex cycled past teammate Bell for the lead. By then, teammate Gibbs carved his way back to third place followed by Nemechek and Keselowski while Logano was running sixth ahead of Berry, Hamlin, Grala and Larson. 

    Another three laps later, the caution flew after Kyle Busch, who was mired in 31st and a lap down, spun for a second time on his own in Turn 2. With nearly the entire field led by Bell pitting again, Bell retained the lead after exiting first with four fresh tires while Nemechek, Logano, Hamlin, Larson and Truex followed suit in the top six. Back on the track, however, Spire Motorsports’ LaJoie and Hocevar remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Blaney was penalized for speeding on pit road. 

    With the event restarting with 11 laps remaining to the second stage’s conclusion, LaJoie led the field entering the first turn before Bell used the four fresh tires to his advantage as he zipped his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE past the Spire entries for the lead. Logano would quickly follow suit in second along with Nemechek as the field stacked up while navigating past Hocevar and LaJoie.  

    On Lap 242, Logano gave Bell a bump through Turns 1 and 2 in his bid for the lead, but Bell withstood his ground as he retained the lead. Logano would give Bell another hit on the side during the following lap as they both battled dead even for the lead in front of Nemechek and Gibbs. With Logano claiming the lead and clearing Bell by Lap 245, Gibbs navigated his way past teammate Bell for second during the following lap while Keselowski and Nemechek battled Bell for third. In the process, Logano retained a narrow lead over Gibbs before Gibbs claimed the lead back on Lap 248.  

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 250, Ty Gibbs claimed his second consecutive Cup stage victory of the day and of the 2024 season. Keselowski overtook Logano through the frontstretch to claim second place while Nemechek, Bell, Truex, Hamlin, Larson, Wallace and Ryan Preece were scored in the top 10. 

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Gibbs peeled off the track to pit road. Following the pit stops, Gibbs retained the lead after exiting pit road first with two fresh tires ahead of Logano, Truex, Bell, Gilliland, Nemechek and Keselowski, who was hit on the right front side by Austin Cindric while trying to exit his pit stall. Amid the tire concerns generated by all teams since the event’s start, Goodyear released an extra set of tires for all teams to use. 

    With 236 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as teammates Gibbs and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs retained the lead over Truex while teammate Bell settled in third ahead of Logano, Nemechek and Keselowski. With the field stacked amid two lanes, Gibbs stretched his advantage to three-tenths of a second with 230 laps remaining. By then, Gilliland moved up to fourth as he was running in between Bell and Nemechek while Keselowski and Logano dropped to eighth and ninth as they were running behind Larson and Hamlin on the track. In addition, Ross Chastain was running 10th on two fresh tires as he was trying to retain the spot over Berry and Wallace. 

    With 115 laps remaining, Truex cycled past teammate Gibbs for the lead as teammate Bell trailed by half a second in third place. By then, teammate Hamlin was running in sixth place behind Nemechek and Larson while Berry and Haley cracked the top 10. In addition, Logano was plummeting in the leaderboard as he had dropped out of the top 20 while nearly making contact with teammate Blaney. 

    Down to the final 200 laps of the event, Truex was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Bell while teammate Gibbs trailed by half a second in third place. Behind, Nemechek was in fourth place ahead of Hamlin, thus placing five Toyota competitors in the top five, while Keselowski, Larson, Berry, Gilliland and Haley were running in the top 10 ahead of Grala, Chastain, Blaney, McDowell and Wallace. Meanwhile, Logano dropped to 27th behind Austin Dillon and Buescher was in 20th while Elliott was mired in 23rd in between Hocevar and LaJoie. 

    Nine laps later, the caution flew after Berry, who was running in the top 10, slipped sideways and did a full 360 spin entering the backstretch, but managed to keep his No. 4 entry off the wall. By then, all four Joe Gibbs Racing competitors led by Truex were running first through fourth in front of Keselowski, Larson and Nemechek. As the lead lap field led by Truex drove to pit road for service, Hamlin emerged with the lead after he exited pit road first ahead of teammates Bell and Gibbs followed by Larson while teammate Truex exited fifth ahead of Keselowski, Nemechek and Blaney. 

    With the event restarting under green with 178 laps remaining, Hamlin muscled ahead with the lead through the first two turns before teammate Gibbs rocketed past Hamlin through the backstretch to return to the lead. Behind, Hamlin fended off teammates Bell and Truex to retain second while Larson tried to challenge Truex for fourth place as he was running ahead of Gilliland, Nemechek and McDowell. As the field behind jostled for late positions, Gibbs stabilized his advantage to three-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin with 170 laps remaining.  

    With 160 laps remaining, Gibbs continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin while teammate Bell trailed in third place by eight-tenths of a second. With a three-wide action ensuing between Gilliland, Berry and Alex Bowman for top-15 spots and more battles ensuring around the Last Great Coliseum, Gibbs stabilized his narrow advantage to two-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin while teammate Bell, Larson, Keselowski and teammate Truex were running third to sixth with 150 laps remaining. Additionally, Haley was running seventh in front of McDowell, Blaney and Bubba Wallace while Kaz Grala and Nemechek settled in the top 12.  

    Through the final 135 laps of the event, Hamlin zipped by teammate Gibbs for the lead through the frontstretch. By then, Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson each made separate contact with the outside wall, but the event remained under green flag conditions.  

    Two laps later, the caution returned after Cindric, who was trying to remain on the lead lap from the leader Hamlin, slipped up the track while avoiding Gilliland and made contact with Stenhouse, who was a lap down, that sent both for a spin in Turn 4 as Hamlin, Gibbs and Bell scattered to avoid the chaos. The caution period prompted the leaders to return to pit road for service, where Hamlin retained the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of teammates Bell and Gibbs along with Larson, teammate Truex and Keselowski. Amid the pit stops, Larson was penalized for an equipment interference penalty. 

    During the ensuing restart period with 121 laps remaining, Hamlin retained the lead after muscling away from teammates Bell and Gibbs, though Bell managed to muscle ahead and lead the proceeding lap before Hamlin reclaimed the top spot by the next lap as Gibbs battled teammate Bell in front of teammate Truex and Keselowski. As Hamlin retained the lead in front of his three Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota teammates with 110 laps remaining, Keselowski settled in fifth ahead of McDowell while Haley was running in seventh ahead of Blaney, Wallace and Nemechek. 

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Gibbs, who reassumed the lead from teammate Hamlin a lap earlier, was leading ahead of teammates Bell, Hamlin and Truex, respectively, while Keselowski retained fifth ahead of McDowell, Haley, Nemechek, Wallace and Berry.  

    Fifteen laps later, Gibbs continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Bell as teammates Hamlin and Truex followed suit in the top four. Another nine laps later, Hamlin nearly took the lead from teammate Gibbs, but he had to move up the track to avoid hitting Gilliland as Gibbs retained the lead in front of Hamlin and Truex while Bell was in fourth ahead of Keselowski. 

    Not long after and with the concern of tire wear returning amongst the teams, Hamlin, who assumed the lead with 75 laps remaining, was leading over teammate Truex. By then, a bevy of competitors including Berry, Blaney, Bell, Larson and Gilliland were losing ground of the leaders due to tire wear. Gibbs would then lose ground of the lead as his tires were wearing out, which allowed Keselowski to move up to third place. With Briscoe also falling off the pace, Blaney fell off the pace after he lost a tire, which forced him to pit, and Larson pitted under green. Bell would then pit under green with 60 laps remaining due to a flat tire while Hamlin retained a narrow lead over teammate Truex as he was trying to preserve his tires. 

    With 55 laps remaining and with nearly the entire field being pinned a lap down after having made a pit stop under green for fresh tires, the top-six competitors led by Hamlin were scored on the lead lap. Two laps later, Hamlin surrendered the lead to pit under green as Hocevar made contact with the wall, though the event remained under green flag conditions. Teammate Truex would pit another two laps later along with Keselowski. Once Alex Bowman pitted from the lead with 49 laps remaining, Hamlin cycled back into the lead. 

    Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Hamlin was leading by more than a second over teammate Truex while Berry, Keselowski and Larson were scored in the top five ahead of Buescher, Bell, Nemechek, Haley and Bowman. Hamlin’s advantage would then shrink to three-tenths of a second over Truex with 30 laps remaining as they were mired in lapped traffic.  

    With 20 laps remaining, Hamlin continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Truex as they both continued to be mired in lapped traffic. With Keselowski scored in third ahead of Berry and Larson, Hamlin managed to navigate his way through the lapped traffic to fend off Truex and retain the lead with 10 laps remaining.  

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Truex as both cleared a majority of the lapped traffic, but the latter kept the former within his sights.  

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hamlin remained as the leader by half a second over Truex. With Truex unable to mount a final lap charge on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for a final circuit, Hamlin was able to preserve his tires and navigate his way around the Bristol circuit smoothly for a final time as he claimed the checkered flag by a second over Truex. 

    With the victory, Hamlin, who became the fifth winner through the 2024 season’s first five events, recorded his 52nd career win in the NASCAR Cup Series, his fourth at Bristol, with the victory being his first in the spring, and his first since winning the Bristol Night Race last September. The 2024 Cup season marks Hamlin’s 18th season where he has achieved at least one victory in NASCAR’s premier series as he also recorded the second consecutive victory in recent weeks for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota.  

    Photo by Chad Wells for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[Tire management], That’s what I grew up doing here in the short tracks of the whole mid-Atlantic [region],” Hamlin said on FOX. “South Boston [Speedway], Martinsville [Speedway], all those tracks. It’s just what I grew up doing. Once it became a tire management race, I really liked our chances, but obviously, the veteran in Martin [Truex Jr.], he knew how to do it as well. We just had a great car. Great team. The pit crew just did a phenomenal job all day. Can’t say enough about them. Man, it feels so good to win at Bristol.” 

    Truex, who has finished in the top 15 through this season’s first four-scheduled events, came home with a strong runner-up result for his first top-five finish of the 2024 campaign. 

    “Just really proud of my team, everybody on our Auto-Owners Camry,” Truex said. “[Crew chief] James [Small] and the guys did a great job this weekend in having a plan coming here. I guess this tire management thing fit into my wheelhouse here at Bristol. The difference was just coming down to the pits so far behind Denny. I had to use mine [tires] up more than him on the last run and then, the last four or five laps of the race, my right rear [tire] was cored. We gave it a hell of an effort. I had a lot of fun today. Second always hurts a little, but it’s a really good run for us here. It’s been a great season so far for us.” 

    Keselowski settled in third place while Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson finished in the top five and as the final group of competitors to finish on the lead lap. John Hunter Nemechek, Buescher, Elliott, Ty Gibbs and Bell, who were all a lap down, finished in the top 10. 

    Notably, Berry finished 12th, pole-sitter Blaney ended up 16th, Logano fell back to 22nd and Kyle Busch ended up 25th behind teammate Austin Dillon. 

    There were a race-record 54 lead changes for 16 different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 98 laps. In addition, only five of the 36 starters finished on the lead lap. 

    Following the fifth event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson and Truex Jr. are tied for the regular-season lead in the points standings as they are both ahead by seven points over Ty Gibbs, eight over Ryan Blaney and 12 over Denny Hamlin. 

    Results. 

    1. Denny Hamlin, 163 laps led 

    2. Martin Truex Jr., 54 laps led 

    3. Brad Keselowski, one lap led 

    4. Alex Bowman, three laps led 

    5. Kyle Larson, 19 laps led 

    6. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down 

    7. Chris Buescher, one lap down, 17 laps led 

    8. Chase Elliott, one lap down, five laps led 

    9. Ty Gibbs, one lap down, 137 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner 

    10. Christopher Bell, one lap down, 29 laps led 

    11. Michael McDowell, one lap down 

    12. Josh Berry, one lap down, 25 laps led 

    13. Chase Briscoe, two laps down 

    14. Ryan Preece, two laps down 

    15. Ross Chastain, two laps down 

    16. Ryan Blaney, two laps down, 14 laps led 

    17. Justin Haley, two laps down 

    18. Daniel Suarez, two laps down 

    19. Kaz Grala, two laps down 

    20. Erik Jones, two laps down 

    21. Corey LaJoie, two laps down, four laps led 

    22. Joey Logano, two laps down, five laps led 

    23. AJ Allmendinger, two laps down 

    24. Austin Dillon, two laps down 

    25. Kyle Busch, two laps down, five laps led 

    26. Todd Gilliland, three laps down 

    27. Carson Hocevar, three laps down 

    28. Daniel Hemric, four laps down 

    29. Bubba Wallace, four laps down, 15 laps led 

    30. Tyler Reddick, five laps down, four laps led 

    31. Austin Cindric, five laps down 

    32. Harrison Burton, five laps down 

    33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., five laps down 

    34. Noah Gragson, six laps down 

    35. William Byron, eight laps down 

    36. Zane Smith – OUT, Engine 

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ fourth annual running of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The event is scheduled for next Sunday, March 24, and will air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX. 

  • Bristol to host two NASCAR weekend events on concrete for 2024 season

    Bristol to host two NASCAR weekend events on concrete for 2024 season

    For the first time since 2020, Bristol Motor Speedway will return to hosting two NASCAR weekend events on its concrete surface for the 2024 season.

    The announcement means that the Bristol Dirt event, which occurred in the spring for the last three seasons, including this year, and reignited NASCAR’s return to dirt racing in over five decades, will be discontinued from further use.

    As a result, the Bristol spring event will mark NASCAR’s first time competing on the 0.533-mile track’s concrete surface in the spring for the 2024 season since 1993. The event will also return to run 500 miles with Food City to remain as the event’s title sponsor.

    “As the motorsports world focuses on America’s Night Race tomorrow, we are thrilled to announce Bristol Motor Speedway will host the return of the Food City 500 on the concrete high-banks of the World’s Fastest Half Mile in the spring of 2024,” Jerry Caldwell, President and General Manager of Bristol Motor Speedway, said in a statement. “We will revive a logo reminiscent of the first Food City 500s in the early ’90s and resurrect the track’s vintage trademark look and feel of the era. We’re looking forward to a great weekend of racing and what’s to come in 2024.”

    During the spring Bristol’s transition from concrete to dirt in 2021, Joey Logano won the NASCAR Cup Series’ first dirt event on the 0.533-mile circuit following an overtime shootout. By then, it marked the series’ first dirt event since seven-time champion Richard Petty won at Raleigh’s North Carolina State Fairgrounds in September 1970. The Bristol Dirt event would return in 2022 with Kyle Busch winning following a last-lap overtake on both Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe before Christopher Bell won this year’s event after fending off a late charge from Reddick.

    Photo by Chad Wells for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    During the Cup Series’ three-year run at the Bristol Dirt layout, the Craftsman Truck Series also competed on the surface, with Martin Truex Jr., Ben Rhodes and Joey Logano winning from 2021 to 2023, respectively.

    Announcements regarding Bristol’s two scheduled dates for next season along with the full 2024 NASCAR schedule have yet to be announced.

  • Blaney Taken Out in Multi-Car Wreck at Bristol

    Blaney Taken Out in Multi-Car Wreck at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — The look of disappointment was on the face of Ryan Blaney, as he spoke to Vince Welch of FOX Sports about the wreck that collected him, as he was leading the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. It was even more apparent the frustration he was withholding because everything happened before he could see it.

    “I didn’t see much, to be honest with you. By the time I could see anything they were already turned right and there was nowhere to go,” Blaney said. “Seeing the replay, I don’t know, people not cleared clearing themselves and then wrecking and take the leader out, so that’s unfortunate. Our car was pretty good today. We just kind of got held up there and we might not have been as strong at the end of that run, but I thought we could have at least held on for that stage and never got the chance. The positives you look at is that we had a good car and that’s something to hold your head high about.”

    While he wasn’t the primary instigator or pinball of the six-car incident in Turn 3 on Lap 120, he was the biggest casualty of it, being both the leader and having led 100 laps.

    It started when Chris Buescher got a run past Harrison Rhodes and attempted to pass Trevor Bayne for position.

    “First off, our Bush’s Baked Beans Camaro was really good today. Unfortunately, we were in one of the accidents before that and got us back there where we really shouldn’t have been,” Buescher said. “We had three or four of us trying to stay on the lead lap and we were all being held up by the No. 6 (Trevor Bayne). I got a good run on the outside the slower cars and came off the corner and thought we were good, and it just swiped right up the front. By the time you lift, it’s a little too late. It’s really unfortunate. I love this place. It’s my favorite race track that we go to. We had good speed. We’ve just got to get back after it the next time we come here.”

    Bayne, however, drifted up into his path and got loose, overcorrected, turned down and hooked Rhodes, sending him into the outside wall (and clipping Buescher and sending him spinning rear-end first into the outside wall) and into the path of Blaney.

    “It’s obviously frustrating when lapped cars wreck and take the leader out,” Blaney added. “That’s unfortunate. They weren’t lap down cars yet, I guess, but I don’t know. I didn’t really see much. By the time I got away from the car right in front of me they were already turned right up the race track and I was already going to the top. I kind of saw them spinning low and I thought that top was gonna be OK and then they slid back up and got us. That stinks. I thought we had a good car and nothing to show for it.”

    Because his incident occurred so early in the race, Blaney finished a measly 35th. But with the driver and behind in points having bad days, his points blow was mostly softened. He leaves Bristol sixth in points, 98 back of Kyle Busch.

  • Rowdy uses bump n’ run to win at Thunder Valley

    Rowdy uses bump n’ run to win at Thunder Valley

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Photographers and race fans were all lining the catch fence as Kyle Busch did his celebratory burnout, grabbed the checkered flag and bowed to the fans that braced the cold and wintery mixture weather to watch the remainder of the postponed Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    “Well, it means a lot, you know, to come to Bristol, a place where everybody expects you to do so well, expects you to win, that we’re able to get one,” Busch said. “I wasn’t sure there late in the going with 50 to go with the vibrations and everything that I was feeling that I was going to be able to have a shot. I wasn’t sure if we were going to go green the rest of the way or what was going to happen.

    “But fortunately for us, unfortunately for some others, that caution did come out and we were able to come down pit road and put four tires on that things. We restarted second on that inside lane, and I wanted to stay out of the spray to not get anything on my tires but ended up towards the exit I got down into some of those marbles, and then when Larson launched and took off, I was just spinning the tires. There was just nothing for me to go with.

    “So I struggled really bad on the restart. I thought that’s where I lost it. Just put my head down and tried to get back going, just tried to chase those guys back down and do what I could to get there. Larson looked loose. It looked like he was kind of battling it there for a little bit. The 17 kind of got to him first, and then I got to the 17 and was able to get by him and then get back up and catch Larson again. He slipped up a few times and was able to give me that opportunity to get there, and we made the most of it.

    “When it comes down to the end, it’s crunch time, you’ve got to go. I wasn’t sure if I made my move too soon. I thought so. But our car was fast enough that Larson never had a shot to get back to us to repay the favor.

    “It was a pretty good race, I thought. It was pretty fun. The bottom, the top, all around, everywhere, so hopefully we can continue to develop a good tire here that we can not have those long‑run issues where we keep getting that bounce feel and even put on a better show.”

    Busch put the chrome bumper to Kyle Larson twice to retake the lead with six laps to go to score his 45th career victory. It breaks a tie with Bill Elliott for 13th on NASCAR’s all-time wins list.

    Larson brought his car home second, after leading a race high of 200 laps.

    “I was just checked out there on that long run,” Larson said. “It was really, really good there, and was just hoping it would go green until the end and then we pitted, and I was actually fine with that, too, because I knew we’d leave as the leader and restart on the outside. I just didn’t expect to get that loose that run there. The 17 (Stenhouse) almost got by me, was able to hold him off. I thought the grip was getting better, which it did a little bit, but not nearly good enough.

    “Not sure if the track changed a lot there or what, but I lost the balance on the car.”

    Jimmie Johnson finished third, his first Top-five of the season and first since Dover last October.

    “Yeah, definitely a strong race car,” Johnson said. “We’ve been talking about our cars performing better and driving better and creating speed the last three weeks or so, but to finally back it up with a solid finish is exactly what we needed. And to see my teammates with positive comments about their cars the last few weeks and some good results yielding from all of that, we definitely have it rolling in the right direction.

    “And specifically on the 48, last weekend there was a lot of excitement with the speed in our car, but we just had some bad luck on track and on pit road and a variety of things that went on. And to really be so buttoned up on race calling, pit stops, what I did in the car, the whole thing, I really feel like we’re rolling in the right direction now.”

    Stenhouse and Alex Bowman rounded out the Top-five.

    “The guys brought me a great Sunny D Ford all weekend long,” Stenhouse said. “We were really, really strong and I felt confident coming into the race yesterday and today. We fought adversity. We lost track position multiple times and had to pass a lot of cars to get back to where we were. Brian made a great call coming down pit road and taking tires before that long green flag run that we had. We got into second and I was hoping it would just go green to the end, knowing that we had better tires than the 42, who was the class of the field all day. Then we restarted there at the end. Brian said he didn’t get to really check the stagger on these tires and maybe make an adjustment with it. We didn’t take fuel and that sometimes tightens you up a little bit, but, all in all, a great weekend for us. Hopefully, this will kind of get us going and kick start us into next week and the rest of the season.”

    Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman rounded out the Top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    BRISTOL, Tenn. – APRIL 15: Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 Mountain Dew Baja Blast Chevrolet, and Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota, are involved in an on-track incident during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 15, 2018 in Bristol, Tennessee. Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images

    Kyle Busch led the field to the green flag at 1:34 p.m. It took only four laps for caution to fly when Michael McDowell got loose, made contact with Daniel Suarez and spun in Turn 4. He also collected Alex Bowman and William Byron, who couldn’t react in time to avoid him. Martin Truex Jr. slammed into the back of Bowman.

    “Not much to say, just one of those weekends you want to forget about and turn your focus 100 percent on the next race,” Truex said after the race.

    Back to green on Lap 10, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. bogged the inside lane down, allowing Ryan Blaney to move into second. From there, he passed under Busch going into Turn 1 on Lap 16 to take the lead. But with 10 laps to go to the competition caution on Lap 50, rain returned and blanketed the track. Caution flew five laps later. NASCAR brought the field down the backstretch four laps later and displayed the red flag. It was lifted after 25 minutes and 25 seconds.

    The race went back to green on Lap 60, but caution flew again in Turn 3 when Erik Jones got loose, made contact with Stenhouse and spun him.

    Restarting on Lap 67, the race settled into a long-run rhythm with Blaney working to navigate lap traffic one-by-one in classic Bristol fashion.

    BRISTOL, Tenn. – APRIL 15: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 REV Ford, and Harrison Rhodes, driver of the #51 Industrial Construction Experts Inc. Chevrolet, are involved in an on-track incident during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 15, 2018 in Bristol, Tennessee. Photo: Ed Coombs/SpeedwayMedia.com

    While Brad Keselowski caught him and battled him for the lead with six laps left in the first stage, however, Chris Buescher turned Trevor Bayne into the wall, who then bounced off and into Buescher, hooking him into the outside wall, triggering a five-car wreck on Lap 120 that took out race leader Blaney.

    “I didn’t see much to be honest with you. By the time I could see anything they were already turned right and there was nowhere to go,” Blaney said. “Seeing the replay, I don’t know, people not cleared clearing themselves and then wrecking and take the leader out, so that’s unfortunate. Our car was pretty good today. We just kind of got held up there and we might not have been as strong at the end of that run, but I thought we could have at least held on for that stage and never got the chance. The positives you look at is that we had a good car and that’s something to hold your head high about.”

    After a six-minute, 29-second red flag, NASCAR ended the first stage with a one-lap shootout, won by Brad Keselowski.

    Kyle Larson exited pit road with the lead and led the field back to green on Lap 135. Chad Finchum spun out in Turn 4, but caution wasn’t thrown. When Trevor Bayne spun out and hit the wall in Turn 4, however, caution was thrown on Lap 155. Jones took over the race lead when he and the Top-six cars chose not to pit.

    As the field circled around, waiting to restart, the rain slightly intensified to the point NASCAR brought the field back down pit road and red-flagged the race a third time.

    Back to green on Lap 170, Larson pulled away from Denny Hamlin in second and started lapping everyone in his path. This continued until caution flew for the sixth time on Lap 200, once again for rain.

    The weather this time was more severe and forced NASCAR to postpone the rest of the race to the following day.

    After a slight delay close to the original 1:02 p.m. scheduled restart time, the field rolled off pit road shortly after 1:30. Everyone but Larson opted to pit.

    The race restarted at 1:43 p.m. on Lap 217. For the final 33 laps of the second stage, Larson drove away as he did the day before. Keselowski kept chase with him, however, put the chrome bumper to Larson going into Turn 3, took the lead and won the stage.

    Denny Hamlin exited pit road with the lead and led the field to green on Lap 263. Hamlin pitted from the lead two laps later with a loose wheel, handing it back to Keselowski.

    BRISTOL, Tenn. – APRIL 16: Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 McDonald’s Chevrolet, and Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Skittles Toyota, make contact during the rain delayed Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 16, 2018 in Bristol, Tennessee. Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images

    He, Larson and Kyle Busch dueled for the lead from Laps 280 to 325, with Larson taking it from 292 to 325 and Busch onwards, after Larson got turned by Ryan Newman exiting Turn 4.

    Reed Sorenson brought out the caution with 147 laps to go when he spun out and rear-ended the outside wall in Turn 3. With bad weather approaching and the race past the point of being an “official race,” Daniel Suarez opted to stay out and take the lead.

    The gamble failed, and he lost the lead by the time he exited Turn 4 to Keselowski with 134 to go. Darrell Wallace Jr. took a stint out front, passing him going into Turn 1 to take it with 125 to go. Busch passed him in Turn 2 to retake the lead with 120 to go.

    The battle came down to him and Larson with less than 80 to go. After close to 20 laps of pressure, Larson put the bumper to Busch going into Turn 1 to take the lead with 63 to go. After Larson cleared the lap traffic, he drove away to a half-straightaway lead over Busch. Keselowski slammed the wall in Turn 2 with 30 to go, bringing out the caution and forcing everyone onto pit road.

    Larson exited ahead of Busch and led the field back to green with 22 to go. Busch didn’t get going on the bottom and Stenhouse usurped him for second. While Stenhouse got to Larson’s bumper once, he couldn’t make the pass and got passed by Busch with 15 to go. With six to go, Busch put the chrome bumper to Larson twice, made the pass for the lead going through Turn 3 and drove on to victory.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted three hours, 26 minutes and 25 seconds, at an average speed of 77.465 mph. There were 18 lead changes among eight different drivers, and 13 cautions for 113 laps.

    Busch leaves with a 59-point lead over Logano.

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  • Bristol Cup Race Postponed to Monday

    Bristol Cup Race Postponed to Monday

  • Ragan Fastest at Bristol in Final Cup Series Practice

    Ragan Fastest at Bristol in Final Cup Series Practice

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — David Ragan topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford clocked in at a time of 15.051 and a speed of 127.487 mph.

    He held the top spot for virtually the entire 50-minute session.

    Occupying spots 2-5 were Chase Elliott, who timed in at 15.100 and 127.073 mph, Denny Hamlin, who timed in at 15.109 and 126.997 mph, Kurt Busch, who timed in at 15.164 and 126.537 mph and Michael McDowell, who timed in at 15.193 and 126.295 mph.

    AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Daniel Suarez, Kasey Sahne and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the Top-10.

    Kurt Busch comes to a stop on the apron, after his car hit the inside wall on the backstretch in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway. Photo: Tucker White/SpeedwayMedia.com

    In the closing minutes of the session, Kurt Busch broke loose exiting Turn 2, spun down the backstretch and hit the inside wall. His team rolled out the backup car, so he’ll start from the rear of the field tomorrow afternoon.

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  • Larson Fastest in Second Cup Series Practice at Bristol

    Larson Fastest in Second Cup Series Practice at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Larson topped the chart in second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet clocked in at a time of 14.874 and a speed of 129.004 mph.

    He was followed by Martin Truex Jr., who timed in at 14.880 and a speed of 128.952 mph, Aric Almirola at 14.881 and 128.943 mph, Kyle Busch at 14.882 and 128.934 mph and Kasey Kahne at 14.894 and 128.830 mph.

    David Ragan, Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott rounded out the Top-10.

    Erik Jones, who posted the 11th-fastest single lap, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 127.292 mph.

    The session proceeded without incident.

    First practice results

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  • Kyle Busch Takes Pole Position at Thunder Valley

    Kyle Busch Takes Pole Position at Thunder Valley

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Busch knows there’s no better place to start at Bristol Motor Speedway than up front, and the smile on his face after winning the pole for the Food City 500 is all the evidence you need.

    “Adam Steven and my guys, they do an awesome job, and the preparation and everything that we got going on right now has been really good for our Skittles Camry. Can’t say enough about JGR and TRD, Costa Mesa, all those guys with the motors and stuff too. It’s nice to come out here and grab a front row starting spot, but I got to be careful and mindful. I got to make sure that I have a good race car, because anytime I’ve ever started up front, I have not finished up front. And anytime I’ve ever started in the back, I’ve finished up front. We’re trying to change things here this time around this weekend. Thankfully, we’ve got a fast race car to do that with. We’ll just keep working at it, and find some more things tomorrow that’ll help us for Sunday.”

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota took pole position with a final round time of 14.895 and a speed of 128.822 mph.

    Following him are brother Kurt, with a time of 14.897 and a speed of 128.804 mph, Brad Keselowski with a time of 14.960 and a speed of 128.262 mph, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with a time of 14.961 and a speed of 128.253 mph and Ryan Blaney with a time of 14.969 128.185 mph.

    Most of the cars didn’t hit the track in mass in the first round until the final four minutes and 20 seconds. Kyle Busch topped the chart with ease, followed by brother Kurt, Joey Logano, Paul Menard and Ryan Blaney.

    It was the same in the second round, only most of the field waited even later in the round (less than two minutes remaining) before departing pit road. The Busch brothers swapped positions in the running order for the second round, with Blaney, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson rounding out the Top-five.

    Kevin Harvick, who wrecked his primary car in the closing minutes practice earlier today, didn’t turn a lap in qualifying and will start last. Jimmie Johnson will join him in the back, after his team changed a cut left-front tire (you’re required to start on the tires on which you qualified).

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  • Blaney & Jones fastest in first practice

    Blaney & Jones fastest in first practice

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Ryan Blaney and Erik Jones topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway. Both drivers posted a time of 14.774 and a speed of 129.877 mph.

    Blaney clocked in his fastest lap early on in the session, riding the VHT track bite along the bottom four feet of the racing groove, while Jones set it in the closing minutes. Although drivers tend to ride a tire-width above the bottom or with right side on the gray of the concrete.

    Kurt Busch timed in at third, with a time of 14.799 and a speed of 129.657 mph. Kyle Busch timed in at fourth, with a time of 14.822 and a speed of 129.456 mph. Kyle Larson rounded out the Top-five, with a time of 14.840 and a speed of 129.299 mph.

    Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman, Brad Keselowski, David Ragan and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the Top-10.

    Jones posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average, at a speed of 124.148 mph.

    Kevin Harvick gets directed to hop inside the awaiting ambulance to make the short trip to the infield care center, after his car slammed the outside wall in Turn 3 in the closing minutes of the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Bristol Motor Speedway. Photo: David Yeazell/SpeedwayMedia.com

    Kevin Harvick suffered a left-front part failure going into Turn 3 and slammed the outside wall in the closing minutes of the session. His team rolled out the backup car and he’ll start from the tail-end of the field on Sunday.

    Second practice results

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  • The White Zone: Was this past Bristol race really that great?

    The White Zone: Was this past Bristol race really that great?

    I’ve had three days to process the events of Thunder Valley this past Monday and I must ask if the race was honestly as great as everyone is saying.

    I sat in the press box in the middle of Turns 3 and 4 to watch the race for about 350 laps. I went down to the infield media center to watch 75 laps, taking about five minutes to get down there from the press box and 20 to 25 laps clicking off in the process, and I watched the final 50 laps outside the deadline room and photographed the cars circling around the .533-mile concrete oval while listening to the radio broadcast of the race.

    Everyone around me was saying, “What an awesome race that was!” I, however, was just thinking, “That was just average for Bristol.”

    The biggest problem I saw was it was extraordinarily hard to pass a car, especially the leader, on the bottom lane. When a car would catch the leader, the leader would simply jump to the top line in the turns and pull away.

    That’s not just me looking too deeply into something either. Kyle Larson admitted after the race Monday that running the bottom wasn’t advantageous.

    “It’s hard to keep your momentum up on the bottom, and the bottom seems to be faster here for 20 or 25 laps, and then once you get ‑‑ it seems like 3 and 4 slows down quicker around the bottom,” Larson said. “It slows down quicker than it does in 1 and 2 so you can pop up and run the top there. Yeah, it’s just all about timing that right. In that second stage Joey (Logano) was really close behind me, and I actually beat him to the top of 3 and 4 and started pulling away a little bit and he moved up there, and then the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) was really good around the bottom. It’s just an awesome racetrack. We have options to move around and makes the racing really competitive and exciting.”

    In other words, that VHT substance that was supposed to fix the problem of cars running single-file against the wall didn’t really fix the problem.

    I wouldn’t be so hard on this if three weeks earlier I hadn’t covered arguably the best race ever at Martinsville Speedway. Now I know that race also made the outside lane work, but you needed a really strong car to make the outside work and the inside was still far superior.

    It worked at Martinsville because of the mix of strategies and the inside being superior. At Bristol Motor Speedway, seeing so many strong cars race different lines and not lose momentum is like watching dirt racing, which I consider overrated.

    What made Bristol great was the single-groove racing that forced drivers to put the chrome bumper to the driver in front or out-brake them going into the corners. That’s not possible with progressive banking. The only way we return to the “Bristol of old” is to do away with the progressive banking.

    Plus, I’m not a big fan of gimmicks designed solely to “enhance” the racing. Restoring non-variable, 36 degree banking — and yes, I know that figure was also disputed by a number of individuals over the years — back to the high banks of Bristol is a more natural remedy to what Marcus Smith and Jerry Caldwell are trying to accomplish with the VHT.

    That’s my view for what it’s worth.