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One on One with NASCAR Analyst Kyle Petty

Despite not having set foot in a stock car since 2008, Kyle Petty still remains a huge part of the NASCAR scene as an NBC Sports analyst as well as a renowned humanitarian. The eight-time Sprint Cup race winner’s legacy can also be linked to his family’s Victory Junction Gang Camp for children with terminal illnesses, opened in 2004 in honor of Petty’s late son Adam, who was killed in a racing accident in 2000.

Petty’s Charity Ride Across America, which is entering its 22nd year, has been an instrumental part in the growth of the Victory Junction Gang Camp, and will kick off on April 30, 2016.

SM: With the Charity Ride Across America entering it’s 22nd year, what are some things that come to mind regarding the ride?

Kyle Petty: Well, it’s hard to believe it’s been going 22 years. That’s the first thing. When we started it, it was just a group of us going to ride from California to North Carolina. We did it, we never thought it could get any better, but here we are 22 years later and still doing the same thing.

This year, we’re leaving from Palm Springs, California on April 30 and from there, we’ll be heading over to Phoenix and visiting with Manheim Auction, Manheim being one of our event sponsors. The next day we’ll be leaving Phoenix to El Paso and going by the Harley-Davidson dealership there where we’ll be having a big dinner, and on May 2 we’ll be traveling to Lajitas, Texas. The next day we’ll be heading to San Antonio, where we’ll be staying an extra day so people can have an opportunity to go around, visit the Alamo, and do some sight-seeing around San Antonio. On May 5 we’re going to Beaumont, Texas, and we’ll wrap up the ride the next day in Biloxi, Mississippi.

We’re excited. This is a route we’ve never taken before, so we’re looking forward to taking this route.

SM: What is the expected turnout for this year’s Charity Ride?

KP: We have about 120, 130 bikes. We try to keep it in that range, because being an eight-to-nine day event, obviously, we’ll be stopping in Lajitas and taking about 200 hotel rooms (which is basically all the hotel rooms there). We’ll be serving breakfast, lunch, as a group. We’ll be traveling as a group. We’ll be fueling as a group. So we try to keep our number of bikes down to 120 to 130. We’ll have about 200 people, we’ll have some support vehicles along with us and a medical staff that travels with us as well.

SM: Who are some names we can expect to see on this year’s Charity Ride?

KP: Well, my father’s going again this year (NASCAR Hall of Famer and seven-time Sprint Cup champion Richard Petty), I think he’s gone about 20 of the 22 years. Harry Gant (18-time Sprint Cup race winner) has gone all 22 years. Herschel McGriff (2017 NASCAR HoF nominee) is going with us for the first time. Donnie Allison (10-time Sprint Cup race winner) is going with us again. NFL Hall of Famer Herschel Walker is going with us, as is Rick Allen (NBC NASCAR Analyst) and Eddie Gossage (Texas Motor Speedway president). Rutledge Wood (Top Gear America host) may come in, we’re waiting to hear from him, but we’ll also be having retired Lieutenant Colonel Allen West with us as well.

That’s about the group of celebrities we know, but I’m telling you, the other 115, 120 riders that are going with us are the real celebrities that are going with us.

SM: Aside from the Victory Junction Gang Camp, are there other charities that are involved in the Charity Ride?

KP: No, you know, when we first started we used to stop at children’s hospitals all over the United States. We went to 20-something-odd children’s hospitals all across the United States. That was what the ride’s mission was. When my son Adam was killed in a racing accident in 2000, we decided to build Victory Junction. Since that time, the majority of the money, probably 98 percent of it, goes to the camp in order to give these kids the opportunity to come to Victory Junction and experience a medically safe environment and enjoy the camp at the same time.

SM: There have been discussions of possibly bringing the Caution Clock to the Sprint Cup Series. What are your thoughts on the Caution Clock in general?

KP: I don’t enjoy it. I don’t like it. I was born in June of 1960 and attended my first race in July of 1960, and I’ve been going to race tracks ever since. I’m a purist in the purest sense of the word. I think racing needs to be done on the race track and does not need to be manipulated by timeouts, time clocks, and fake cautions, and things like that. You got to be able to go out and kick everybody’s butt. If I’m kicking everybody’s butt and they throw a caution, that penalizes me and helps the people whose butts I’m kicking.

I don’t like the Caution Clock in the Camping World Truck Series, I dang sure wouldn’t like it in the Sprint Cup Series.

CONCORD, NC – MAY 27, 2007: Kyle Petty, driver of the No. 45 Coke Zero Dodge, makes a pit stop during the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)

SM: Cup drivers running in the XFINITY events is nothing new and has been the basis for an age-old debate in NASCAR. However, it seems that with the constant domination by Cup drivers, this argument has reached a fever-pitch. Is the XFINITY Series facing an identity crisis?

KP: Yes and no. I think the XFINITY Series has its own identity with Daniel Suárez, Erik Jones, Bubba Wallace, and guys like that that are going to be future Cup stars that get their start in the XFINITY Series. I do believe it has its own identity because you’re watching future stars. Are they competing against today’s stars? Yes. Is that right or wrong? I’m not sure.

I don’t believe it’s wrong for Kyle Busch, or Brad Keselowski, or Joey Logano, or Jimmie Johnson every now and then, or Dale Junior to jump in and run a XFINITY race. It’s been that way since the beginning of time. I think what we see that’s different now than what we saw during those eras was that you had drivers that did that. Now you have owners that do that. You drop back to the XFINITY Series, the owners that are winning all the races are Jack Roush, Richard Childress, and Joe Gibbs.

So you have XFINITY drivers racing against Cup owners and Cup drivers. The deck is stacked totally against them. It wasn’t that way when Dale Earnhardt Sr. did it, it wasn’t that way when Darrell Waltrip did it. Mark Martin was the first guy to actually have a Cup owner as a XFINITY Series owner. I would rather see (NASCAR) back up and say, “Hey, you guys can run all the races you want to, you just have to drive for a XFINITY team. As long as you drive for a XFINITY team, that’s fine.”

That would give the XFINITY drivers more of a level playing field. Right now, I don’t believe the field is level for those guys in the way that it had been in the past. They struggle, but I think you get better as a race car driver racing against better drivers. And if you’re racing against Kyle Busch, you’re racing against the best. You’re racing against Joey Logano, you’re racing against the best. Guys like Suárez and Jones learn from those guys.

SM: Which rookie from the 2016 Sprint Cup class looks the most promising: Chase Elliott or Ryan Blaney?

KP: Good question. I think they both have tremendous promise and tremendous potential. I think that goes back to what we were saying about the XFINITY Series a little bit because you got Chase Elliott driving for Rick Hendrick in the No, 24 car that Jeff Gordon won 96 races with. Obviously, it’s a winning race car.

You’ve got Ryan Blaney driving for the Penske organization basically; even though it’s tagged Wood Brothers Racing it’s still Penske cars and Penske equipment. I think when you look at that, those guys are maximizing their potential and maximizing their car’s potential. I think both those guys are pretty promising.

Another guy I’m going to throw in that mix is Chris Buescher. Nobody is really talking about him. He’s driving a car that’s underfunded, not up to the standards and capabilities of the No. 24 car or the No. 21 car, yet he is doing some good things in that car on a weekly basis. He’s finishing in the top-25, top-30, and that’s about all you can ask for from that team and that car.

Blaney and Elliott may get to Victory Lane sooner, but at the same time, once Buescher gets a ride he’s going to be a force also.

SM: Who are some surprises we could expect to see in this year’s Chase field?

KP: You have to give a tip of the hat to two guys: A.J. Allmendinger and Austin Dillon. I think Austin has made tremendous progress this year. That team has made some progress as well. He’s running in the top-five, top-10, and having solid finishes. Because of that, he seems to be the leader of the Childress organization right now. I look at him and see that he could probably make the Chase.

As for Allmendinger, that group of guys has done a tremendous job this year. They are not a major organization like Roush or Hendrick; they are below that, yet they are still able to run with those guys and put together good solid runs and good solid finishes. I think he could be a guy that makes the Chase as well.

SM: Lastly, here’s a reader question: What’s the funniest/weirdest thing a fan has yelled at you from behind the booth while you were on or off the air?

KP: We were in Watkins Glen last year doing the post-race show when this fan came up and he might have had a little bit too much to drink. He had a cane because he had broken his leg, and he kept waving his cane in the air and screaming at Joey Logano that he (Logano) got lucky. He kept screaming, “You’re lucky, Joey Logano! You’re just lucky! Lucky! Kevin Harvick should have won that race.” Harvick had run out of fuel on the last corner of the last lap.

He kept saying it and kept saying it. We had told him to be quiet when we went on air, but he kept saying it and finally I turned around in the middle of the program while we were on air and told him, “Lucky is I don’t come down there and beat you over the head with that cane. That’s what lucky is.”

So that’s probably the strangest or weirdest thing that has happened.

April 19, 2016
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Bristol

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished seventh at Bristol, posting his seventh top-10 result of the year. He leads the Sprint Cup points standings by a single point over second-place Carl Edwards.

“The No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet was pretty strong at Bristol,” Harvick said. “Jimmy Johns slogan is ‘Freaky Fast.’ Hunt Brothers Pizza’s logo is ‘You’ll Need A Bathroom—Freaky Fast.’”

2. Kyle Busch: Busch, seeking his third consecutive win, experienced a tough day at Bristol. His day ended on lap 256 when he blew a right-front tire and slammed the wall. He finished 38th.

“I had an early spin,” Busch said, “then suffered a speeding penalty. And I blew two tires. Right-front tires on Joe Gibbs Racing cars were like seats at Bristol Motor Speedway—they were most likely empty.

“While driving to the garage, my car made contact with a fan. I seem to be making a habit of running into fans off the track. That 38th-place finish was only my second out of the top 5 this season. So, relatively speaking, my day was ‘pedestrian.’”

3. Carl Edwards: Edwards started on the pole at Bristol and led 276 of 500 laps, capturing the Food City 500 in dominating fashion.

“Of course,” Edwards said, “I performed my celebratory backflip after the race. Unlike Kyle Busch, the only thing I nailed was the landing.”

4. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson suffered a late loose wheel issue and finished a disappointing 23rd in the Food City 500.

“That loose wheel ruined a potential top 5,” Johnson said. “That’s called getting ‘screwed unscrewed.’”

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: After a slow start, Earnhardt recovered to score the runner-up spot in the Food City 500. He is sixth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 37 out of first.

“I accidentally hit the kill engine switch when the green flag dropped,” Earnhardt said. “Those kill switches are necessary in this sport. Now, they’d be of more use if they could be applied to pre-race prayers.

“I was lucky enough to meet Peyton Manning. He gave me a Broncos jersey; I gave him a HANS device.”

6. Kurt Busch: Busch led 41 laps and finished third in an entertaining Food City 500 at Bristol.

“My brother Kyle made contact with a fan as he drove his damaged car to the garage midway through the race,” Busch said. “I guess the fan didn’t see Kyle coming. Some say our cars should be outfitted with horns. Others say they shouldn’t because there’s already too many ‘honk-ies’ in this sport already.”

7. Joey Logano: Logano posted a 10th-place finish at Bristol, recording his fifth top 10 of the year.

“How lucky is Dale Earnhardt Jr.?” Logano said. “He got to meet Peyton Manning. But how lucky is Manning? He received the grand tour of Bristol Motor Speedway by Earnhardt himself. Talk about a ‘Thunder Valet.’”

8. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 20th at Bristol as Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards took the win.

“JGR took four of the top five qualifying positions,” Hamlin said. “Only Carl Edwards was able to close the deal, however. By ‘closing the deal,’ I mean driving back to the garage without running over someone.”

9. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski had a top-10 car until a late tire issue set him back. He finished 18th and is now eighth in the points standings, 63 out of first.

“Luckily,” Keselowski said, “the fan that Kyle Busch hit was not injured. I guess God was looking out for her. I like to believe that had I been in that fan’s shoes, a higher power would have pushed me out of the path of the car, hopefully before Kevin Harvick pushed me into it.”

10. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex started eighth and finished 14th in the Food City 500.

“It’s interesting the way Kyle Busch keeps meeting NASCAR fans,” Truex said. “It’s either (get out of) my way’ or ‘the highway.’”

April 19, 2016
Bristol in the Rear-View

It’s time to put a nice little bow on the events of this past weekend in Thunder Valley.

At the end of every season, I make a list of the 10 best races of the season. After eight, yesterday’s Food City 500 would be at the top. It was a spectacular race. I would even say it’s been the best since the grinding down of the top lane back in 2012. Sitting in the media center watching the event, I was thinking to myself, “This is Bristol. This is Bristol at its finest.”

The fact that we had such a fantastic race makes the lack of hindquarters in attendance even more baffling. We’ve had a run of truly great races at Bristol since August of 2012, and yet there’s still people out there who refuse to let go of the past and accept that this Bristol is far superior to Bristol of old. I’m sorry you don’t get the wrecks like you did back then even though we had plenty of wrecks yesterday with 14 of the 15 cautions being for wrecks. Don’t tell me it’s not the “lack of wrecks” because it is. I’ve studied the numbers inside and out for over a year now and the only metric that’s down is the number of wrecks. The number of lead changes and different leaders is comparable, and even over in many cases, to “old” Bristol.

I’ll get off this by saying if you weren’t in attendance yesterday, you have no right to complain about the attendance.

After falling back to 40th on lap 1 after making an unscheduled stop for battery issues, Dale Earnhardt Jr. rallied himself back to a runner-up finish in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Not too long ago, this would’ve caused Earnhardt to just give up and ride around until the end. The fact that he kept his eye on the prize, got himself back on the lead lap and finished second is quite impressive. When asked how he stopped himself from panicking, he said because he turned 40.

“You know, as I got older, I tried harder to enjoy what I’m doing, and not get really upset and too out of shape when things aren’t going our way, plus I know Greg and them guys are on the pit box trying everything they can, and for me to ‑‑ they’re the only ones I’m going to be able to yell at, so for me to ‑‑ it doesn’t do any good to be hollering at them or upset or just lose your mind, and the over‑the‑wall guys especially, we don’t really spend a ton of time with the over‑the‑wall guys, and they’re real sensitive,” Earnhardt said. “They’re big ol’ guys and athletes, but they’ve got big hearts, too, so you can’t be screaming and coming unglued because they don’t want to work for people like that.

“Yeah, just trying to have more fun and enjoy it,” he added. “We had a little trouble early, and it just made today more difficult and made the challenge more fun, made it a bigger challenge than it was, and to run second, it’s a great feeling to come back from what we did. It’s something to smile about.”

I’ll end on Matt DiBenedetto. Yesterday, I reported on his sixth-place finish like I would with any driver. I gave his finish, added some quotes and said where he was in points. But I didn’t understand the emotion from DiBenedetto until I read a story on him by Dustin Long of NBC Sports.

He started in the XFINITY Series at 17 as a development driver for Joe Gibbs Racing thanks to his success in the lower ranks. He ran seven races for them from 2009 to 2010 but was left on the outside looking after sponsorship went by the wayside because of the recession.

After a season in the K&N East Series, he worked his way back to the XFINITY Series. But he was with a team that was starting and parking races.

“I thought my career was over countless times,’’ DiBenedetto said yesterday while being congratulated by Denny Hamlin. “I got down, but I kept on digging deep. I said, ‘If I don’t give this everything I have, I’ll regret this the rest of my life.’ I don’t ever want to think back and say, ‘I wonder if I could have been racing with those guys.’”

Some of the drivers he finished ahead of include Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch. Five of those names are champions in the Sprint Cup Series and all seven have won at least once at Bristol.

Runs like DiBenedetto’s is showing me that Bristol is starting to be a bit more of an equalizer track. What I mean is that it’s starting to become a bit more of a track where drivers who normally wouldn’t even sniff the top-10 could realistically run well and possibly win.

In the spring of 2014, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. earned a career-best finish of second and Aric Almirola earned a then career-best third-place finish that he would best later that season with a win at Daytona.

Last April, Danica Patrick earned a top-10 finish in a decent run at Bristol.

Yesterday, Trevor Bayne earned his second career top-five finish in a No. 6 Ford of a Roush Fenway Racing organization that appears to be turning the ship around.

I’m not talking anywhere near the degree of Daytona or Talladega. I just mean some drivers are running well here who don’t anywhere else.

That’s my take on this weekend. This week, we head north on I-95 to race on Sunday afternoon at Richmond International Raceway.

April 18, 2016
DiBenedetto Earns First Top-10 Finish

BRISTOL, Tenn.– Matt DiBenedetto was teary-eyed following his top-10 finish at Thunder Valley.

The driver of the No. 83 BK Racing Toyota earned his career best sixth-place finish in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“I’m sorry I’m so speechless – just I’m so thankful to everybody on this team, everybody at BK Racing, Cosmo Motors in Hickory, North Carolina – they’re local to me, he’s my best friend, sell some awesome cars, please check them out – everyone at BK Racing, Dustless Blasting,” DiBenedetto said. “These guys, man – that’s unbelievable for a team like to us to be growing this much and for us to get a sixth-place run – I’m sorry I’m so emotional, it’s just this is like a win for us. I am so excited. I see my family back here – my wife, Taylor, my brother is in town from the military and I’m so glad he got to experience this. This is just – this is incredible. I’m so blessed to be here.”

It’s the first top-10 for the second year driver out of Grass Valley, California and first top-10 finish for the fledgling BK Racing organization.

“A sixth-place finish for BK Racing and for all my guys, this is like a win for us,” DiBenedetto added. “I apologize for being so emotional, but this is an incredible run. I can’t thank my team enough, my crew chief Gene Need and everyone on this team for working so hard and busting their tails for me to be able to drive this race car in the Sprint Cup Series. This is such an honor and I’m so thankful to all the sponsors – Dustless Blasting, Cosmo Motors, Dr. Pepper and I know I’m forgetting people. Thank you to the fans most importantly – they are so great and so supportive. I’m just really thankful to be here, this was a great day.”

The finish moves DiBenedetto up to 30th in points.

April 17, 2016
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Overcomes Early Misstep to Finish Runner-Up

BRISTOL, Tenn.– Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to overcome a loss of power and loss of laps to come home runner-up at Thunder Valley.

After making an unscheduled stop on lap 1 for lack of power and falling two laps down, the driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet rallied back to a second-place finish in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“Yeah, we got the Roush system on our cars for the stuck‑throttle issue, and just warming the brakes up, I engaged that system to kill the throttle,” Earnhardt said. “I was warming the brakes up like I always do, and apparently I applied too much pressure and it killed the motor.

“We’ll work on that and maybe raise that threshold a little bit because I wasn’t really using the brake that much.

“So I just needed to cycle the ECU, reset that, came to pit road and did that. I probably could’ve done it on the track and saved ourselves a lot of trouble, but you don’t know what’s going on at that particular point, and you listen to the first thing anybody tells you when it comes to direction, and the first thing that my spotter said was that if I need to pit, I need to come on now. We got on pit road, cycled it, lost a couple laps. Greg did a good job getting the wave‑arounds and knowing when to take them and stuff, and we got back on the lead lap. We had about a 10th‑place car. We weren’t really that good all day. We tried a setup that we’ve never really ran here before, just trying to learn a little something going forward, and we’ll go home and science it out a little bit.

“We got real lucky the last three restarts to be on the outside line. We restarted 10th, 6th and 4th, and when you restart 4th you’re typically going to come out in second place after that. I was hoping we didn’t have any more cautions after that. So it was good. We’ll take it.”

This runner-up finish is his second consecutive second-place finish this season after a runner-up the week before in Texas.

“Well, I hope the second comes a little easier than this one did,” Earnhardt said. “I’d love to get a win. We weren’t really as close today as we were last week. We had a really good car last week, a top‑3 car. This car wasn’t that good, but we kind of understand why. We’re going outside the box as far as what we typically run here for setup.

“And that’s good. You didn’t ‑‑ the setup didn’t quite work but you still had a good day and you can go home and learn and try to science it out and make that setup work. I like finishing good, and that’s going to help us get into the Chase pretty comfortably if we don’t have any major issues, but we certainly want to win. Going to victory lane is important to our sponsors, and it’s obviously fun. But it’s good for our team to set ourselves up to not have to worry about the Chase anymore. Even though you know you’re a top‑5 team or top‑10 team that should make the Chase without any issue, you can’t help but count them points to 16th or 17th each week.”

Earnhardt leaves Bristol sixth in points trailing new points leader Kevin Harvick by 37.

April 17, 2016
Carl Edwards Tops the Field in Thunder Valley

BRISTOL, Tenn.– Carl Edwards led over half the race on his way to scoring the victory at Thunder Valley.

The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led 276 of the 500 laps on his way to winning the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. It’s his 26th career victory in the Sprint Cup Series and fourth at Bristol.

“There were so many different things happening out there,” Edwards said. “Different guys were fast at different times. I have to work on my drag racing stuff, Kurt (Busch) has those restarts figured out. He was tough. Just awesome. This is a real testament to my team. The guys have been working really hard. We’ve got Comcast Business folks here and they helped put this whole thing together with ARRIS and Toyota, TRD, Stanley – all the folks that made this 19 team happen. Just great and so awesome. Thanks to Sprint and Cessna and all the folks that make this happen. Now we’re in the Chase and we can go have some fun. Just so cool, awesome to be here.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. overcame an issue with a loss of power after making an unscheduled stop on the first lap and finished runner-up in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

“We had a lot of luck on those last several restarts,” Earnhardt said. “You start on the outside and just gain some spots just being on the right lane. We didn’t have a good enough car to run in the top-five today, but Greg (Ives, crew chief) and those guys did a great job getting our laps back. We had a dead battery at the start of the race; something bad like that, same thing I think happened to the No. 22. That cost us two laps early in the race and we worked real hard. Greg did a great job helping us get our laps back. The car was about a 15th or 10th-place car. We were just lucky on those restarts as to where we lined up. And that really helped us.”

Kurt Busch led 41 laps to round out the podium in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.

“We just battled through it,” Busch said. “Junior had trouble at the start and I was 40th when we started the race. One car at a time. One set of tires at a time. And then we were in great position around lap 350. We got the lead from Edwards for a little bit. And we just kept working on it. And there’s nothing more that I could have gotten out of the car. I’m really happy with the way that everybody worked together. I shouldn’t be happy about finishing third, but I’ll take it. It’s just a great effort. And the way that this team has come together is perfect. We just need to find that last little bit.”

Chase Elliott finished fourth in his No. 24 HMS Chevrolet.

“The guys brought a fast car here this weekend,” Elliott said. “Started off a little slow. I didn’t qualify as well as we wanted to on Friday, but we hit on a couple of things, I thought, right there towards the end of final practice yesterday that we really liked. Fortunately that carried over to today and I was able to move forward. I hated to have a loose wheel, but stuff happens. The guys did a good job having a good pit stop under green. We only ended up losing two laps and that gave us a shot to get back. One down, and then trying to get back to the lead lap. It was a long day but I’m definitely proud of the effort. We’re chipping away, just not close enough.”

Trevor Bayne overcame a commitment line violation to round out the top-five with his second career top-five finish in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

“It was a lot of battling back,” Bayne said. “We went through a lot of adversity to get there, but we just didn’t give up. We had a really good race car. That’s what paid off. You can’t come back if you make mistakes and get back to a top-five finish. I kept getting on the bottom on restarts every time, but it came back me at the end. We were able to start on the top those last three and that’s really what got us in the top-five.”

Matt DiBenedetto earned his first career top-10 finish with a sixth-place finish in his No. 83 BK Racing Toyota.

“I’m sorry I’m so speechless – just I’m so thankful to everybody on this team, everybody at BK Racing, Cosmo Motors in Hickory, North Carolina – they’re local to me, he’s my best friend, sell some awesome cars, please check them out – everyone at BK Racing, Dustless Blasting,” DiBenedetto said. “These guys, man – that’s unbelievable for a team like to us to be growing this much and for us to get a sixth-place run – I’m sorry I’m so emotional, it’s just this is like a win for us. I am so excited. I see my family back here – my wife, Taylor, my brother is in town from the military and I’m so glad he got to experience this. This is just – this is incredible. I’m so blessed to be here.”

Kevin Harvick led 13 laps on his way to a seventh-place finish in his No. 4 SHR Chevrolet.

“Yeah, it was definitely the biggest challenge for us…We had the speed but it seemed like every restart we were just struggling to make ground on the restart and by the time you get to two or three spots back, you battle back to where you were and then the caution would come out again,” Harvick said. “But there’s nothing you can do about that. We raced hard all day and we’ll go to the next one.”

Clint Bowyer earned his first top-10 finish of the season with an eighth-place finish in his No. 15 HScott Motorsports Chevrolet. Ryan Newman finished ninth in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Joey Logano led four laps on his way to rounding out the top-10 in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

“We fought hard and we got all the way back, and then the car just shut off there at the end for some reason,” Logano said. “We’ve got to figure that out a little bit, but I just hate it because I feel like we’ve got a car that’s capable of winning this thing and every time we come here in the spring it’s the same story. We had a fast car and we just blow it somehow.”

Aric Almirola, who finished 34th after a late-race wreck, was called to the NASCAR hauler for “not following proper race protocol” when he refused to get out of his car.

The race lasted three hours, 15 minutes and 52 seconds at an average speed of 81.637 mph. There were 16 lead changes among seven different drivers and 15 cautions for 102 laps.

Kevin Harvick leaves Bristol as the points leader.

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April 17, 2016
Hamlin Fastest in Final Practice

BRISTOL, Tenn.– Denny Hamlin topped the chart in final Sprint Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 15.213 and a speed of 126.129 mph. Chase Elliott was second in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 15.250 and a speed of 125.823 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was third in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 15.259 and a speed of 125.749 mph. Carl Edwards was fourth in his No. 19 JGR Toyota with a time of 15.266 and a speed of 125.691 mph. Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five in his No. 18 JGR Toyota with a time of 15.302 and a speed of 125.395 mph.

Jimmie Johnson will start sixth in his No. 48 HMS Chevrolet. Kevin Harvick will start seventh in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Kyle Larson will start eighth in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Kasey Kahne will start ninth in his No. 5 HMS Chevrolet. Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-10 in his No. 20 JGR Toyota.

Larson posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 124.657 mph. Busch was second at an average speed of 124.561 mph.

All that remains for the Sprint Cup Series is to run the Food City 500 tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. ET.

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April 16, 2016
Kyle Busch Fastest in Second Practice at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn.– Kyle Busch topped the chart in second Sprint Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was fastest in the second practice session with a time of 15.184 and a speed of 126.370 mph.

Chase Elliott was second in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 15.196 and a speed of 126.253 mph. Kurt Busch was third in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet with a time of 15.212 and a speed of 126.137 mph. Aric Almirola was fourth in his No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford with a time of 15.230 and a speed of 125.988 mph. Carl Edwards rounded out the top-five in his No. 19 JGR Toyota with a time of 15.232 and a speed of 125.972 mph.

Joey Logano was sixth in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. Casey Mears was seventh in his No. 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet. Matt Kenseth was eighth in his No. 20 JGR Toyota. Kasey Kahne was ninth in his No. 5 HMS Chevrolet. Ryan Newman rounded out the top-10 in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

Kyle Busch posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 125.569 mph. Edwards was second at an average speed of 124.762 mph.

The Sprint Cup Series is back on track this morning at 11 a.m. ET for final practice.

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April 16, 2016
The White Zone: The bottom line is the way around Bristol again…for now

BRISTOL, Tenn.– “The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading…” and after the first day of race activity at Thunder Valley, It appears the bottom line is the way around Bristol again.

After one day of practice and qualifying at Bristol Motor Speedway, a number of things are noticeably different than in previous years. To start, the Sprint Cup Series cars are running around the bottom at Bristol. Since the top lane was grounded out back in the summer of 2012, the fast way around the track has been the high line up against the wall.

During final practice for the XFINITY Series, the cars were running the against the wall again. But during Sprint Cup Series qualifying, everyone way hugging the bottom.

During his media availability earlier today, I asked Carl Edwards why everyone was running the bottom line when the top had been the norm and he said he wasn’t sure why.

“There might be some slight differences with the Goodyear tires, but probably the best reason or most likely reason for that is that we haven’t put a lot of rubber down on the track yet and it just seems like this place moves around a lot,” he added. “We talked about it in practice, I don’t think that the race will be run on the bottom like that. I think it will really widen out, but I don’t know when it will happen. I don’t know if it will happen today or all the way where we might have to wait until Sunday for it.”

“I think you are going to see cars wherever the grip is,” Chase Elliott said. “If the grip is up top that is where you are going to see them and if it’s around the bottom that is where it’s going to be. The way the races have gone here the past few years, I’m sure, maybe not today or tomorrow, but definitely Sunday and I would expect by tomorrow afternoon you will see everybody up to if I had to guess.”

I have to believe that the low-downforce package is playing a part in these cars hugging the bottom, although the drivers I’ve spoken to today can’t say for sure.

When asked how the package will affect Bristol, Elliott said he thinks “you might see some difference. I don’t know, as you said, being a half-mile racetrack I’m not sure just how much it will play a role. Looking back to Martinsville, I do think on the braking side of things you didn’t have as much downforce and as much drag helping you get stopped, whereas here you have a lot of the banking to catch you. I don’t know that you will see a big difference in that this weekend.”

Cars running against the wall the last many years has been among the biggest complaints fans have lumped at Bristol since the surface was revamped into a progressive banking surface. Now that cars are running the bottom this time around and if this continues through the weekend, those of you who’ve begged and pleaded for a return to “old Bristol” may finally get your wish.

My plane is about to take off, so I must get going. Until next time, I’ll leave you with this fact. You can be fined up to a thousand dollars for whistling on Sunday in Salt Lake City.

*The opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the author. They may or may not represent the views of SpeedwayMedia.com.

April 15, 2016
Edwards Grabs the Pole for Sunday’s Race at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn.– Carl Edwards will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday at Thunder Valley.

The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota scored the pole for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway with a time of 14.991 and a speed of 127.997 mph. This is his 18th career pole in 417 starts in the Sprint Cup Series.

He described taking the pole position as, “Just awesome, what Comcast Business does is they find solutions for complex problems and this place is really complicated and my guys did a really good job making the car drive well on all different segments. When you’re driving in the corner and these things take off and slide and Dave (Rogers, crew chief) and everybody did a really great job. It’s really cool to get this pole.”

Defending race winner Matt Kenseth will start second in his No. 20 JGR Toyota after posting a time of 15.059 and a speed of 127.419 mph.

“We were just a little off,” Kenseth said. “These guys did a great job with our Dollar General Camry today. Obviously, all of the JGR cars were fast again so thanks to everyone who’s building these things and TRD (Toyota Racing Development) with the engines. In the first round we were pretty good we thought and then the second round we tried something and we were too tight and then the third round we were a little too loose really. We were just that much off, but overall it was a great day and we’ll still get a good pit stop and a good place to start and hopefully we’ll get it driving good tomorrow and we can race them on Sunday.”

Joey Logano will start third in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford after posting a time of 15.086 and a speed of 127.191 mph.

“It’s always exciting qualifying here at Bristol,” Logano said. “I’m not sure I’m holding my breath, but I’m breathing really hard when I’m done, so I’m thinking I probably do hold my breath. Things happen so quick around this race track and we’ve got a really good AutoTrader Fusion. We were close. We won the first session. We were second in the second session and in the third session we were third, so we just kept losing a little bit. Overall, I’m proud of the effort and it’s obviously a decent starting spot for a 500-lap race.”

Denny Hamlin will start fourth in his No. 11 JGR Toyota after posting a time of 15.132 and a speed of 126.804 mph.

“The car has good speed and that’s one good thing about it,” Hamlin said. “The FedEx Freight car has really had good speed all day. Those last two rounds definitely didn’t go the way we had hoped – the track changed a little bit there and we didn’t quite keep up with it. Overall, pretty happy with the effort. That will get us a good pit stall hopefully and we can have a smooth 500 laps around here Sunday.”

Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five starters in his No. 18 JGR Toyota after posting a time of 15.162 and a speed of 126.553 mph.

“We’re alright, the second round was really good and not sure what happened in the third round,” Busch said. “Just missed the speed we were looking for and got real loose on entry. Didn’t make up a whole lot of time from the loose on entry on the exit.”

Jimmie Johnson will start sixth in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

“I’m excited about how comfortable the car has been, the speed that we have had in it,” Johnson said. “Practice sessions can be quite frustrating for us here and qualifying sessions. To be off to a good, calm, smooth, fast start is really good for us.”

Kevin Harvick will start seventh in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.

“I’m really happy with where we qualified as bad as it drove on entry,” Harvick said. “We just had a loose into the corner that we hadn’t really expected. They made some good adjustments and we were able to salvage a decent position and get a good spot. Hopefully, we will make it better than it was in race trim in practice tomorrow.”

Martin Truex Jr. will start eighth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. AJ Allmendinger will start ninth in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet.

“Overall, just getting better in all of qualifying,” Allmendinger said. “We have made the second round every race so far, which heck, we weren’t even close to that last year. I think we have made the third round at least close to half. It’s a big deal. We are just getting more speed in the cars, trying to learn how to get through these three rounds of qualifying. The guys that do it every weekend they know what tire pressure, what to do to keep up with the race track as the tires go off. There are definitely a couple of cars that are way quick, but to be top 10 at Bristol in qualifying is a huge deal. Everybody gets lapped pretty quickly here, so hopefully we can stay up front and keep working on the car. We have some room to improve for sure. It’s getting good.”

Trevor Bayne rounded out the top-10 qualifiers in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

“That’s a pleasant surprise for our race team,” Bayne said. “Coming to a short track we know that’s not our strongest suit, especially in qualifying when you’re asking the most out of the race car. Normally, we can make the long run speed, but to have short run speed and get a good qualifying spot here at Bristol is a big deal. Track position is always huge. Starting 10th, we’re on the outside lane. As the race progresses you definitely want to be on the outside on restarts. I’m just really proud of this team. Last year, I would have been throwing a party right now if we were top 10 in qualifying here. The fact that I’m not jumping around and acting crazy is that we’re getting immune to running well and that’s a good thing. We keep pushing that needle every week. Last week was one of our strongest runs that we’ve had all season, and I thought we had a top-5 car, so to come to Bristol and keep building on that and have consistency to be able to do it every week and not be so hit or miss, it’s come a long way for this AdvoCare team and I can’t be more proud of my guys.”

Kasey Kahne will start 11th in his No. 5 HMS Chevrolet. Brad Keselowski rounded out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying in his No. 2 Penske Ford.

During round 1, Ty Dillon got loose exiting turn 2, slid down the track and slammed into the rear of Landon Cassill’s car.

When asked if he could’ve avoided being hit, Cassill said he “wasn’t looking in my mirror. If I would have seen a car sideways at the right time, I probably would have tried to speed up. I don’t know how much that could have helped me, but it’s bad timing on my part, I guess.”

Neither will go to a backup car.

“It’s quite a bit of damage to the right-rear,” Cassill said. “It’s gonna be a lot of work for the guys to fix it, but it’s pretty much just cosmetic, so we’ll get it fixed, I think.”

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April 15, 2016