By David Morgan, Associate Editor
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Day one of NASCAR Cup Series action at Bristol Motor Speedway is complete, with drivers and teams getting a full practice session to dial in their cars before setting the field for Saturday night’s Bass Pro Night Race.
Alex Bowman will lead the field to green after posting the fast time of 15.142 seconds (126.720 mph) around the half-mile bullring to snag his first pole of the season at the most opportune time in the first elimination race of the Playoffs.
“I thought we struggled a little bit in practice, more than I was expecting. And then really in qualifying, I had a lot of grip,” Bowman said of his lap.
“I was a little bit too tight and it was one of those situations where you run a lap and you’re like, it’s either gonna be really good or really slow. Because when you’re tight you just slow down until you can turn. Obviously after the first round felt pretty good about it and thankful to start up front and qualify well.
“Qualifying has not been our strongest suite over the years, so being a cutoff race and everything, starting up front’s definitely important.”
Bowman will be joined by fellow Hendrick Motorsports Kyle Larson on the front row, with another Hendrick driver in William Byron rolling off from third place.
Martin Truex, Jr starts fourth in his final Bristol night race as a full-time Cup Series driver, as Chase Briscoe rounds out the top-five starters.
Christopher Bell locked in with the sixth-place starting position, followed by other Playoff contenders in eighth (Denny Hamlin) and 10th (Chase Elliott)
The Spire Motorsports duo of Carson Hocevar and Corey LaJoie were the best of the non-Playoff drivers after qualifying seventh and ninth, respectively.
Other Playoff drivers are scattered down the starting lineup with Ty Gibbs in 13th, Tyler Reddick in 15th, Joey Logano in 20th, Ryan Blaney in 22nd, Brad Keselowski in 23rd, Austin Cindric in 27th, Harrison Burton in 34th, and Daniel Suarez in 35th.
Practice went to the No. 54 Toyota of Ty Gibbs, with Blaney, Larson, Byron, and Elliott making up the top-five fastest during the 45-minute session.
Bubba Wallace was sixth fastest, followed by Bell, Briscoe, and Bowman clocking in seventh through ninth. Hocevar rounded out the top-10 in practice.
Truex: “It’s Our Last Shot.”
Martin Truex, Jr. has not had the best of starts to his final run in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, but heading into the first-round elimination race at Bristol, he’s still in the hunt, just 14-points out.
He returns to a track in which he led 54 laps in the spring en route to a second-place finish, hoping that his No. 19 team will be able to display that same speed this weekend. However, looming in the back of his mind is getting eliminated in this race a year ago.
“It is our last shot. I don’t know. I wouldn’t say nervous, you just kind of want to get it done with – the next 24 hours there is going to be a lot to talk about, a lot to think about and a lot of guess work on how we approach the race. We will just see, but I wouldn’t say that it is nervous.
“I’ve been doing this long enough, that I just look forward to the opportunity. You just more want to get it over with and see how it all turns out, so hopefully it is good, but the guys are working hard, and I’m hoping that it races like it did in the spring because that worked out well for us, we will just see. Hopefully it goes well.”
No Playing It Safe for Playoff Contenders
The consensus among the majority of the Cup Series Playoff field that it’s going to be an offense heavy kind of night at Bristol as those inside the top-12 look to stay there and those outside hope to race their way in.
One driver hoping for the latter will be Denny Hamlin, who has won the last two Bristol races and finds himself just outside the top-12 in points heading into Saturday night. Given his points position, sitting six-points out of the top-12, he has just one thing on his mind: win.
“I’m coming here to win. That strategy won’t change unless the situation changes during the race,” said Hamlin.
Likewise for other Playoff contenders, whether they come into the weekend relatively safe points-wise or not.
Defending series champion Ryan Blaney may have a 29-point advantage over the cut-off line after a dismal race at Watkins Glen a week ago, but it’s still business as usual for the No. 12 team this weekend in Thunder Valley.
“Us as a 12 team, like we try not to be in like the play it safe mode, right? I mean, I feel like we always are on kill and trying to lead laps and things, and that’s just kind of what we live and die by. And just try to do everything as efficiently as you can,” said Blaney
“You maybe find yourself in spots of where you’re at on points at the end of the race, you know, hey, if I run here, I’m gonna be good instead of like pushing the issue to try to get eighth, you know, and chance wrecking, you’re probably gonna chill out.
“But we’ve never been a super conservative team. I think that’s what makes us successful. I think even when we’ve been aggressive and things like that, we have done everything in our power to control our outcome. It’s other outside possibilities that kind of hinder us. But I think you just approach it like a normal weekend. That’s what we plan on doing.”
The same strategy will be in play for Chase Briscoe, who looks to keep his Cinderella story in the Playoffs alive by holding onto his slim 6-point advantage over the cut-off line.
“I think you just gotta go. I mean, I think you can be 21 points above, you can be 21 points below, you could be six above, six below. You just have to go race and you have to try to score as many points you possibly can in the stages and obviously try to win the race.
“I mean, last week I did nothing different than what I would, would typically do, right? And like the points just kind of work themselves out. So yeah, this weekend will be the same, just be as aggressive as I possibly can. You know, not put myself in a bad spot and wreck myself, but certainly try to get every position you can because it’s gonna come down to probably one point more than likely. And the guys that are behind us are certainly gonna be running really good too.”
Burton’s Future Secured with Xfinity Series Ride at AM Racing
Harrison Burton’s future has been up in the air since being served his walking papers at Wood Brothers Racing and while he’s focused on trying to advance in the Playoffs, he has also been working to try and secure his future in NASCAR by finding a new home to race next season.
On Friday, it was announced that he would drop down to the Xfinity Series in 2025 to drive the No. 15 Ford for the team on a full-time basis.
“It’s a privilege to drive a race car in NASCAR in any of the top three series,” Burton said. “Obviously, it’s not what I wanted to happen. I didn’t want to, you know, lose my job, right? But what I did do is, learned a lot from this experience. Feel like I’m a better race car driver than when I was in Xfinity.
“And AM Racing has confidence in me that I can help them turn their program around and get it where it needs to be as well. They have shared and have shown kind of the want to do that, the want to get better and are willing to put the work in to do that. And I think with both of us with that same mindset, I don’t see why there’s any reason we can’t. So, excited to get that rolling when we do.”
Burton added that shortly after it was announced that he would not be returning to the Wood Brothers in 2025, AM Racing was one of the first teams to reach out and offer him a ride for next season.
“It was pretty recently that I signed my deal. It wasn’t like I had this deal signed and have been sitting on it. I’d been talking with them. They had expressed interest in me as a driver early on. As soon as really my announcement came out that I wouldn’t return to the Wood Brothers, they expressed interest and then have kind of shown me the will and want to improve and get better and do things the right way.
“And as time went along, I felt like that was the best opportunity for me to help them build their program and in doing that help rebuild myself and my confidence in try and win races in the Xfinity Series.”
Connect with Us
To RSS Feed
Followers
Likes