Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – The first thing Denny Hamlin did after winning Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night race at Bristol Motor Speedway was apologize to the man he beat to the finish line in the 24th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season. With 11 laps left in the grueling 500-lap event, Hamlin drove to the inside of Matt DiBenedetto and cleared him from the lead. Roughly three minutes later, Hamlin crossed the stripe .502 seconds ahead of the No. 95 LeavineRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – Earlier this week, Matt DiBenedetto finally got the news he had been dreading. Despite being in the midst of a career year, he would not be returning to the driver’s seat of the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota next season. The Grass Valley, California native classified the news as “devastating” when it was released, but after some time to process what had happened, the always optimistic DiBenedetto did his best to keep a smile on his face despite the uncertainty thatRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – Clint Bowyer heads into Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway clinging onto the last place in the Playoffs for dear life with just three races left in the regular season. After finishes of 20th or worse in three of the last four events, any misstep by the driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford could spell doom for his hopes of making it into the postseason with a chance to contend for the championship. “SnakebitRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson played a late game of King of the Mountain in Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series time trials at Bristol Motor Speedway. After 38 drivers made qualifying runs, it was Hamlin who was left at the top of the peak. Larson was the 34th driver to take to the track, and his impressive lap at 129.004 mph (14.874 seconds) put him on the provisional pole for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (7:30 p.m. ETRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – Under bright blue skies in East Tennessee, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series got its first look at Bristol Motor Speedway ahead of Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. After what was a mostly one groove race in Thursday night’s Truck Series race at the track, it was much of the same in first practice on Friday. Erik Jones, who led both Xfinity Series practices on Thursday, was once again at the top of the board in the first ofRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Thunder Valley this weekend for the annual Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, a showdown under the lights on the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile” that is sure to leave sheet metal twisted and tempers flaring once these drivers get done battling for 500 laps. Racing at Bristol is always intense, but when the lights go down for the night race each August, the intensity gets cranked to 11. The aggressiveness thatRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Kyle Larson’s season has included six top-five finishes, four of which have resulted in runner-up efforts, including Saturday night at Bristol, as he came up short of passing Kurt Busch to score his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season in the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. His result also clinched him a spot in the playoffs via points. Also clinching playoff berths Saturday were Busch, who snapped a 58-race winless streak, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski. He currently holds theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – “Old guys rule!” screamed 40-year-old Kurt Busch after he took the checkered flag in an action-filled Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. Busch’s first victory since the 2017 Daytona 500 overshadowed a miraculous drive by brother Kyle Busch, whose car came back to life after a Lap 2 wreck like a relentless horror movie villain. Starting on the inside lane, Busch grabbed the lead from Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Clint Bowyer on a Lap 478 restart,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – Martin Truex Jr’s impressive resume has one glaring omission: a short track win. After a late race crash in Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol, the drought continues for the 2017 Monster Energy Cup Series champion. Truex found himself in position to finally break through, running in second-place with less than 100 laps to go, but contact from Kyle Busch off of Turn 4 sent Truex’s Toyota spinning into the inside wall on the frontstretch. He then bounced backRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Kyle Larson, a close second to Kyle Busch in the 2018 spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway, took the first step toward avenging that loss—and a handful of others—with a pole-winning effort in Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying session at the .533-mile short track. In the final round, Larson covered the distance in 15.015 seconds (127.792 mph) to complete a sweep of the three rounds in the session. In winning his first Busch Pole Award at Thunder Valley, hisRead More