Bristol Motor Speedway Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick pulled off a major coup earlier this week with the signing of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie William Byron, who is at the top of the standings on the strength of five victories in a Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota this season. The 18-year-old Byron used to go trick-or-treating at Hendrick’s house. As it turned out, Byron did the same at the house of Hendrick driver Jimmie Johnson, a six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion,Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service The outpouring of support for Bryan Clauson continued at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Larson honoring the memory of their close friend with special helmets and paint schemes. Clauson died at age 27 from injuries suffered during an Aug. 6 accident in the Belleville (Kansas) Midget Nationals. Like Stenhouse, Clauson got his start in NASCAR racing as a development driver for Roush Fenway Racing, but after 26 starts in the XFINITY series, withRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service After surgery to remove a slow-growing, non-malignant tumor from his brain, NASCAR XFINITY Series driver Matt Tifft has been cleared to return to the race track, a process he will begin with a late model stock test on Sunday at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Tifft hasn’t competed in a NASCAR race since May 21, when he drove for Red Horse Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. All told, Tifft ran three races for Red Horse and six XFINITY events for Joe GibbsRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Denny Hamlin owns a new track record, but Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards won the round that counted in Friday’s knockout qualifying session at Bristol Motor Speedway. Edwards sped around the .533-mile high-banked concrete short track in 14.602 seconds (131.407 mph) to claim the top starting spot for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA night Race (8 p.m. ET on NBCSN), edging Hamlin (131.200 mph) by .023 seconds. Remarkably, Edwards earned his fifth Coors Light Pole Award of the season, hisRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The last time the NASCAR Xfinity Series visited the Bristol Motor Speedway, Erik Jones took home the victory in thrilling fashion as he made a late race move to pass teammate Kyle Busch, and competitor Kyle Larson. Jones won by just under half a second of Busch. That race was also the first Xfinity Dash 4 Cash race of the season, and the first with heat races. This weekend’s race will not have heat races. Several past winners will be in the field, including championshipRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Bristol Motor Speedway under the lights in August has been a fan favorite since its inception and with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heading to Thunder Valley this weekend, it’s time again for “Throwback Thursday Theater”. When thinking of classic races at Bristol, there are a few that immediately come to mind and one of those has to be the 1995 running of the Goody’s 500, which provided action throughout the duration and ended with a spectacular finish between two of the sport’s best, TerryRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer At the start of the race day at Bristol Motor Speedway, the racing surface was a bit of a mystery for most. The lower groove had recently been ‘polished’ with a chemical meant to increase grip. Many of the drivers in the Camping World Truck Series were reluctant to venture into the low lane in the first practice session. Matt Crafton didn’t venture down during the first session, in which he was eighth fastest. However, as others began to find more speed in the lowerRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Heading into Wednesday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, just five drivers were locked into the Truck Series Chase with a dead heat for the final transfer spot, but after 200 laps around the half-mile bullring, the Chase picture has come into focus a bit more with three races remaining in the regular season. Prior to the UNOH 200, Ben Kennedy and Cameron Hayley were in a tie for the eighth and final transfer spot as the two drivers bothRead More

By Chris Knight, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Ben Kennedy stole the lead from William Byron with 20 laps to go in Wednesday night’s UNOH 200 and later withstood an intense six-lap shootout with Brett Moffitt to the finish line to earn his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. With his triumph in his 63rd career series start, Kennedy, the great-grandson of NASCAR Founder Bill France Sr., became the first France family member to win a NASCAR national series race. “I can’tRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After the tragic passing of Bryan Clauson last week, drivers throughout the motorsports world have paid tribute to Clauson in various ways and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. will get the chance to pay tribute with a special paint scheme in Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Stenhouse and Clauson both share the same sponsor in Fastenal, with the company currently sponsoring Stenhouse’s No. 17 Ford in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the company serving as sponsor for Clauson duringRead More