Food City 500 Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Darrell Waltrip is one of only four broadcasters (the others being Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Matt Yocum) that’s been with FOX NASCAR since its inception in 2001. Now after 19 seasons, the NASCAR Hall of Famer announced Thursday that he’ll hang up his headsets for the final time after the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway June 23. Over the past few days, fans and media members alike have been locked into a huge social media battle regarding their views on the three-time Cup SeriesRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a visit to the Lone Star State, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back to a short track with this weekend’s stop at Bristol Motor Speedway for the running of the Food City 500. Bristol always brings out the excitement from fans and competitors alike as packing 40 cars into the half-mile high banked bullring can only be explained by the phrase “flying fighter jets in a gymnasium”, which is more accurate than it would seem. Drivers race two and sometimes three wide throughoutRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Everyone knows Kyle Busch as “Rowdy,” but you could also call him “The Postman,” given that neither rain, snow, sleet nor hail could keep him from completing his appointed rounds at Bristol Motor Speedway. Executing a textbook bump-and-run against runner-up Kyle Larson on Lap 495 of 500, Kyle Busch pulled away to win Monday’s weather-delayed Food City 500, claiming his second straight victory of 2018 and his seventh win at Thunder Valley, most among active drivers. In a race delayed by rainRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Brad Keselowski’s bid of scoring his first win of the season went flat after bringing out the 10th and final caution at the two-day Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, finishing 23rd after scoring both stage wins and led 67 of 500 laps. Keselowski led four times in the race, notably putting his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Fusion on top of the leaderboard during the closing laps of both stage one and two. After multiple red flags slowed the race down, Keselowski heldRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor For the first time since last September, Jimmie Johnson has finished in the top-five in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race after leaving Bristol with a third-place result. In a flashback to last year’s running of the Food City 500, Johnson had his No. 48 Chevrolet up front and hunting for the lead throughout the two-day affair, leading many to believe he may just break his winless streak dating back to June of 2017. After qualifying 17th, Johnson was relegated to a back ofRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor When it comes to dark moments in NASCAR history, the April 1993 weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway ranks right up near the top. With the tragedy of losing Alan Kulwicki far too soon reaching its 25th anniversary this year, we look back at the weekend that was at the World’s Fastest Half-Mile. Kulwicki was on top of the world after the 1992 season, having beaten the odds to hoist the NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship trophy following a thrilling season finale. As both the ownerRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Knoxville, Tennessee native and Xfinity Series regular Chad Finchum announced at a promotional event on Wednesday that he’ll be making his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway April 15 for Carl Long’s MBM Motorsports. It’ll mark MBM’s first Cup start since the 60th Daytona 500 when 66-year-old Mark Thompson finished 22nd. Finchum said he’s blessed that Long has confidence in him despite running 12 Xfinity Series races in a span of two years. “I’ve been blessed with opportunities to run NASCARRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – A week off and an extra day at Bristol did nothing to break Jimmie Johnson’s momentum. Grabbing the lead from Kevin Harvick on Lap 480 of 500 in Monday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Johnson stayed out front for the final 21 laps and beat Clint Bowyer to the finish line by 1.199 seconds. The checkered flag was Johnson’s second at the .533-mile short track, his second straight this season and the 82nd of his career in the Monster EnergyRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Clint Bowyer’s career resurgence in 2017 took another step forward on Monday as the Emporia, Kansas native was able to leave Monday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway with a second place finish, his best finish since a third place result at Auto Club Speedway last month. Bowyer started the day in ninth place, but was unable to finish inside the top-10 in either the first or second stage as he battled handling issues that had him hanging onto the lead lap. On lapRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Speeding penalties may have put a damper on the day for Kyle Larson and Martin Truex, Jr., but the two drivers that led the most laps in Monday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway did not let that stop them from rebounding to finish in the top-10. After starting on pole, Larson led the first 202 laps of the race, capturing the stage win in the first stage before giving up the lead to Truex at lap 203. Truex would go on to leadRead More