Food City 500 Tag

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer BRISTOL, Tenn. – For the second day in a row, the most dominant car will not win the race. Ryan Blaney was swept up in a multi-car accident on lap 117 of the Food City 500. The third-year Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver was leading at Bristol Motor Speedway with eight laps to go in Stage 1 at the time. Contact between Chris Buescher and Trevor Bayne sent both drivers spinning down the backstretch. Harrison Rhodes, Jamie McMurray, and Blaney had nowhere to go.Read More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer BRISTOL, Tenn. – The final practice for the Food City 500 had several different Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers inside the top-10. David Ragan set the fastest lap early in session at Bristol Motor Speedway. Ragan ran a 15.051 second, 127.487 mph lap in the No. 38 The Pete Store Ford Fusion. He out-paced Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott by 0.049 seconds. Denny Hamlin was third fastest with Kurt Busch fourth fastest. Ragan’s Front Row Motorsports teammate, Michael McDowell was fifth fastest. McDowell earned bothRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer  BRISTOL, Tenn. – For someone who is known for running the high line, Kyle Larson was fastest running the bottom. Larson’s No. 42 McDonald’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ran a blistering 14.874 second, 129.004 mph lap in the second practice for the Food City 500. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran was just 0.006 seconds faster than the No. 78 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry of 2017 Champion Martin Truex Jr., who starts deep in the field for Friday’s race. Larson’s speed at Bristol is expectedRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer BRISTOL, Tenn. – Congestion and patience were the stories of Busch Pole qualifying for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. For the third time in history, the Busch brothers, swept the front row. Kyle Busch won the pole each time. Kyle beat his older brother Kurt Busch by 0.002 seconds to score his 29thcareer Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole position. “It was you know tough going years ago obviously for a few times,” Kyle Busch said about racing with Kurt, “but latelyRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer BRISTOL, Tenn. – The speed of Ford Performance continues as Ryan Blaney paces the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session for the Food City 500. Blaney ran a 14.774 second, 129.827 mph lap in his No. 12 REV Ford Fusion at Bristol Motor Speedway. He narrowly edged out Erik Jones to win the first practice as the duo ran nearly identical lap times. The 2003 and 2004 summer race winner, Kurt Busch, was third fastest with his brother, and most recent Premier SeriesRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer BRISTOL, Tenn. – Although he has yet to win in the new Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Kyle Larson believes his team is heading in the right direction. The 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season marks the first for the Camaro ZL1, which has only gone to victory lane in the Daytona 500 with Austin Dillon. Since then Larson’s No. 42 McDonald’s team has been the class of the Chevrolet camp. In seven races this season, Larson has two top-five and three top-10 finishes, including aRead 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