Bristol 500

“Food City 500”




BRISTOL, TENNESSEE – The Sprint Cup Series ran their fourth race of the season at the “Fastest Half-Mile” in NASCAR. The Bristol Motor Speedway was the sight of 500 laps that would be run in under 16 seconds per lap. Kyle Busch (18) was able to set a new track record in qualifying, while taking the Pole for this race. Kasey Kahne (5) also started on the front row. Retired driver Darryl Waltrip is the holder of the most wins at this track with twelve victories. Seven of which were consecutive wins.

In the pre-race ceremonies, Mike Rife provided the “Invocation.” SPC Mary Potts sang the “National Anthem”, and the “Grand Marshal” was Butch Jones, from the Tennessee College Football Program. The In-Race Reporter was Brad Keselowski. The track conditions had the temperature at 59 degrees, with plenty of cloud cover. There was a chance of rain during the race.

On TV’s cartoon “The Cleveland Show”, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne were part in a special NASCAR episode. This was televised on FOX, after the race on St. Patrick’s Day.

On lap 9, the first caution came out for Tony Stewart (14) who had a rear left tire blow out, and it sent Stewart into the outside wall very hard. Both the front and rear of the car hit the wall with some force. A break line was also damaged during the wreck, so Stewart went behind the wall for repairs. He did return to the track on lap 24.

On lap 55, the second caution came out for Jeff Burton (31). He was spun into the wall after contact with Marcus Ambrose (9). Carl Edwards (99), Juan Pablo Montoya (42), Joe Nemechek (87) and Aric Almirola (43) were also involved. During the pit stops, Kyle Busch was caught in three segments speeding on entry, sending him to the rear of the field. Stewart was penalized for too many men over the wall. Danica Patrick (10) received the “Lucky Dog” as she was just passed, and put down one lap before the caution came out.

On lap 71, the third caution flew for Jamie McMurray (1). He was running third when he spun out. He tagged the outside wall with his front left corner of his car. Greg Biffle (16) had reported that he had a battery failing as well. Juan Montoya has struggled since being involved in the earlier incident. His car seems to sputter on the re-starts which forces his to drop down out of line.

On lap 152, the fourth caution came out when David Gilliland (38) hit the outside wall. The lap cars had become an issue for the leaders as they were being caught. They fought with the leaders and did not get out of the way.

On lap 236, Landon Cassill (33) had a front right tire failure that sent him into the outside wall. Each of the Joe Gibbs Racing cars had led the race. Only twenty three cars remained on the lead lap.

On lap 250, the sixth caution came out for Aric Almirola spinning out and hitting the turn four wall. He had just come out of the pits after having an incident all by himself just a few laps prior. They put new tires on his car and he returned to the track. The rear panel flew off the car just before he slid sideways up into the outside wall a second time. He got out of his race car after this incident. David Gilliland was also penalized for speeding on entry into pit road.

On lap 322, Dave Blaney (7) had a right front tire fail as he hit the wall. J.J. Yeley (36) also had right side damages. Jeff Gordon (24) was able to get off pit road first, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (17) was the “Lucky Dog”. The word of the week was “Tight”. Last week at the Las Vegas track, they claimed “Loose” all day. There were nineteen cars left on the lead lap at this point in the race.

On lap 348, Joey Lagono (22) was run into by Denny Hamlin (11) while trying to take the lead from Gordon. Lagono slipped a bit and pulled up in front of Hamlin, and in the next corner, Hamlin spun him into the wall.

On lap 390, the ninth caution came out for the leader Jeff Gordon. He had a front right tire blow out, and as he was running into the outside wall, Matt Kenseth (20) ran into the back of Gordon’s car. Both cars were pretty torn up. There were 18 cars left on the lead lap after the accident. With less than 100 laps left when the green flag flew again, the field made a variety of different pit strategies. Ten cars made two tire stops, while a majority of the leaders took four. Brad Keselowski (2), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Paul Menard (27) did not stop.

On lap 454, Jimmie Johnson (48) blew a right front tire and tagged the wall. He was one of the cars that only took two tires on the last pit stop. He took left side tires and a right side tire failed. Five Chevrolets had front right tire failures.

Kasey Kahne (5) was able to hold off Kyle Busch (18) by 1.7 seconds for the victory. The last four to five laps, Denny Hamlin was bouncing off the wall in every corner. He apparently had damage to the race car, but refused to take it off the track. NASCAR warned him to keep up minimal speed or they would black flag him. He didn’t change anything, but the race concluded before they black flagged Hamlin.

The rest of the top ten were: Brad Keselowski (2), Kurt Busch (78), Clint Bowyer (15), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88), Ryan Newman (39), Brian Vickers (55), Paul Menard (27) and Jamie McMurray (1).

After the race ended, Joey Lagono went to speak with Denny Hamlin, who spun him out during the race. The two were teammates just a year ago. Hamlin’s crew kept Lagono from being able to get to Hamlin, who was still in his car. He did not get out until they had Lagono far away from his car. Hamlin then decided to run his mouth about Lagono not being around him enough to worry about him. Lagono responded that he now knows how Hamlin is going to race him, and he will respond accordingly. Hamlin finished twenty-third while Lagono finished seventeenth.

Brad Keselowski now holds the points lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr. by nine points. Jimmie Johnson fell back to third in points after a late crash.

The next race will be the Auto Club 400 in California on Sunday at 2:30 pm on FOX.