This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series makes their first visit of the year to the high banks at Bristol Motor Speedway. Coverage of the NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 will start with NASCAR RaceDay on FOX Sports 1 at 2 p.m. ET. Race coverage will begin at 3 p.m. ET with the green flag around 3:10 p.m. ET. Radio coverage will be provided by local PRN Radio
affiliates and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
Records and facts
Last year's Food City 500 was dominated by Kyle Larson. He led 411 of the 500 laps, then took the lead from Ryan Blaney with 61 laps to go. From there, Larson pulled away to take the win.
Larson by 2.25 seconds over Denny Hamlin. Ty Gibbs was third, then Chase Briscoe and Blaney.
Kyle Busch is the winningest active driver at Bristol Motor Speedway with nine career victories. Eight have come on the concrete, while one was on the dirt in 2022. Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin
have three wins each, while Joey Logano and Jimmie Johnson (not entered) have two each.
All-time, Darrell Waltrip has the most wins at Bristol with 12, including a stretch of seven in a row. Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace and Cale Yarborough each had nine wins, while Kurt Busch had six.
Track Facts
Track / Race Length: 0.533-mile oval, 500 laps (266.5 miles)
Banking: 24-28 degrees
Straights: 650 ft., banked 4-9 degrees
Grandstand Seating: 153,000
Pit Road Speed: 30 mph
Pace Car Speed: 35 mph
Opened: 1960 (first Cup race in 1961)
Website: http://www.bristolmotorspeedway.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ItsBristolBaby
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ItsBristolBaby
Pre-Race Schedule:
Practice: Saturday, April 11, 4:30 - 5:25 p.m. ET on Prime Video
Qualifying: Saturday, April 11 at 5:40 p.m. ET on Prime Video
Say What!
"When I think of Bristol, I just think of everything that
racing should be – tight confines and cars on top of each other on a fast half-mile short track with the high banks. You don’t have a second to breathe and I just love the in-your-face challenge that is Bristol." - Brad Keselowski
"I love racing at Bristol which is why I always try and run more than one series there. It's so fun to be on the track which is kind of down in a bowl
with all of the fans right next to you. The atmosphere at Bristol is just so cool. Walking across the track down into the infield at the crossover gate is a neat experience. You get to feel how steep the banking is." - Ross Chastain
"Bristol will always kind of be good memories of our past there between the exciting finish of the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts race and
obviously getting the (NASCAR Cup Series) pole last year was really special and cool for Kaulig Racing. It's tricky with the last couple years, depending on what tire they bring and whether it's tire conservation or kind of a flat-out race. So that's something that we don't really know until you get there. And even through practice, sometimes you don't realize it, so very tricky, but it's one of those places that I still drive into and kind of get a little bit of chills and goosebumps just
knowing what that place is. Probably the most physical racetrack for me. So, you know, we've had success there. We're definitely searching right now, trying to figure out what we need to do to be better, so hopefully it's a racetrack that we can kind of get some momentum back.
"I think it's good for the off week to have everybody reset and kind of go a different direction
and figure out what we need to do to be better with whatever package that they bring. But overall, it's going to be a tough race, physically and mentally, and hopefully we can go out there and have a good practice and qualifying. Track position is always critical there, especially early in the race and not going a lap down. So yeah, we'll just go there and see what we got and give it our best." - AJ Allmendinger
"I think you look back at the tire fall off races and I feel like they were popular and entertaining to watch. We had specific conditions for all of that to work out and it looks like it’s gonna be much warmer this weekend, which I feel like the track is gonna lay a lot of rubber. I know we’ve got a little different tire, but it seems like the biggest sensitivity to it is definitely the track temperature and with the
warmer temperatures this weekend I feel like the track is gonna take rubber and it’s gonna look normal. I don’t know that it will be a big change." - Josh Berry
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at [email protected]. Photo is courtesy of
