Nationwide Series Ford EcoBoost 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 17, 2012
Photo – Getty Images

Thunder Valley will come alive this Saturday afternoon as the NASCAR Nationwide Series rolls in for their fourth race of the season. After Bristol under-went surface changes prior to last Augusts’ race weekend, the racing similar to “Old Bristol” returned which featured lots of beatin’ and bangin’.

The Nationwide Series race last August featured lots of carnage along with bumping between the drivers. If that race indicates how the race will play-out this Saturday afternoon, you won’t want to take your eyes off of the cars. “Old Bristol” is back and great racing will be on display during the Jeff Foxworthy’s Grit Chips 300 this Saturday.

The Jeff Foxworthy’s Grit Chips 300 is on Saturday March 16^th, 2013 at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. The scheduled green flag time is 2:16 PM EST. The race will feature 300 laps and 159.9 miles. The weather forecast for Saturday afternoon looks iffy as isolated thunder-storms are expected, along with a 30% chance of rain. The high temperature for the day will be 64 F and the low will be 47 F. Windy conditions are also expected and strong winds could have an effect on the race. The television broadcast of the race can be seen on ESPN2 and a radio broadcast of the race can be heard on PRN.

Last year’s spring race at Bristol was fairly calm since the track surface had yet to be modified. The race was strung-out and very little beatin’ and bangin’ occurred. Elliot Sadler took home the checkered flag that day and that was his second win of the season. Sadler will be looking for a similar performance this Saturday as he looks to gain ground on point’s leader Sam Hornish Jr. Sadler really enjoys Bristol and he is always looking for the win when he comes to Thunder Valley. The only difference between last spring’s race and the race this weekend will be the track surface. The new track surface will be raced on this weekend as it was in last Augusts’ race. Excitement is looming for this race, and it surely will arrive on Saturday afternoon.

As always at Bristol, many Cup drivers will race in the Nationwide Series event to gain valuable track time on the new Bristol surface that they have only raced on once. Cup drivers in the field this weekend include Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick. Busch is always good at Bristol and this weekend, he will look to translate his dominance of the old Bristol surface to the new surface. After being suspended for the past two weeks, Jeremy Clements will return to the garage this weekend (or pit road in Bristol’s case) and he will be back behind the wheel of the No.51 car.

After Sam Hornish Jr. held off Kyle Busch last week at Las Vegas for the win, Hornish Jr. is still holding the points lead. Hornish Jr. needs a good run this weekend at Bristol if he hopes to keep the points lead and he will need to hold off drivers including Justin Allgaier, Elliot Sadler, Brian Scott and Regan Smith who are hungry for the points lead. The point’s race this weekend will surely be exciting as Bristol has been known to shake the point’s standings up.

Bristol always puts on a bumpin’ and rubbin’ show and this weekend should be no different. As we saw last August, the close, door-to-door racing has returned with the revamped track surface and this weekend should feature the same style of racing we saw last August. Kyle Busch is always the driver to watch out for at Bristol and once again this weekend, he will look to pounce on his competition. The racing in the Jeff Foxworthy’s Grit Chips 300 this weekend should be phenomenal as it always is and one heck of a show will be on this Saturday afternoon in Bristol, Tennessee.

Event Schedule

10:30-11:50 AM EST (Friday) Nationwide Series Practice, televised on SPEED

2:00-3:30 PM EST (Friday) Nationwide Series Final Practice, televised on SPEED

10:35 AM EST (Saturday) Nationwide Series Qualifying, not televised

2:00 PM EST (Saturday) Nationwide Series Race, the Jeff Foxworthy’s Grit Chips 300, televised on ESPN2

Next race- The Royal Purple 300 at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California

Entry List via Jayski.com