Flashback Friday: NASCAR in Tennessee at Bristol Motor Speedway

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01 Apr 1984: Darrell Waltrip won the last of seven consecutive NASCAR Winston Cup Series races at the Bristol International Raceway by winning the 24th Annual Valleydale 500. He was joined in Victory Lane by wife Stevie. Photo - Getty Images

01 Apr 1984: Darrell Waltrip won the last of seven consecutive NASCAR Winston Cup Series races at the Bristol International Raceway by winning the 24th Annual Valleydale 500. Joining him in Victory Lane is wife Stevie. Photo – Getty Images

As NASCAR Sprint Cup, XFINITY and K&N Pro Series teams head to Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee for races this weekend, we’ll take a closer look at the history of NASCAR in Tennessee on this ‘Flashback Friday.’

NASCAR In Tennessee – NASCAR has competed in the state of Tennessee all the way back to the 1950s. The very first NASCAR national series race held in the state of Tennessee was at Tennessee-Carolina Speedway in 1956 – won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Fireball Roberts. NASCAR has held 327 national series races among eight different tracks. The NASCAR XFINITY Series has held 108 races among four Tennessee tracks including Bristol Motor Speedway, 67; Nashville Superspeedway, 21; Memphis Motorsports Park,11; and Nashville Speedway, 9. The first XFINITY Series race held in the state of Tennessee was at Bristol in 1982 – won by Phil Parsons. 

Tennessee Drivers In NASCAR – One-hundred-five drivers who have made at least one start in a NASCAR national series race have their home state recorded as Tennessee. Of the 105, 35 of them competed in the XFINITY Series. Of the 35 Tennessee drivers to compete in the XFINITY Series, ten visited Victory Lane, led by NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip with 13 series victories.

Waltrip also had 12 victories in the Sprint Cup Series, known as the Winston Cup during his era.  Waltrip and his wife Stevie live in Franklin, Tennessee. 

Tennessee Native Bayne Barrels Into Bristol Following Season-Best Finish
Trevor Bayne, a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, takes the track in his home state in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The 2012 Daytona 500 champion enters the race coming off a season-high 15th-place finish at Texas. Bayne has made three starts at Thunder Valley where he logged a track-best showing of 15th last August.

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