NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams are racing the Food City 500 for 266.5 miles equaling 500 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 17th. FOX will broadcast the race beginning with their pre-race show at 12:30 pm ET and a green flag around 1 pm ET. Radio coverage is on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
Triple Play: Kyl3 Busch Visits Top Track in Search of Third Straight Win
Baseball season has started, but Kyle Busch may turn the first triple play of 2016.
Busch will attempt to win his third consecutive Sprint Cup Series race in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday.
Busch achieved the feat last season when he placed first at Kentucky, New Hampshire and Indianapolis. If Kyle Busch wins this weekend, he’ll have won three consecutive races in back-to-back season. The last person to do that: Jeff Gordon, in 1998-99.
The most recent driver to win three straight races was Joey Logano, who swept the Round of the 12 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup at Charlotte, Kansas, Talladega.
Busch has continued his momentum from 2015 when he won the Sprint Cup Series title. Currently first on the Chase Grid, he ranks tied with Jimmie Johnson for most Sprint Cup Series wins (two), and leads all drivers with six top-five finishes. Dating back to last season, Busch has scored a top-five finish in tem of his last 11 races.
The No. 18 Toyota driver’s recent success extends to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series as well. A week after winning the Truck and Sprint Cup races at Martinsville, Busch took the checkered flag in the XFINITY and Sprint Cup events at Texas to become the second driver to sweep consecutive race weekends – Harry Gant, 1991 at Richmond and Dover.
Bristol marks the perfect opportunity for Busch to notch his third straight win. His five wins at The World’s Fastest Half Mile are his most at any track. He ranks tied with his brother Kurt Busch for the most wins among active drivers at Bristol. Busch also boasts the top average finish or 12.0, most laps led at 1,704, 16.2% and second-best driver rating or 101.3 among active drivers at the 0.533-mile track.
In 21 Bristol starts, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has eight top-fives and 13 top-tens.
Click here for an infographic detailing Busch’s stats at Bristol
Catch 22: Logano Looks to Continue Bristol Success
After leading the Sprint Cup Series with six wins last season, Joey Logano is still looking for his first visit to Victory Lane in 2016.
He’ll get his next shot at a win in a place where he’s taken the checkered flag in two of the last three races – Bristol Motor Speedway.
Logano struggled at Bristol until recently. In his first nine starts at the 0.533-mile track, the No. 22 Ford driver logged just one top-ten finish. In the six races since, he has claimed three top-fives, including his two victories. Last August, Logano dominated the Irwin Tools Night race, leading 176 laps and holding off a charging Kevin Harvick at the end to win the contest.
Despite his recent success at Bristol, the 25-year-old Connecticut native has failed to do well there in the spring. His best spring finish at the eastern Tennessee track was a 16th-place showing in 2012.
On the season, Logano owns three top-fives and four top-tens in seven starts, including a third-place finish at Texas last weekend.
Ultimate Warrior Kenseth Drives to Defend Bristol Title
Matt Kenseth navigated the tricky high-banked concrete to win last year’s spring Bristol race – Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes and Stand Up To Cancer – from the Coors Light pole and earned the right to hold up Thunder Valley’s vaunted sword in Victory Lane.
ICYMI: Kenseth gave the sword to Steve Byrnes’ family
on April 6 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame
On Sunday, he will attempt to defend his spring win at The Last Great Colosseum in the Food City 500.
In 32 career starts at Bristol, Kenseth claims four wins, 13 top-fives and 20 top-tens. Among active drivers at the Tennessee short track, he ranks first in average running position at 10.9 and driver rating of 102.5, as well as third in average finish at 12.7.
Kenseth is now 12th in driver points with just one top-ten on the season. He finished 11th at Texas on Saturday.
Bristol Baller:
Kurt Busch Hopes to Rediscover Success at World’s Fastest Half Mile
Kurt Busch will attempt to seize sole possession of the active lead in wins at Bristol Motor Speedway from his brother Kyle Busch when he competes for his sixth career victory at The World’s Fastest Half Mile in Sunday’s Food City 500.
Although he has a high win total at the 0.533-mile track, Busch hasn’t visited Victory Lane there since spring of 2006. From 2002-04, the No. 41 Chevrolet driver won four of five races at Bristol, including his first career contest (3/24/02).
In the 30 starts at Bristol, Busch also owns eight top-fives and 15 top-tens. His 13.3 average running position and 92.7 driver rating is fifth among active drivers.
A victory by Busch would be the 28th of his career, tying him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Rex White for 25th on the all-time list.
Edwards Attempts to Continue Hot Start at Bristol
Last season, Carl Edwards didn’t log his first top-ten finish until the seventh race of the year.
This season, Edwards already boasts six top-ten showings through seven races.
The No. 19 Toyota driver’s latest strong output came on Saturday at Texas where he finished seventh. Edwards led 124 laps from the pole before rallying from a lap down, due to a loose tire that needed repairs.
Edwards will attempt to tally his first win and seventh top-ten in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway – a race he won two years ago. Overall, he has three wins, five top-fives, ten top-tens and an average finish of 14.0 in 23 starts at The Last Great Colosseum.
Truex Jr. Tries to Turn Luck Around
Martin Truex Jr. is lucky a Twitter-adept NASCAR fan didn’t tattoo a crying Jordan over his face on Saturday night.
The No. 78 Furniture Row Racing driver was driving the dominate car, leading a race-high 141 laps, but finished sixth due to an inopportune caution.
History might be repeating itself for Truex.
Last season, he led the most laps in race Nos. 11-14, going winless until race No. 14 Pocono.
In the last two seasons, Truex has led the most laps in five races, but only won one of them – a rate of 20 percent. Since 2011, 71 of the drivers who led the most laps in a race also won it – 38.0%, 187 races.
Truex’s sample is obviously small, but is nonetheless lower than the normal rate.
The No. 78 Furniture Row Racing driver will try to turn his luck around at Bristol Motor Speedway. In 20 starts at the Tennessee short track, Truex has two top-ten finishes – showings of second in August of 2011 – and third in March of 2012.
After a bounce-back 2015 season, Truex has continued to run well in 2016. In seven starts this year, he has recorded one top-five and three top-tens. He now sits 11th on the Chase Grid.
Rolling Stone: Stenhouse Ready to Rock at Top Track
Count Ricky Stenhouse Jr. among the drivers excited to roll into Bristol.
In six starts at the The Last Great Colosseum, he has posted two top-fives and an average finish of 11.2 – his top totals at a single track. Stenhouse also claims three Bristol top-tens – tied with Talladega for his best output at a single track.
“We struggled at Phoenix earlier this year, but we think we learned some things that will help us this weekend,” Stenhouse said. “The key to Bristol is being patient. Pit road is tricky as well but I feel if we can execute on pit road and keep dialing in our Ford as the race progresses then we should be able to leave Bristol with another solid finish.”
Competing in his fourth full season, Stenhouse has one top-five and two top-tens in seven starts this year. He ranks 17th on the Chase Grid, eight points behind Kasey Kahne on the cutoff line.
ICYMI: Stenhouse became the first driver to unveil his Darlington throwback paint scheme on Monday
Sunoco Rookie of the Year Update:
Elliott Increases Advantage with First Top-Five Finish
Chase Elliott increased his advantage in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year race to 13 points over Ryan Blaney when he finished a career-high fifth at Texas, while Blaney placed 29th.
The two youngsters will battle again in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Bristol presents an opportunity for Blaney to quickly close ground. The 22-year-old Ford driver has won at Thunder Valley in the XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series. He placed 22nd in his lone Sprint Cup start at Bristol last August.
Elliott has never competed at Bristol in the Sprint Cup Series, but has a top-five Truck Series finish and four top-ten XFINITY Series showings there.
World’s Fastest Half Mile Makes You Smile (Nationwide Tune):
Peyton Manning to Appear at Bristol
Two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback and Nationwide spokesman Peyton Manning will serve as the Honorary Race Official of Sunday’s Food City 500. At the track, the University of Tennessee Football legend will go with fellow Nationwide spokesman Dale Earnhardt Jr. during driver introductions and take in the race from Earnhardt’s pit box.
“I don’t think it’s possible to pair two more beloved sports figures in the state of Tennessee than Peyton Manning and Dale Earnhardt Jr.,” said Jerry Caldwell, executive vice president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway. “We are honored Nationwide elected to bring Manning to east Tennessee and we know our Food City 500 guests will give him a rousing Volunteer welcome.”
BRISTOL’S READY TO RUMBLE:
Wrestling Legend Bill Goldberg Will Partake in Weekend Festivities
Bill Goldberg, a wrestling champion in both the WCW and WWE, will take part in the NASCAR festivities at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend.
On Saturday, he was on hand for the pre-race experience before the XFINITY Series battle featuring two Heats and a Main – The Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300.
Goldberg will close the weekend on Sunday as the emcee of Food City 500 driver introductions, a role he excelled in during last season’s April event.
“It’s always an honor lending a hand to NASCAR in doing what they do,” Goldberg said. “To be asked back to Bristol, where my NASCAR experience began over 20 years ago, is a special invitation that I could never pass up!”
Dale Yeah! Bristol to Raise Money for Charity Selling the Dale Jr. Sandwich
Last week Dale Jr. almost broke Twitter when a photo he took of his beloved banana and mayonnaise sandwich went viral.
Following the storm of digital and traditional media coverage, Earnhardt decided to create DaleJrSandwich.com, a website for donations to the Dale Jr. Foundation and Blessings in a Backpack. He also pledged to match up to $50,000 of donations made via DaleJrSandwich.com.
This weekend, Bristol Motor Speedway will offer the now famous ‘Dale Jr. Sandwich.’ The tasty cuisine will sell for $4, and $1 per every sandwich sold will go to The Dale Jr. Foundation.
Musical Stars Flock to Thunder Valley for Food City 500 Race Weekend
The Doobie Brothers, country star Clare Dunn, country music artist Lee Greenwood and country singer/songwriter Lance Stinson all have performance plans for fans during Food City 500 race weekend.
The Doobie Brothers will rock out on stage before driver introductions on Sunday, while Dunn sang the national anthem before the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 XFINITY Series, as well as performed a concert between the XFINITY Series contest and the PittLite 125 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East event. Stinson sang for fans after the PittLite 125.
Greenwood will entertain with his famous song ‘God Bless the USA’ pre-race on Sunday.