Daily Archives: April 23, 2017

Rain Forces Postponement of Food City 500 until Monday

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Photo – Jonathan Moore/Getty Images

With steady rain falling at Bristol Motor Speedway, and no abatement in the forecast, NASCAR and Bristol officials opted to postpone Sunday’s Food City 500 until Monday.

The eighth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season will be contested at 1 pm ET and broadcast on FOX.

With Friday’s knockout qualifying session also canceled because of inclement weather, series leader Kyle Larson will lead the field to the green flag when the race is run, with second-place Chase Elliott beside him on the front row. Continue reading →

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ Food City 500 at Bristol Preview

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Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams are ready to race the Food City 500, at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 23rd at 2 pm ET on FOX with radio coverage on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Teams will race 266.5 miles over 500 laps with Stage 1 ending on lap 125 and Stage 2 on lap 250.

What To Watch For: Kyle and Kurt Busch attempt to seize the active Bristol wins lead. Both have five victories at ‘The Last Great Colosseum.’ Continue reading →

Erik Jones Rallies from Penalty to Win NASCAR XFINITY Race at Bristol

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Erik Jones found the ideal way to atone from a mistake in Saturday’s Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, but it took a bump-and-run for Jones to complete his comeback at the-0.533-mile short track.

Recovering from a lap 230 pit road speeding penalty that sent him to the back of the field, Jones worked his way to the front through a series of quick cautions and muscled Ryan Blaney out of the way to take the lead on lap 280 of 300. Continue reading →

Is the “Old” Bristol Experiencing a Rebirth?

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Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, stands in the garage area during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 22, 2017 in Bristol, Tennessee. Photo – Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

As it turned out, Kyle Busch was prophetic when he talked about the changing character of Bristol Motor Speedway.

“I’m sure (Kyle) Larson’s thrilled and he’ll have to rubber in the top himself while the rest of us are rooting and gouging for the bottom,” was Busch’s tongue-in-cheek assessment of the racing characteristics of the 0.533-mile short track, where Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers will compete in the Food City 500 on Sunday (2 pm  ET on FOX).

Continue reading →

Bristol Brings Back Positive Vibes for Montoya

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Photo – IndyCar Media

Juan Pablo Montoya got a warm welcome on his return to Bristol Motor Speedway, even if it was just to announce his sponsor for the upcoming Indianapolis 500.

Montoya will compete for Team Penske in the May spectacle with Fitzgerald Glider Kits as his sponsor, the same company that holds the entitlement for Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Bristol.

But when asked about his first trio around BMS in a stock car, Montoya waxed nostalgic.

“I love this place,” Montoya told the NASCAR Wire Service. “Because for me, the biggest problem I had with a stock car was it had no grip.  Here, with the banking, it made up a lot of grip. I always ran really well here. This was a fun place for me.”

Asked whether the relationship with Penske and Fitzgerald Glider Kits might lead to a return to NASCAR racing in a one-off situation, Montoya shrugged and smiled.

“I don’t know,” he said. “They tell me go here, I go there. I mean they say, ‘Jump,’ I say ‘How high?’”

In general, however, Montoya thinks cross-pollination between racing series is a good thing. In the Indy 500 he’ll compete against Fernando Alonso, a rival in Formula One from 2001 through 2006.

“I think it would be nice for motorsports to do a little more of that, because it’s just going to create a little more interest overall,” said Montoya, who doesn’t have a full-time IndyCar ride this season. “It is something that it would be nice to see all motorsports to be able to see top drivers jump from one to the other just for one race.

“I was lucky enough to be in all the top series in the world, and being able to win in all of them and everything. I’ve been very blessed in that point of view.”

Montoya, however, wasn’t immune from some good-natured ribbing that also recalled his NASCAR days. Fitzgerald Glider Kits founder Tom Fitzgerald Sr. introduced Montoya as “Mr. Jet Dryer,” a reference to the driver’s fiery collision with track-drying equipment under caution during the 2012 Daytona 500.

“I wasn’t going to do that,” quipped Fitzgerald, “but I couldn’t resist.”