Kyle Busch, the driver of the #18 Skittles Toyota, poses with the trophy in victory lane after winning the rain-delayed Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 16, 2018, in Bristol, Tennessee. Photo – Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
The NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for some more short track racing. Bristol offers a different taste of short track racing since it is a different track type than Martinsville. Bristol has more banking in the corners which allow drivers to still carry some speed around the corners. Drivers also race all over the track at Bristol. Drivers will race down low where a traction compound gets applied to the track to allow grip on the low line.
Some drivers continue to race up by the wall. This holds for a lot of action on the track. The big question this weekend was whether or not the rain would stay away.
The race started on a sloppy note considering there were two very early cautions that included quite a few drivers. Chase Elliott was out of the race early in the first caution while Martin Truex Jr. suffered a lot of damage but was able to continue racing.
Around forty laps into the race, the race was on hold because of the weather and after around fifteen minutes the race was able to continue.
The Team Penske crew had a great start to the race as at one point, all three drivers were racing together in the top-three positions with Ryan Blaney at the front. However, late in Stage 1, tragedy struck as Ryan Blaney got caught in a wreck due to lapped traffic. Blaney suffered too much damage and was out of the race. Brad Keselowski stayed out during the caution and won Stage 1.
Stage 2 ran green for most of the time until the mother nature knocked on the door. Late in Stage 2, the race was again stopped by the weather and led to postponing the rest of the event to Monday afternoon.
Kyle Larson led the field to the Monday green flag start and led most of this stage, however, Brad Keselowski motored by him late in the stage, getting his second stage win.
A few drivers made their way to the top-five through Stage 2 including Jimmie Johnson who battled hard trying to fight for the lead. Ryan Newman also gave a good effort all day staying toward the front of the field.
Stage 3 was action packed and full of excitement with Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Busch as the main front-runners battling each for the lead. At one point it was Denny Hamlin gaining the lead from Brad Keselowski, but he had to stop and pit because of a loose tire. Kyle Larson was spun around by Ryan Newman late in the race, but Larson was able to battle back toward the front.
Darrell ‘Bubba’ Wallace Jr made a surprise visit to the front of the field during the last stage of the Food City 500. Wallace was picking off drivers one by one, even battling against two former champions in Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch. With an excellent move on Keselowski, Wallace gained the lead. He only kept his lead for six laps as Kyle Busch tracked him down and made the pass to retake the lead. Bubba Wallace lost some speed at this point and ended up finishing 16th. It was a great effort by him all day long.
After a few cautions and restarts, between Larson and Kyle Busch, Busch was finally able to edge off Larson and bring home his second straight win.
There are a few exciting points to take away from the race and one point that we should look forward to seeing for the rest of the season.
First, how about the day Bubba Wallace had behind the wheel. He gave an excellent effort all day long. He really showed speed through the latter half of Stage 2 and continuing to when he took the lead in the last stage of the race. Although it was too bad for him that he could not keep his momentum going, he will only learn and get better as his career goes on. He battled so hard today and even made some excellent moves on the some of the best that drive in this sport.
Today was also an impressive day for some of the young guys coming up in the sport. Alex Bowman had a strong race. He started in the eighth position and was able to stay up toward the front all day long. He had a solid fifth-place finish today. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had a good day with his fourth-place finish. He seemed to feel comfortable with his car. Then Kyle Larson handled some late race adversity well and battled back to a second-place finish. He got turned around by Ryan Newman late in the race, but still battled back to contend for the victory.
Now, Kyle Busch just won his second race in a row and that’s dangerous for those who do not like him. After Busch wins one, he always seems to start a streak. We all know what he is capable of as a driver. His season so far has been stellar, and he will be a big contender for every race for the rest of the season. It has been that way for so many years and he seems to just get better and better. Busch has had a lot of closing speed this season. He was able to run down a lot of leaders and make some impressive moves to close out his victories. Expect more of this to happen often this season.