Posted on by Reid Spencer

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Kyle Larson had to go 10 extra laps on Friday night, but the payoff was worth it.

Holding off a determined Justin Allgaier in overtime, Larson won the Food City 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, collecting his first victory at the .533-mile high-banked concrete short track.

RELATED: Race results | Larson, Allgaier battle on final restart

“It feels really, really cool to win here finally at Bristol,” said Larson, who won for the fourth time in six starts this season and the 12th time in his career. “I’ve been close so many times. It’s my best race track by far, I feel like—this and Homestead.

“It feels real cool to win.”

Cool, perhaps, but certainly not easy. Leading the race for the overtime restart on Lap 309, Larson spun his tires in the top lane, allowing Allgaier, who was second to his inside, to run side-by-side into the first corner.

Allgaier continued to contest the position, but Larson cleared him on the last lap, and series leader Christopher Bell surged past Allgaier to take the second spot. Allgaier got loose after contact in Turn 4 but won a drag race to the stripe against Cole Custer to hold the third position.

Custer scored his 11th top 10 in the last 12 Xfinity races. Joey Logano ran fifth and Elliott Sadler sixth.

In Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, Larson will go far a double in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event (6:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Before Friday’s Xfinity race, he won the pole for the Cup race in the sister No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.

“Hopefully, we can get another tomorrow night, and that would be really special as well,” said Larson. “It’s just really exciting because I’ve been so close so many times, and I thought Bell was going to steal this one from me a couple times throughout the race. He was really good. He and I have very similar driving styles.

MORE: Larson does Polish Victory Lap | Briscoe’s spin brings out sparks at Bristol

“We had the yellow there with two to go and I was like, ‘Man, again, again. I’m going to lose another one late.’ But we were able to get an average restart and get the win. I can’t wait until tomorrow.”

Larson had a comfortable lead when NASCAR called the eight caution of the night for Daniel Hemric’s spin off turn 4 and crash against the inside wall. That extended the race for 10 laps beyond its scheduled 300 and forced Larson to survive a final restart.

Pole winner Kyle Busch was dominant in the early going, building a lead of more than five seconds and lapping up to the 12th position before disaster struck on Lap 66. Busch drove high through Turns 1 and 2, shot through a layer of rubber at the top of the track and scraped the outside wall.

He was still leading on Lap 70 when his right front tire deflated, sending the No. 18 Toyota into the Turn 2 wall again and finally into the barrier in Turn 3. Busch brought his car to pit road and ultimately retired from the race with a broken front suspension.

“Just rubber on top of rubber,” Busch said succinctly after a visit to the infield care center. “The rubber buildup that was happening… I just got into the corner a little too hot and just got up into the fence a little bit and then, I don’t know, two or three laps later, it blew out.”

Larson took over where Busch left off, leading 202 laps, sweeping the first two stages and taking the checkered flag at the end.

Notes: The No. 22 Team Penske Ford of Joey Logano (fifth-place finish) was found to have two loose lug nuts in post-race inspection. The No. 12 Team Penske Ford of Austin Cindric (14th-place finish) and the No. 76 SS Green Light Racing Chevrolet Spencer Boyd (25th-place finish) was found to have three loose lug nuts in post-race inspection. Any potential penalties will be announced next week.

Posted on by Zack Albert

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Chase Elliott secured a front-row starting spot for Saturday night’s Monster Energy Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, just behind Busch Pole winner Kyle Larson and just ahead of third-fastest Kyle Busch.

Even though he outpaced Busch by a slim margin of .003 seconds Friday, Elliott says the challenge of beating him in the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (6:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM) remains a daunting one. Busch, a six-time winner this season, will be trying for his third straight Bristol victory and the eighth Cup win of his career at the .533-mile track in Saturday night’s main event.

MORE: Updated race schedule, new start time | Full Monster Energy Cup series lineup

Elliott has his own recent momentum with four consecutive top-10 runs, but he says a high level of precision will be necessary to subdue Busch at Bristol.

“To beat him here, you’ve got to be perfect, because he’s perfect here,” Elliott said after clocking a 127.665-mph lap in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet. “You’ve got to be perfect, have some things go your way and at the end of the day, you’ve got to make it happen because that’s what he does to win. He does a great job working lap traffic and changing lanes, moving around. So, be perfect or you’re not going to beat him.”

Friday marked Elliott’s best qualifying effort since he won the pole position at Daytona International Speedway in July. Though he’ll have one of the best views on the starting grid for Saturday’s 500-lapper, Elliott lamented what might have been in terms of the pecking order for pit selection.

“Not near as nice as it would’ve been to be starting first and have that first pit stall,” Elliott said. “That’s nowadays with the close timing lines, this is one of the few places I feel like having that first pit box is a massive advantage like it is here for 500 laps. Wish we could’ve got it, but we didn’t, so we’ll go get it from second.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

Immediately upon taking his seat in front of the microphone Friday for a press conference at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship leader Kyle Busch was posed with a rather philosophical question. And he was ready.

With the championship points lead, six wins and perennial contention for another win each week, Busch was asked about being branded the “driver to beat” as the circuit prepares to wind down the regular season with the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race on Saturday night (6:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The 16-driver playoff field will be set following the Sept. 9 race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – only three races away.

RELATED: Busch: No retirement for me

Busch is the two-time defending Bristol race winner and has a remarkable total of 21 wins in the three NASCAR national series.

“It’s been a long time, I guess, in being with different teams and different crew chiefs and different people that I’ve felt this strong,’’ allowed Busch, driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

“I’ve had this sort of thing on the Xfinity side with many a crew chiefs, whether it’s been (Jason) Ratcliff, or Adam (Stevens) or Chris Gayle – a few of them on the Xfinity side. Dave (Rogers) – we felt like we had that going for a couple years on the Cup side with Dave, but there is just something maybe a little bit more about myself and Adam and the team that we have.

“Many of the team guys – couple of them are the same as what they were back with Dave many years ago and a few of them are from the Xfinity team when I felt so good with Adam on the Xfinity side. We brought some of those guys over and we’ve kind of mixed and blended some other guys over the years here and there. It’s certainly been very rewarding to all of them, I’m sure, as well as me to have this group right now and hopefully we can keep it together for a long time.”

The mix of team members and that stability certainly suggests good times remain ahead. Even when Busch doesn’t win, he keeps the winner honest. He and seven-time race winner Kevin Harvick along with four-time race winner, defending series champion Martin Truex Jr. are affectionately referred to as the series “Big 3” and have certainly delivered a title chase for the ages.

In the 17 races that Busch hasn’t won, he’s finished second or third eight times – runner-up in four of those races. In all, he’s finished top-three in 14 of 23 races, a remarkable statistic in this era of high competition. He leads Harvick by a healthy 62-points in the standings with a 15-point playoff bonus awaiting the regular season champ.

Certainly at Bristol, Busch must feel especially confident. He has seven Cup wins, nine Xfinity Series wins and five Camping World Truck Series victories. This weekend last year, Busch won in all three series – something he has achieved twice at Bristol (also in 2010) and something no other driver has ever done.

RELATED: Starting lineup for Bristol | Busch paces final practice

“Certainly, Harvick has been fast there, too,” Busch said. “… But, obviously we’re kind of on a hot streak with Bristol. We love going there. I would like to think that we can go there, be fast and be able to respond, absolutely. So we’ll see what we can do getting there, and hopefully having a fast race car and doing what we normally do there, just try to stay out of trouble. It’s a tough place to stay out of trouble.

“This is the first time we’ve had M&M’S White Chocolate on the car, so hoping it keeps the good-luck streak alive and we can win three Cup races in a row for the first time there.”

He has good reason to feel hopeful well beyond Bristol, too. He has a win and eighth top-10 finishes in 13 starts at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway where the series races after Bristol. He was runner-up in the race last year.

At Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the 2018 regular season finale, Busch is a two-time winner (2015-16) joining Jimmie Johnson (2008-09) as the only drivers to win back-to-back races at the historic track. He has an amazing 10 top-10 finishes in 13 starts there including a pair of runner-up finishes in addition to his two victories. And he is the two-time defending pole winner there.

At this point, those two races loom as extra opportunity. A third consecutive win at Bristol Saturday night would tie a mark set by Busch’s older brother Kurt, who drives the No. 41 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing. Other than the Busch brothers only NASCAR Hall of Famers Cale Yarborough (four consecutive wins, 1975-1977) and Darrell Waltrip (seven consecutive wins from 1981-1984) have longer winning streaks.

“Bristol Motor Speedway is one of the best racetracks on the circuit,” Busch said. “All the fans love it because of the excitement, the run-ins and the close-quarter action with all the cars being packed on top of one another at a half-mile racetrack with us 40 lunatics running around in a tight circle.

“With the fans, the atmosphere there always makes for a good time.”

Especially when you’re celebrating in Victory Lane.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

BRISTOL, Tenn. – News of Kasey Kahne’s impending departure from full-time NASCAR racing put the rumor mill into overdrive.

With Kahne’s current Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team, Leavine Family Racing, reportedly contemplating a manufacturer switch from Chevrolet to Toyota, there was speculation that Joe Gibbs Racing phenom Christopher Bell might step into a Cup ride with LFR.

RELATED: Kahne elects to step away from NASCAR after 2018

During an appearance at the Bristol Motor Speedway media center on Thursday, Bell put the brakes on that notion.

“That was all news to me,” Bell said of Kahne’s announcement. “Right now, I’ve got a great group of people, getting to drive for all of our partners at Ruud and Rheem, GameStop, and I’ve got great race cars at Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota support.

“Right now, the only thing I’ve got is that I’m finishing out this year, and then next year I’m going for the Xfinity championship again with all of our same partners.”

Bell has four victories in the series this year and holds the points lead in the Xfinity Series. 

Posted on by Reid Spencer

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Kyle Larson, a close second to Kyle Busch in the 2018 spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway, took the first step toward avenging that loss—and a handful of others—with a pole-winning effort in Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying session at the .533-mile short track.

In the final round, Larson covered the distance in 15.015 seconds (127.792 mph) to complete a sweep of the three rounds in the session.

RELATED: Qualifying results | Full Bristol schedule

Winning his first Busch Pole Award at Thunder Valley, his third of the season and the seventh of his career, Larson edged Chase Elliott (127.665 mph) by .0127 seconds to earn the top starting spot in Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (6:30 p.m. on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Kyle Busch, a seven-time winner at Bristol, qualified third at 127.639 mph. Paul Menard was fourth and Suncoco Rookie of the Year contender William Byron fifth in a session so tightly contested that the top five qualifiers were separated by a mere .0238 seconds.

Byron posted his final-round time first, 15.043 seconds, good for 127.554 mph. Larson took notice.

“I saw William run his ‘04’ there, and I was like, ‘That’s going to be pretty tough to beat,’” said Larson, who ran his best lap (127.946 mph) in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet in the first round. “I would have never thought that three other guys would squeeze in between him and I for first and second. It just shows how tough our sport is and our series is. 

PHOTOS: See every car in the field

“But our DC Solar Chevy has been really good all day. I felt a little off in the first practice, but we got it going in the second practice, and then it was fast in every round of qualifying. It’s my favorite track. We have yet to get a win here. We’ve been close so many times. I feel like Kyle (Busch) and I are two best here, but he always seems to edge me out.”

In fact, in NASCAR Xfinity and Cup series races at all tracks combined, Larson and Busch have finished 1-2 eight times. Busch has won all eight of those contests.

“Hopefully, this weekend’s a little different,” Larson said.

Elliott was disappointed at losing the pole—and the No. 1 pit stall that goes with it—by such a small margin.

“You have to be really close to perfect, if not perfect here,” Elliott said. “It’s so hard to be good for 500 laps, but that’s what it takes.

“I really wanted that first pit box. That makes such a huge difference here. If there’s any place that it makes a difference, it’s here. 

Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Ryan Blaney claimed positions six through 10 on the grid, respectively.

Brad Keselowski qualified 11th and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. grabbed the 12th starting spot. Stenhouse is the first driver outside the provisional playoff cutline with three races to go in the regular season.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

BRISTOL, Tenn. — After the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan in May, the qualifying results of Austin Dillon and his No. 3 Richard Childress racing team improved dramatically.

Starting with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Dillon made it to the second round or better in 10 of 11 knockout qualifying sessions. What Dillon and his team couldn’t do was translate the speed from time trials to race trim.

That changed last Sunday at Michigan, where the winner of the season-opening Daytona 500 qualified fifth and finished fourth. Dillon sees that performance as real progress, not as a one-time improvement.

RELATED: Dillon on Michigan result: ‘We really needed that’

“Yeah, obviously that was a big run for our team there at RCR and ECR (Earnhardt Childress Racing Engines),” Dillon said. “Everybody back at the shop has been working really hard to turn the Camaro around for our side of things. We have seen some speed from other guys throughout the year, and we have been close.

“We’ve had some qualifying runs that were positive, but we weren’t able to relate it to the race. I think last week we proved that we could relate the speed in qualifying to the race, and that’s huge. Great momentum coming up to some good tracks for us with Bristol, Darlington, finishing with Indy leading into the Playoffs.

“I definitely think if we carry this speed into the Playoffs, we’re going to be in a good spot.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kasey Kahne went through many of the peaks and valleys of his stock-car racing career with a reassuring face atop his pit box in Kenny Francis. They’ve since taken different paths, but have remained close, personal friends even after their professional partnership ended four years ago.

That’s why the Thursday announcement of Kahne’s approaching transition away from full-time NASCAR racing hit home for Francis, a crucial figure in what was one of the longest-running driver-crew chief pairings in the sport’s modern age.

“I’m kind of sad. I love the guy, but at the same time, I hope and certainly wish him all the best,” Francis told NASCAR.com by phone Friday morning, adding that his initial reaction was one of mixed surprise. “I think hopefully it’ll be good for him. Hopefully he’s happy with his decision and he’s happy going down the road.”

Francis, now the Vehicle Technical Director for Hendrick Motorsports, served as Kahne’s crew chief from the 2005 season finale through the 2014 campaign. During that span, the two combined for 17 of Kahne’s 18 career wins in the Monster Energy Series.

RELATED: Kasey Kahne through the years

Their longevity was unique in that it survived team mergers, ownership changes and their own professional moves. The common thread was the ease of their communication — in part a product of their similar, reserved personalities.

“I guess what kept us together was the success that we did have at different times,” Francis said. “A lot of times, he would go drive for other teams like he always did good in Trucks, but he’d go drive Xfinity stuff … and sometimes he’d struggle, and he’d come back to us and we’d go win a race in the Cup Series. It’d be like, ‘Man, I guess we’ve got something good going here,’ so we always kind of hung together through that.”

The two remained close even after last season, when Kahne left Hendrick for Leavine Family Racing. But Francis says he sensed a change for the better in him when Kahne became a father with the arrival of his son, Tanner, in October 2015.

“When we worked together for so long, he was a single guy, a bachelor, no kid, no children, and I was married with two kids doing family life,” Francis said. “So I always knew, ‘Hey, when he has a kid, things are going to change,’ and I don’t think he realized that. … You never realize that until you actually become a father. It’s like, ‘Oh, whoa. Wait a minute. This is a whole different deal.’ And I think that’s probably catching up with him.”

Francis says he caught up with Kahne via text shortly after the announcement, and that he plans to call sometime next week for a more personal conversation when the news-cycle tempest slows down. But the announcement has given many in the garage a chance to reflect on Kahne’s legacy, Francis included.

MORE: Kahne on retirement decision

“It’s hard to say for me how the fans will remember him,” Francis said. “I think they’ll remember a guy that’s a pretty personable guy, pretty likable guy, pretty talented obviously and who won quite a few races — won more than most people win. I hope they’ll just see him as a good competitor and a stand-up guy and the honorable person that he is. That’s what I hope.”

As for Francis and his personal memories of Kahne’s time in NASCAR?

“He’s a friend of mine so it’s not like I’m going to forget him, right?” Francis said. “I don’t know, but I’ll remember him as a good friend and somebody that was great to work with. Man, I owe him a lot. Most of the success I’ve had is because of him. I don’t know what else to say. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be where I’m at. It takes a lot of people to make it all work over the years, but he’s a huge part of who I am.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Seven-time Bristol winner Kyle Busch jumped to the top of the leaderboard in Friday’s final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice when he logged a lap of 126.729 mph in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Martin Truex Jr. recorded the second-fastest practice lap of the session when he circled the .533-mile track at 126.312 mph in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota.

RELATED: Final practice results

Three Fords rounded out the top five: Aric Almirola in the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford (126.287 mph), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford (126.154 mph) and last week’s winner, Kevin Harvick, in the No. 4 SHR Ford (125.914 mph).

Bubba Wallace sustained some minor right-side damage when he scraped his No. 43 Chevrolet against the outside wall about 30 minutes into the practice session.

Later, Kyle Larson impressively saved his No. 42 Chevrolet from smacking the outside wall when his car slid up the track while driving in the high groove.

WATCH: Larson makes save, Dale Jr. goes nuts

Monster Energy Series cars return to the track for Busch Pole Qualifying at 5:40 p.m. ET (NBCSN, NBC Sports App).

FIRST PRACTICE

Chase Elliott led a trio of Chevrolets atop the charts in Friday’s first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Elliott recorded a best lap of 126.645 mph on the .533-mile track in his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

RELATED: First practice results

Kyle Larson was second-fastest, logging a lap of 126.312 mph in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman was third in his No. 88 Chevrolet at 126.295 mph.

Erik Jones (126.187 mph) in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and Ryan Blaney (126.146 mph) in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford rounded out the top five in the one hour, 20-minute practice session.

Cars spent about the first 15 minutes of the first practice working on pit road speeds; Bowman’s No. 88 Chevrolet was the first car on the track at 10:50 a.m. ET.

The following cars served 15-minute practice holds at the end of the session for failing pre-race inspection two times: No. 19 Daniel Suarez, No. 31 Ryan Newman, No. 38 David Ragan and No. 43 Bubba Wallace.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR and track officials have moved up the start time for Saturday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway to 6:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) because of the potential for inclement weather.

Race officials also moved up the start time for Friday night’s Food City 300 for the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) by 15 minutes. That event’s start time is now set for 7:15 p.m. ET.

RELATED: Bubble watch for Bristol | Full schedule for Bristol

Saturday evening’s Bristol Night Race originally was scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. ET. That start time — and all pre-race ceremonies — have been moved up to one hour earlier.

Officials reached the decision to adjust the weekend schedule on Friday morning, faced with a chance of precipitation for the next two nights of racing at the .533-mile track.

Saturday’s race under the lights is the 24th of 26 regular-season races in the Monster Energy Series.