Saturday’s green flag for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway marked another milestone in Denny Hamlin’s decorated NASCAR Cup Series career: his 750th start at NASCAR’s highest level.
The milestone came nearly 21 years after Hamlin made his Cup debut with JGR in October 2005 at Kansas Speedway. He has driven full time for JGR since 2006, spending his entire Cup career behind the wheel of the No. 11 entry.
Along the way, Hamlin has amassed 64 victories, ninth-most in Cup Series history. His resume includes three Daytona 500 victories, three Southern 500 wins and a Coca-Cola 600 triumph, along with four career wins at Bristol.
But unlike many career milestones that arrive with a focus on what has already been accomplished, Hamlin’s 750th start comes with plenty still at stake.
The 45-year-old entered Thunder Valley atop The Chase presented by Mobil 1 standings, nine points ahead of Kyle Larson after two races. Hamlin has four wins, 14 top-five finishes and 18 top 10s this season, with an 8.6 average finish through 28 races.
Hamlin also entered Bristol riding a streak of 27 consecutive lead-lap finishes, one shy of Carl Edwards’ Cup Series record of 28.
That consistency has helped keep Hamlin at the front of the championship picture as he continues his pursuit of a first Cup title. He finished second in the standings last season after leading late in the championship finale at Phoenix Raceway and has returned in 2026 as one of the series’ strongest drivers.
Bristol provided a fitting setting for the milestone. Hamlin has four career victories at the 0.533-mile concrete short track, including Night Race wins in 2012, 2019 and 2023. He entered the weekend with one of the best recent records at the track among active drivers.
Hamlin made his 700th career Cup start at Nashville Superspeedway in June 2025, finishing third after leading 79 laps. At the time, he became the 22nd driver in series history to reach 700 starts.
Fifty starts later, Hamlin reaches another landmark, his focus still fixed forward.
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Daniel Suárez is on baby watch heading into Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Still, the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet driver said he plans to compete in Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race (7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Race 3 of The Chase presented by Mobil 1.
“It’scoming,andit’scomingverysoon,” Suárez said Friday afternoon. “Ithinklastnight,forthefirsttime,weactuallyhadlikealittle ‘oh[expletive]’moment,soyeah,Imean (wife)Juliaisalreadyathomerightnow,andshe’sdoingamazing.IfeellikeI’mwaymorenervousthanher.”
Suárez is competing in The Chase this year but enters last in the 16-driver points standings, 119 points behind Hamlin for the championship lead after two contests. With eight races remaining, including Saturday’s showdown, Suárez remains intent on competing in the 500-lapper. But Spire Motorsports still has NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series veteran Justin Allgaier on standby in case Suárez needs to exit the race.
“Honestly,thepointssituation.Imean,Ithinkthereisstillalottofightfor,” Suárez said. “Wehave20%of The Chaseinonly,sothereisalottofightfor.Ibelievethatmyteamiscapableofrunningtofinishthechampionshipinthetop10,topeightmaybe.Sothat’swheremymindis. Butwiththatbeingsaid,JustinAllgaieralreadysatinmycar,makingsurethat hefitsOK. I mean,whoknowswhatisgoingtohappen? Buthopefullyitdoesn’tcometothat.”
Suárez added that their due date was originally set for Thursday, Sept. 17, “so right now we are actually in the real window. It can actually happen at any time.” Team owner Jeff Dickerson has also offered travel assistance, dating back to last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, allowing Suárez to fly to the track Saturday instead of coming out Friday and giving the expectant father an extra day at home.
Suárez is intent on racing at Bristol on Saturday, though. Much of that stems from his competitive nature. Some of it comes from listening to the universe.
Suárez is typically cool under pressure and doesn’t get rattled. But the prospect of becoming a father at a moment’s notice has certainly challenged that usual disposition.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Tennessee for a showdown under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Race No. 3 of The Chase presented by Mobil 1 moves on to Thunder Valley after a wild race last Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. With 14 of 16 Chase drivers running into issues in the Midwest, an uneventful night in The Volunteer State would be a welcome sight for any of the 16 title contenders. Denny Hamlin enters Bristol atop the Cup Series Chase standings, holding a nine-point margin over Gateway winner Kyle Larson.
“The Last Great Colosseum” has produced many memorable moments over the years in the Bristol Night Race, with the high-banked 0.533-mile Tennessee short track serving as a “make-or-break” time for Chase drivers. Bristol is the type of track that could put drivers in a good position to keep their title hopes in focus, or dig a trench that may be impossible to climb out of. See drivers to watch, as well as Racing Insights’ full projections for 500 laps on the Bristol concrete.
DRIVERS TO WATCH
CARSON HOCEVAR: Entering Thunder Valley 88 points behind championship leader Denny Hamlin, Hocevar needs a big night at the Tennessee short track to surge into the top half of The Chase standings. The Spire Motorsports driver finished eighth at Gateway, moving up three spots to ninth in points. However, he only gained one point on Hamlin. At Bristol, Hocevar has finished 11th or better in four of six career Cup Series starts. That could be a telltale sign of a strong points night Saturday, as long as the No. 77 Chevrolet stays out of trouble and does not expose his “The Hurricane” moniker.
DENNY HAMLIN: With an uncharacteristic 18th-place finish at Darlington and Kyle Larson’s victory at Gateway, Hamlin looks as vulnerable as ever with his points lead shrinking despite a strong regular season. The nine-point margin atop The Chase standings over Larson will certainly put some pressure on the Joe Gibbs Racing driver to step it up Saturday night at “The Last Great Colosseum.” In the last seven of eight Bristol races, Hamlin has finished in the top 10, including four top fives and two wins. In five short-track races this season, the No. 11 Toyota driver earned four top-fives and two runner-up finishes. If that version of Hamlin shows up to Thunder Valley, it will show the rest of the Chase field that the 2026 Cup Series championship still runs through the 45-year-old Chesterfield, Virginia, native.
TY GIBBS: Gibbs earned his first career Cup Series victory in the Bristol spring race, which officially symbolized the 23-year-old taking the next step in his career as a championship contender. His 463 laps led at the Tennessee short track are his most among all active tracks as the driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota sits sixth in The Chase standings, 51 points back. In seven career Bristol starts, Gibbs has finished in the top 10 five times. Saturday’s Bristol Night Race could give Gibbs some extra motivation as he runs a special throwback paint scheme, with M&M’s reuniting with JGR to honor the late Kyle Busch. Sweeping Bristol this year would certainly bring out plenty of emotions from the No. 54 team and potentially put Gibbs right in the middle of a championship fight with NASCAR’s best.
FULL PROJECTED RESULTS FOR BASS PRO SHOPS NIGHT RACE (7:30 p.m. ET, USA)
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Justin Allgaier and Jesse Love agreed on one thing – and maybe only one thing — in the post-race heat of Friday night’s Food City 300 O’Reilly Auto Parts race: Love made a bad decision in the closing laps.
Battling Allgaier for the lead on Lap 287 of 305, Love pushed Allgaier hard into the outside wall. It was a stunning meeting of the series’ past two champions, creating a moment of calamity and some tense moments post-race.
After the race ended in overtime with a win by Sheldon Creed, Allgaier, who finished fourth, rushed along pit road from his car to Love’s. Allgaier put his head inside the car and had more than a few choice words for Love.
Allgaier returned to his car, where JR Motorsports co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. had an extended conversation with Allgaier and seemed to cool the temperature of the moment.
“I’m disappointed in the move that got made, but, at the end of the day, that’s racing,” Allgaier said. “I feel like we rebounded really well from that and came out of here with a really solid, solid day. A great points day, but just way shorter than I thought.”
Allgaier said he told Love, “that I’ve raced you extremely clean here and I’m disappointed. I just don’t understand it, right? I think that’s the hardest part. You know, if he’d have gone in there and moved me out of the way a little bit or something like that, but to drive me into the fence, it just didn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
Asked how Love responded, Allgaier, said, “I don’t know that he had a response. He just shook his head. He knew it was a bad decision. … Things will happen inside of 10 to go, and sometimes you’re the bug and sometimes you’re the windshield. That’s how it goes.”
Love, who finished 17th after slapping the wall later in the race, said Allgaier was justified in being angry.
“I’m not going to say that I don’t possess the talent to control the car,” Love said. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t regret it. I made a bad decision to use him up. I needed to run my best corner, and instead I got caught in a moment racing him.
“I’ve had run-ins with JR Motorsports but not with the 7 (Allgaier) car or anybody on that team. So I made an enemy that I didn’t need to make, and I’m pretty frustrated with myself for, I guess, my lack of awareness of the situation. I know that I know better than to do that. It’s a bad night to be me right now. I made a bad decision, and there’s a lot of consequence that comes along with that.
“I’m not going to tell you what he said to me, but I drove into him, and we all saw what happened.”
Earnhardt spent more than the usual amount of time talking to Allgaier after the race.
“I didn’t really appreciate how the 2 (Love) raced him there, but he kind of got a little bit of the same medicine,” Earnhardt said. “But it’s late in the race. They’re going for championships. I think Jesse knows that Justin’s going to be hard to beat in this championship. So I would have rather him not have done that and tried to make the corner and pass Justin cleanly, but ended up working out OK.”
Allgaier said the incident won’t leak into the rest of The Chase presented by Mobil 1.
“I feel like my entire career has been about not being that guy or trying not to be that guy,” he said. “We won’t have a problem moving forward. I just wish he would have thought differently and made a different decision.”
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Like a stealth bomber, Sheldon Creed waited until the last minute to make his move.
Thanks to an astute call from crew chief Jonathan Toney, Creed had new tires for an overtime restart on Lap 304, and he used them to full advantage in winning Friday night’s Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The victory, Creed’s second in three Chase races, left the driver of the No. 00 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet on top of the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series postseason standings, 11 points ahead of top-seeded Justin Allgaier in second.
But the result left Allgaier angry after finishing fourth and left Jesse Love disconsolate and apologetic after running Allgaier into the outside wall after a Lap 286 restart.
Benefiting from a caution with three laps left in regulation, Creed lined up in the inside lane beside race leader William Sawalich on Lap 304. Getting an excellent launch on his new tires — after Toney had called him into the pits for fresh rubber on Lap 280 — Creed got an excellent launch and seized the lead.
Sawalich moved to the top of the track in an attempt to counter, but Creed prevailed, beating Sawalich to the finish line by 0.253 seconds at the end of the two-lap overtime. Creed, who picked up his third victory of the season and third of his career, was credited with leading only the final three laps.
“Just a great call by my crew chief and engineer to put tires on,” said Creed, who lined up eighth for the penultimate restart on Lap 286 and quickly advanced to second. “Great pit stop by my guys to get me out first and be the first one on tires.
“To be honest, I wasn’t really good all night with the balance of our Chevrolet. Hats off to these guys. They just never give up. I just think the (overtime) restart there, I tried to time the 18 (Sawalich) well. With a lot newer tires, it was just easier for me to get going. I got clear and I was just kind of watching up top.”
Creed has finished first, second and first in the three Chase races, as the O’Reilly Series faces a week off before resuming in the Focused Health 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Oct. 3 (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, ESPN Unlimited, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Allgaier was the leader for the Lap 286 restart, but in a bid for the lead, Love ran the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet into the outside wall shortly after the race went green. As soon as the race ended, with Allgaier in fourth and Love a disappointing 17th, Allgaier strode to Love’s No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to express his dissatisfaction.
“(I was) just questioning why,” said Allgaier, who won the first stage despite creasing the nose of his Camaro during contact with the back bumper of Nick Sanchez’s Chevrolet in heavy traffic. “The race car we had was so good tonight. I’m just disappointed at coming out of here the way we did.”
Love, the defending series champion, was contrite and upset over a decision that cost both him and Allgaier the chance for a victory.
“Honestly, I got caught up in the moment racing with him,” said Love, who is fourth in the Chase standings, 41 points behind Creed. “I knew on the last restart (Lap 286), I had to get a good launch, and I was able to accomplish that. I came off (Turn) 4, we were side-by-side, and I needed to run my best corner, and instead I got caught up with racing him, and in turn that led me down a path to make an enemy I needed not to make.
“I made a terrible decision that took ourselves out of contention to win.”
Rookie Brent Crews ran third, with Corey Day securing the fifth spot. Taylor Gray, Sam Mayer, Parker Retzlaff, Dean Thompson and Sammy Smith completed the top 10.
Carson Kvapil led a race-high 156 laps but pitted with smoke trailing from the back of his No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevy with 44 laps left. Kvapil finished 24th, four laps down, but held the third position in the standings, 37 points behind Creed.
Love led 80 laps before the run-in with Allgaier, who was out front for 49 circuits. The only other drivers to lead laps were Sawalich with 13 — interrupted by the Lap 297 caution that changed the course of the race after Ryan Sieg slammed the outside wall in close quarters with Day and Retzlaff — and Creed with three.
NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed without issue in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series garage, confirming Sheldon Creed as the winner. The Nos. 17 and 54 each had one lug nut not safe and secure. Both teams will lose pit-stall selection for the next race at Las Vegas.
Track: Bristol Motor Speedway Location: Bristol, Tennessee Track length: 0.533 miles When: 7:30 p.m. ET Where to tune in: USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Race purse: $11,849,963 Race distance: 500 laps | 266.5 miles Stages: 125 | 250 | 500 Saturday’s starting lineup| Pit stall assignments
Bristol plays in the hands of veterans … can they capitalize?
BRISTOL, Tenn. — The Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1 rolls into Race 3 Saturday night with the top three drivers having created a bit of breathing space.
That is, if anybody can breathe at Bristol Motor Speedway, which has earned a reputation as a track that welcomes mayhem, creates anxiety and, occasionally, fuels anger.
Almost nothing is a given.
However, prior to the green flag of the Bass Pro Shops Night Race (7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), it is clear that three drivers, based on Chase results to date and on history at BMS, can start engines with cautious optimism.
Denny Hamlin leads the Chase, followed by Kyle Larson (nine points behind) and Christopher Bell (18 points behind). There is more than a bit of space to fourth-place Ryan Blaney, 33 points back of the leader.
Additionally, various metrics favor the top three.
Hamlin, Larson, and Bell are three of the six Chase drivers with Bristol wins. In the Next Gen era, Larson (7.0), Hamlin (8.14) and Bell (8.29) are the only Chase drivers with average finishes better than 9.0 at Bristol.
Hamlin, who opened the Chase as the top seed, has finished on the lead lap in 27 consecutive races and, with another lead-lap run Saturday night, could tie Carl Edwards at 28 for the all-time lead in that category.
Hamlin has four wins at Bristol and Larson has three, and the pair have won six of the past 11 Bristol events. Bristol has been a great long-run track for Larson, who has led 2,046 laps at the half-mile. Darlington Raceway is second on his laps-led list with 1,169.
Bell lists Bristol among his favorite tracks and the night race as his No. 1 pick.
“I love Bristol, the track, just because of how it races, and the multiple grooves that it offers, the lapped traffic, the long green flag runs, the physical demands that this place has,” Bell said. “Then you add the Night Race on top of it with the energy, the atmosphere, all of the pre-race ceremonies that they do here, it just is truly one of a kind.”
Making progress on the track, Bell said, has changed in recent years.
“The Next Gen car, it just feels like it’s become more of a momentum style track, where with the previous generation car, it was a little bit more stop and go,” he said. “You had less tire so you could get more wheel spin on exit. You really focused a little bit more on drive, where now it’s just keeping it free, keeping it free, keeping it rolling, and keeping momentum up. So the Next Gen car has really changed it to momentum-style racing.”
Assuming more strong runs for Hamlin, Larson and Bell at Bristol, the track’s relatively high half-mile speeds and big bite still could hamper their Chase progress. In this race last year, competition was slowed for 137 caution laps, the most in the Cup Series since 1965. Bristol accounts for four of the top five races all-time in most laps run under caution.
A spotlighted car in the Bristol field will be driven by Chase contender Ty Gibbs. His Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota will boast a bright yellow M&M’s paint scheme similar to that raced by the late Kyle Busch. Gibbs won at Bristol in the spring and could become the first driver since Busch in 2009 to sweep both Bristol Cup races.
The best of the bunch are known for striking when the pay window opens for points. At one time, that meant being in the right position when the checkered flag waved. With the advent of stages beginning in 2017, that’s now an all-race affair.
Here’s a look at who has scored the most stage points at Bristol over the years among the 16 Chase drivers, including some obvious and some not-so-obvious points scorers:
Driver
Stage Points
Stage wins
Kyle Larson
172
9
Ryan Blaney
107
2
Chase Elliott
106
3
Denny Hamlin
106
1
Christopher Bell
96
3
Joey Logano
81
2
Ty Gibbs
62
3
William Byron
51
0
Chase Briscoe
37
0
Bubba Wallace
32
0
Carson Hocevar
30
0
Chris Buescher
30
0
Tyler Reddick
19
0
Daniel Suárez
10
0
Austin Cindric
7
0
Ryan Preece
5
0
Speed reads
Race-day essentials:
• Bristol hub: Key information, pit stalls, additional results | Read more • Saturday Setup: Crew chiefs say race depends on tire falloff | Read more • Paint Scheme Preview: The best designs in “The Last Great Colosseum” | View gallery • Neil Paine: Why Kyle Larson could be a problem for rest of Chase field | Read more • NASCAR Classics: Dig into the video vault for full-race replays from Bristol | Watch now
• Power Rankings: Where Chase drivers stand before Bristol | This week’s ranks
See where your favorite NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers will pit this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.
NASCAR Cup Series
Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
UNOH 250 Presented by Ohio Logistics at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday (8 p.m. ET, FS1, FOX One, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Tyler Allen celebrated his first NASCAR Cup Series win as a crew chief when he, Ty Gibbs and the No. 54 team won at Bristol Motor Speedway in the spring.
They return to the Tennessee bull ring hoping to sweep the season of Bristol races with the Bass Pro Shops Night Race in the third race of The Chase presented by Mobil 1 on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
This time, the No. 54 Toyota shows up in a new but familiar style, donning the iconic M&M’s colors return to Joe Gibbs Racing in a gorgeous tribute to the late Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup champion who carried those colors from 2008 through 2022, collecting 56 of his 63 career wins at JGR. To see the distinctive yellow, red, blue and green again was an emotional experience for Allen, who began his Cup career in 2017 working on Busch’s car and stayed through 2020, winning the 2019 title alongside Busch.
“It’sprettysurreal,” Allen told NASCAR.com on Friday. “Youknow,thisweekend’saboutKBandtheirwholefamily.Thatwasthefirst CupcarthatIgottoworkonasanengineerandworkingwithKBforallthoseyears.IaboutgotchokedupwhentheywerewrappingitonMonday.Itwasjustreallyincredibleallthethememoriestohavewithhim,andit’sanhonortohavethatpaintschemeonourcar.Soreallyexcited.”
To win again, Allen knows he needs to give Gibbs “everything he needs.” Sure. But what does that entail?
“We’ve gottogetintothecornerwell.It’sgottoturnthecenter,andhe’sgottohavesecurityonexit,” Allen said. “It’sreallydifficulttodowiththispackage.Atsomepointinthenight,he’snotgoingtohaveeverythingheneeds,buthe’sgottooptimizewhathe’sgot andwe’vegottoworkonit.”
Gibbs and the No. 54 team sit tied for sixth in The Chase entering Saturday’s 500-lap contest, 51 points behind series leader and JGR teammate Denny Hamlin. While the win-and-in system of playoff racing is gone, winners in The Chase so far — Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson — have enjoyed massive points swings that have swung those previously-winless drivers into contention to win the championship. That emphasizes the benefits of a victory this time of year.
“Alltheseracesmatter, andthepointshavereallycompressedwiththewinners,” Allen said. “Sowe’rehopingtocomeoutofherewithawin.”
Zach Sturniolo | NASCAR Digital Media
Just as eager to win is Chris Buescher and the No. 17 RFK Racing team, but through a bit of a different lens.
Crew chief Scott Graves told NASCAR.com Friday his top priority this weekend is getting his team back on track after a “pretty bad start for the first two races to The Chase.” A 20th-place run in the opening race at Darlington Raceway was followed by a frustrating day at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, where a brake rotor on Buescher’s No. 17 Ford exploded with just two laps to go in regulation. The No. 17 bunch is 13th of 16 Chase drivers in The Chase, 111 points behind Hamlin for the championship lead.
In years past, Bristol had served as the first elimination race in NASCAR’s postseason, where the bottom four drivers would be ousted from championship contention, meaning Buescher would have entered as the first driver facing elimination Saturday night. That changes with the re-introduction of The Chase, where instead the totality of the 10-week schedule counts toward determining the champion at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.
Calling strategy for Saturday’s showdown will depend upon a few factors, particularly the longevity of a tire’s life and how the rubber lays into the concrete surface.
Cool temperatures in past Bristol races dating back to the spring of 2024 have resulted in excessive tire wear that led to extremely frequent pit stops. Warmer weather has typically produced a standard racing event with long-lasting tires.
“Idon’twanttoeatmywords.Itlookslikeit’sgoingtobeanormalBristolraceintermsoftires,andthere’sverylittlefalloff, so I would expect some long runs,” Allen said. “Withnofoambehindthe (front)bumpers, thedrivershavebeenalittlemorehesitanttogetaggressiveandmakecontact,andthatlendsitselftolongergreen-flagruns.Sothat’skindofwhatI’mexpecting.”
The other side of the conversation is where on the race track that rubber creates a groove on the surface. If either the top lane or the bottom lane becomes dominant during the race, teams will need to chase adjustments on their cars to best navigate the changing conditions.
“Andthenstrategy,thereweresomeguysthatwereabletostayoutandmakeitwork.Sohavingsomethingthatworksonthatlongrunwithoutthetiresgoingaway will bereallyhelpfulonthestrategyside.”
BRISTOL, Tenn. — For many years, the idea of NASCAR drivers running a lap faster than 15 seconds on the half-mile surface at Bristol Motor Speedway was considered to be something of a fantasy.
Steadily, tires changed, engines got stronger, drivers got bolder, Bristol’s “best” groove got better. Fifteen seconds eventually became something more than a concept. Carl Edwards ran a lap in 14.989 seconds to win the pole for the Bristol spring race in 2011. He was the only driver in the field under 15 seconds.
Eventually, another half-second was “found,” and the all-time Cup Series qualifying record at BMS now belongs to Ryan Blaney, who circled the concrete half-mile in 14.528 seconds (132.075 mph) in April 2019.
That record has stood for seven years as NASCAR has made modifications in car design, engine power and tire compounds and the track has toyed with adding various substances to the track surface in attempts to enhance competition. Through all that, Bristol has remained ridiculously fast for a half-mile track — indeed, one of the fastest half-miles in the world. But will drivers in NASCAR’s top three series eventually break the 14-second barrier?
That idea is considered fanciful by most, but a 15-second lap once was thought to be in the same Wonderland.
“I would say that a 14-second lap around here is ripping,” Chris Buescher said. “To go a half-second faster would be significant on a half-mile race track. I don’t believe you’ll see us get there. We’re not using a ton of brake here at Bristol, especially on our fast laps. We’re using a ton of throttle, but I think more horsepower would be the only way to get it up out of the hole faster, but I would say that it’s going to have to come from tire and grip, or simply downforce. With the simpler package that we have, the simpler diffuser package, it’s definitely taken a little bit of speed out of it already.”
The qualifying records in NASCAR’s other national series at Bristol are similar to Blaney’s Cup mark. The late Kyle Busch, known for pushing the edges of the speed envelope at practically every track he visited, has the fastest Craftsman Truck Series lap at 14.827 seconds (129.413 mph). Kyle Larson is fastest here in O’Reilly Auto Parts Series qualifying at 14.992 seconds (127.988 mph). Those records were set in 2017.
Texas driver Sam Hafertepe Jr. ran a lap at 13.326 seconds (142.098 mph) in a World of Outlaws sprint car on Bristol dirt. That speed, registered in a lighter car and on what then was a temporary dirt-on-concrete surface, can’t be easily compared to the heavier vehicles of NASCAR’s top three series.
“Aerodynamics, horsepower and tires play a huge part in how fast do you want them to go or how fast do you not want them to go,” Ryan Preece said. “Tires are certainly a big part of it. We were practicing here in November when we did the tire test, and we were in the 14.70s and 14.80s consistently, not just in one lap.”
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour cars, which no longer race at BMS, ran faster qualifying laps than Cup cars on the Bristol surface.
“That’s the reason why they (Modifieds) don’t come here as much anymore,” Preece said. “When you qualify close to 140, that’s pretty fast. The concern becomes will the car be able to take a hit if you’re going that fast? Safety becomes a problem.”
Limits on body design, engines and tires control speeds, but extra effort occasionally can create surprising results. Joey Logano won the pole last week at Gateway near St. Louis with a speed of 137.124 mph, dramatically faster than second-place Kyle Larson (135.980) on the 1.25-mile track.
“I think qualifying last week showed that there is a lot of potential left in this (generation) car,” Ross Chastain said. “We’re several years into the Gen 7, but the lap the 22 (Logano) put down last week was so far ahead of everybody that you could see there are still gaps in this car as far as leaps in speed. So I don’t know what the limit is.”
Chase Briscoe said the weight of the current Cup car always will limit speed gains. “I don’t know how we would ever get under 14 seconds with this car,” he said. “We’re pretty heavy. I would never say never, but I don’t think this car will get there unless Goodyear brought some kind of crazy tire or something.”
Although more speed is a virtually constant goal of every team, Buescher said faster laps at Bristol don’t lead to better racing.
“I don’t see where running a 13.9 around here is going to create anything better than what we have,” he said. “It’s not simply about the raw speed of it. We’re fast now, and a lot can go wrong in a quick hurry. That keeps us on our toes.”
