Posted on by Press Release

SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — Plenty of excitement, a high level of competition and another intense chase for the South Boston Speedway Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division title are in store as teams prepare for the 100-lap race that will be part of South Boston Speedway’s season-opening URW Community Federal Credit Union Race Day event Sunday.

“We enjoy racing at South Boston Speedway,” said Peyton Sellers, who will be searching for a record-tying seventh South Boston Speedway track championship. “It’’s home for us. I feel as good about our chances as any of the past few seasons.

“NASCAR hasn’t made a lot of changes in the cars during the off-season. Our cars are kind of dialed in. Things we have been doing are working.”

Sellers, who has scored 11 wins in 36 starts at South Boston over the past two seasons, pointed out he is expecting another competitive season at the 0.4-mile oval.

“The competition is always good at South Boston Speedway,” he said. “This place is unique enough to where the cars are constantly changing, and it’s a hard place to get around. That breeds good competition.”

Mike Looney of Catawba, Virginia is one of the drivers expected to compete for the track championship. Looney won 10 races last season and is only eight wins shy of the 100-win mark. He made seven starts at South Boston last season, scoring four top-five finishes, which included a pair of second-place finishes and a pair of third-place finishes.

“We didn’t get to race here as much last year as we wanted to,” Looney noted. “It’s a great place to race. We’ve got a pretty good notebook. I’ve got the tools to be successful, and that’s all I can ask for. I’ve got some fans down here and we’re looking forward to it. We’ve been working hard. Race time is upon us.”

Looney, the 2023 track champion at Pulaski County Motorsports Park (formerly known as Motor Mile Speedway) noted that the competition level is always high at South Boston.

“I’d say this is the best weekly track in the country as far as car count and competition,” Looney said. “It’s a whole experience with the fans down here. There are a lot of people and a lot of energy. You make a pass for the lead here, and you can hear it in the car. It’s really fun.”

South Boston Speedway
(Photo: Susan Wong/NASCAR)

Jacob Borst is optimistic about his chances to be a title contender this season, too. Borst finished third in the South Boston point standings last season. He had one win and 14 top-five finishes, which included five second-place finishes in his 18 starts.

“It’s surprising to me that this is our fourth year of racing Late Models at South Boston Speedway,” Borst said. “I’m looking forward to it. I think a lot of my guys are looking forward to it. I’ve always looked forward to racing at SoBo because you’re racing people that race with respect and will race you hard without wrecking you.”

Borst characterized his 2023 season as a learning year.

“Last year we struggled a little bit trying different things,” the Elon, North Carolina resident explained. “It definitely was a learning year for us. Everybody has to try something different. If you don’t try something different, you’re never going to get any better. That’s what we did last year. We took that knowledge of what didn’t work and what did work and put it all together. I felt like at the end of the year we were a lot better.

“We have done a lot over the winter, and we will have a good piece for this year. I’m just hoping we can have that breakout season and end up on top.”

Blake Stallings of Danville, Virginia said he is “super excited and glad” to be back at South Boston this year. “I’m in better shape physically and mentally,” he added. “I’ve been in the gym and have also been working on my diet and working on our racing program.”

As for his racing program, Stallings is optimistic about the 2024 season. Last season at South Boston Speedway, Stallings had a pair of top-five finishes and nine top-10 finishes in 14 starts.

“We’ve got some pretty big plans this year,” he said. “The car will be fielded by R&S Race Cars. They are going to maintain the car and handle the setup. Myself, my dad, and my crew will be at the track like normal.”

Stallings has a two-pronged goal for the 2024 season: win the South Boston Speedway track championship and win his first career race at the 0.4-mile oval.

“The goal is to compete for the championship,” Stallings explained, “but ultimately, we would like to win some races here this year. I’ve never won a race at South Boston Speedway, and I would love to win a race down here. That’s been a goal of mine and a goal my dad has wanted for me for a long time.”

South Boston Speedway
(Photo: Susan Wong/NASCAR)

Trevor Ward of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the winner of last year’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway, is looking forward to South Boston Speedway’s March 23 season-opener. Ward made six starts at South Boston Speedway last season, scoring four top-five finishes that included a trio of third-place finishes.

“We’re out to win races and put on a good show,” Ward said. “We had three third-place finishes out of the six races we ran here last year. We just could never pull off a win, but that is one thing on the bucket list that we want to do. My father has won a handful of races here and that’s something that has always been on my bucket list. South Boston is a prestigious racetrack, and I would like to check winning here off of my bucket list.”

Landon Pembelton’s goal when he races at South Boston Speedway this season is simply to win races. In his six starts at South Boston Speedway last season, Pembelton had a win, a pole, four top-five finishes and five top-10 finishes.

“We’re going for multiple wins this year,” he pointed out. “We’re always trying to chase after that trophy when we come. We’ve just got to make sure our stuff is on point every time we come to the racetrack. I have pretty high expectations this year.”

Advance tickets for Sunday’s URW Community Federal Credit Union Race Day event at South Boston Speedway are priced at $17 each. Tickets may be purchased online on South Boston Speedway’s website, www.southbostonspeedway.com, or by calling the speedway office at 434-572-4947 or toll free at 1-877-440-1540 during regular business hours.

Tickets at the gate on race day will be $20 each. Seniors ages 65 and older, military, healthcare workers and students (with ID) can purchase tickets for $17 each at the gate on race day.

The URW Community Federal Credit Union Race Day event schedule has practice running from 8:30 a.m. until 11 a.m. Qualifying begins at 11:45 a.m., a SMART Modified Tour driver autograph session is set for 1:15 p.m., a last chance qualifying race for the modifieds is set for 2:10 p.m., and the first race of the day is set to get the green flag at 3 p.m.

Posted on by Staff Report

Goodyear tires were the topic of many a NASCAR conversation Monday after a thrilling, unpredictable classic Sunday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The severe tire wear around the 0.533-mile track in the Food City 500 threw everyone for a loop, including Goodyear, its director of racing Greg Stucker told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Monday afternoon. The result was an exciting battle of tire management, but Goodyear is looking into what led to the Sunday surprise.

MORE: Recap Hamlin’s Bristol win

Tires used in Sunday’s race were the same tire code that Goodyear provided for teams in September, leading to more confusion in figuring out why it behaved so differently Sunday than it did during the playoff race last fall.

“Yesterday was a drastic departure from what we expected,” Stucker said Monday on SiriusXM. “The goal now is to just try to figure out why that happened, but I think we’re approaching it it really positively.”

That positive reaction stems from fan, driver and NASCAR sentiment alike. John Probst, NASCAR’s senior vice president of innovation and racing development, called Sunday’s race “one of the best short-track races I’ve ever seen.”

“For the past year or so,” Stucker said, “the drivers have been pushing us to be more aggressive in our recommendations to be more aggressive in tire wear and let them manage the tires over the course of the run. And I think that’s what we saw yesterday. Tire management was key. It was probably the most important thing of anything in the race.

“Now, I’m not advocating that we have tire wear as severe as we saw yesterday every race. But I think it’s a place where we could draw a line in the sand and I think we can learn from that.”

NASCAR Cup Series drivers pit for tires at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images

The next steps have already begun, which center on why the tires wore after approximately 50 laps Sunday as opposed to lasting a full 130 laps back in September.

“I mentioned before that this was the same tire that we raced last in September of last year. It’s the same D numbers; it’s a different production line,” Stucker said. “So we’re not taking anything for granted. It’s the same spec, but is there anything that could stand out that could create a difference? A couple of drivers after the race told us, ‘Look, you can’t convince me that was the same tire the way it behaves,’ and we get that. I mean, there’s no question that the tire didn’t wear the same. It didn’t put rubber down like it did in September. It just behaved differently.

“Now was that because of the tire itself? Was that because of the race track? Obviously, resin was put down on the race track instead of the PJ1 which was done last year. We haven’t really decided if that could be a factor yet. That’s one thing that we’re looking at. … Was there anything they did differently washing the race track or anything like that?

“So there’s a lot to go through. But we’re certainly looking at every piece of the puzzle from our perspective and make sure there was nothing in our raw materials or any of our processes that would create any sort of difference.”

Ultimately, Stucker credited the wheelmen and their teams for navigating the situation with grace to get to the checkered flag without further issue, concluding the record-breaking race on a 121-lap green-flag run.

“Kudos to the drivers,” Stucker said. “That’s what they’ve been saying. Again, it was extreme yesterday, but I think what transpired just reinforced what they’ve been saying and how important it is to put some of the control of the car back in the hands of the drivers because it really does make a difference. And I say drivers, but it’s also in the hands of the crew chiefs. The crew chiefs had to go to work yesterday also, right, and try to make adjustments with a race car so the drivers could keep the tires underneath them. And so I think if you poll the garage, most everybody had a pretty darn good time, even in a challenging situation because it was fun behind the wheel; it was fun for the crew chiefs to make adjustments.”

RELATED: Chemistry of Hamlin, Gabehart shine at Bristol

Stucker said there will likely be another Goodyear tire test held at Bristol before returning to “The Last Great Colosseum” in September for this year’s playoff race. But any adjustments will be made within the hopes of maintaining notable tire wear while better understanding and expecting the tire behavior.

“With the feedback we’ve gotten and hearing some of the comments, we don’t have to go too terribly far, I think,” Stucker said. “We don’t want to go back and go too hard. But I think we have to understand what happened, and we have to go back and try to replicate that and make sure that it doesn’t happen again. We’ve got to understand why we were surprised and what we can do to fix it so we can go back with the expectation of 80% or so (of Sunday’s wear), go back with that in September and deliver exactly what we expect.”

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

Heading into Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, no one truly knew how the NASCAR Cup Series cars would react upon the concrete surface of the 0.533-mile bullring oval.

Not after Saturday’s practice, anyway, which resulted in track conditions and tire-wear patterns that were confusing at best, or otherwise befuddling.

And yet the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team spotlighted by driver Denny Hamlin and crew chief Chris Gabehart rose above any adversity thrown at them in the 500-lap chess match that struck Thunder Valley on Sunday afternoon.

MORE: Bristol wows in concrete return | Cup Series standings

If you’ve been watching NASCAR racing since 2019, it should be no surprise that this duo’s chemistry was perfectly matched yet again. Their Bristol triumph marked their 20th win together — plus one with former lead engineer Sam McAuley in Gabehart’s relief in 2022. Hamlin’s 21 victories since the start of 2019 are the most of all drivers, equating to an 11.4% win rate in those 185 points-paying races.

No matter the situation, Hamlin and Gabehart appear unfazed by misfortune, oddities or distractions. So when Goodyear’s tires began wearing to their cords early and often on Bristol’s concrete, Hamlin and Gabehart evaluated, adapted and conquered.

“He did a great job of just updating me with every pit stop what was going on with the tires,” Hamlin said Sunday. “‘Hey, this was this amount of run, how many laps. This tire was corded; this tire was corded.’ Just letting me make adjustments from there. That’s really what he did great. It allowed me to do my job at a high level when you have that kind of information. Certainly, he just kept making the car better, as well.

“It’s not all driver. You have to have a car that is easy on the tires, as well. They just did a great job building me that today.”

Bristol provided perhaps the most unpredictable 500 laps ever run around “The Last Great Colosseum,” a bold claim to be sure, but not unfounded after a track-record 54 lead changes among 16 drivers while each competitor figured out how best to maximize their equipment in real time.

“Again, it’s so far off the playbook from what anyone was expecting when the lift gates opened Saturday morning,” Gabehart said. “No one. There’s not a single driver, single crew chief, engineer that planned on this. You calibrate your entire world around a certain set of parameters for Bristol. It was pretty clear right after practice, again pretty clear after 80 laps into the race, all of that had to go out the window.

“Now it’s instincts. A lot of your prep work, tools and planning, for the most part, are invalid. It’s still a race car. It’s still got an engine, driver, four black things on it for a while ’til they turn gray. It’s way different. You have to go off instinct every part of the race. That’s everybody. That’s the tire guy, the car chief, the mechanics helping. …

“Every 40 laps those guys are having to get data off the tires, get the information to me so I can get it to him, get the next set ready to go. Goodyear released another set. We have to go get it, match that set up. We don’t just bolt them on the car. There’s a lot that goes into what did we get, how does it match up with the tires we have, when do you want to use these, use your qualifying scuffs. It had it all, and that really makes it fun.”

Denny Hamlin, left, and Chris Gabehart speak before a NASCAR Cup Series race.
Zack Albert | NASCAR.com

That fun — the exuberance of winning a race that necessitated mental strategy, different techniques and quick processing — glowed upon their faces Sunday evening as they sat in the Bristol media center.

And that the track demanded abnormal approaches to its corners as opposed to different years? That only added to the thrill Hamlin experienced in Victory Lane.

“I know I had such a huge role in the result,” Hamlin said. “If the car was not good, I wasn’t going to win. But I feel like I played a huge factor in the result. It’s really a proud one for me. Certainly one of the more proud ones I’ve had in my career, no question.”

How fitting, too, one week after explaining that more tire management would put the results of the race more into the drivers’ hands at Phoenix Raceway. In fact, Phoenix proved another example of Gabehart and Hamlin overcoming obstacles after Hamlin spun while battling Tyler Reddick for the race lead, rallying back to an 11th-place finish.

With a series-best 8.46 average running position and 272 laps led, it’s been a rock-solid start for the No. 11 group. Don’t be surprised if the team only gets better from here.

Posted on by Adam Fenwick

A lifelong dream will soon become a reality for eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series competitor Vicente Salas, who will make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas this Saturday (1:30 p.m. ET on FS1).

Salas will drive the No. 20 Chevrolet Silverado for Young’s Motorsports with sponsorship from Miramar Financial Group.

“I am beyond excited,” Salas said. “It’s really a full circle moment. The first car I ever sat in was at Home Depot, it was a Tony Stewart No. 20 car. I think I was 2 or 3 years old at the time. Honestly it is what has driven me until now, sitting in that race car and that feeling.

“To be able to make my first start in the Truck Series driving the No. 20 as well, it just feels surreal.”

The opportunity to make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut came after Salas reached out to Young’s Motorsports Team Principal Tyler Young in 2023, who has 80 starts in the Truck Series himself.

At the time, Salas was trying to put together the funding to compete in the Truck Series or ARCA Menards Series. While the two sides were unable to reach a deal, the meeting with Young ultimately helped lead to the opportunity for Salas to race at COTA this weekend.

“Last year I wanted to run some ARCA or some Trucks and someone that has always been super highly spoken of is Tyler Young,” Salas said. “I got his contact info and hit him up, I told him I really want to talk to you and try to run some races for you guys.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t get to do anything with him last year, but it was cool to just have him in my contacts and know that if I wanted to go race to just give him a call.”

Salas will become the latest driver with eNASCAR experience to compete in a NASCAR national series event, joining drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Josh Berry, Parker Retzlaff and Kaden Honeycutt, among others.

Salas, a 21-year-old third-generation American with roots in Latin America, has been working towards this opportunity for the last few years.

Vicente Salas (55) during a Late Model Stock Car event at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway in 2023. (Photo: Gardner Street Photography/Hickory Motor Speedway)

He burst onto the scene in 2021 by winning an eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series event at Richmond Raceway as a rookie.

That victory helped propel him to a real-world opportunity to compete in a zMAX CARS Tour event at Hickory Motor Speedway in 2022, where he brought home a fourth-place finish.

Salas secured enough funding for a season of Late Model Stock Car racing at Hickory the following year. It did not take Salas long to find success, as he won his first race on March 25, 2023 after a last-lap pass.

All the time spent in eNASCAR over the past couple of years, especially with his current team Kanaan eSports, is what Salas credits for his ability to excel in a real race car.

“I don’t believe I’d be anywhere near where I am at now without the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series,” Salas said. “For me, living out on the West Coast, I felt like I was disconnected from the actual NASCAR scene here on the East Coast.

“I built connections, made new friends that work in the industry here and they were able to get me the connection to go race a Pro Late Model, then the connection to go race the Late Model Stock last year and now to go race this Truck. That win is what helped me get into a Late Model and without that win or without that series, I don’t believe I’d be where I am.”

So how is Salas preparing for his first start in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series?

If you said by turning laps on iRacing at the virtual COTA, then you’d be right.

“I have already been running laps. I have talked to a lot of drivers who drive a lot on iRacing and drive in NASCAR as well and they have said the Truck is very close on the sim to what it is in real life,” Salas said. “I’ve already been running laps at COTA and trying to get as many tips and tricks from the guys I know that have run that track.

“I’m just super excited to get rolling at COTA.”

Posted on by George Winkler

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Crew chief Chris Gabehart said managing Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway was like being a football coach where the entire game plan goes out the window in the first quarter.

And to him, that was a good thing.

His driver, Denny Hamlin, came out on top on a day when there were a track-record 54 lead changes, a number that blew away the old mark of 40 that had stood since April 14, 1991, when Rusty Wallace beat Ernie Irvan by two feet.

It was footing — or the point where the rubber meets the road — that forced crew chiefs and drivers to adjust on the fly to stay ahead of tire falloff that was hitting them more quickly than expected.

What resulted was perhaps one of the wildest and most exciting short-track races in recent memory.

RELATED: Race results | Driver standings

“It was fantastic,” Gabehart said. “The whole weekend was nothing what any of us expected, the driver, the crew chiefs, the engineers, the pit crew, the team, the spotter. I mean, from the minute practice was over, we suspected something was going to be different. I think a lot of us thought maybe 80 (laps), 100 in, this place would rubber in and get a little more familiar. But it did not.

“It was a blast. I’m not just saying that because we won. I’m saying that because it was fun to have to do something so unrefined.”

The unrefined, outside-the-box thinking also challenged the drivers, putting the race squarely in their hands as they soon realized that this would be a Bristol event like no other. The top three finishing drivers — Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski — also happened to be among the most experienced drivers in the Cup Series garage.

Hamlin, 43, said he drew upon his experience in late models to help save tires Sunday, resulting in his 52nd Cup win.

“Yeah, it was challenging,” Hamlin said. “A different kind of challenge, for sure. Certainly not something we’ve had to do for a very long time in managing tires.

“Lesson learned early on. I kind of ran a certain pace, a certain line, wore my tires out. From that point on made some adjustments internally. He (Gabehart) made some adjustments to the car that allowed me to just manage it from that point on.

“Once it got into that tire management type of race, certainly my history in late models where you had to do that big-time certainly paid off.”

What caused the tire falloff was still a bit of a mystery as teams were breaking down pit boxes and loading up haulers, but by several accounts, the 0.533-mile concrete oval just wasn’t taking on the same amount of rubber that it did last fall when Goodyear used the same tire.

Shreds of tire rubber coat the top of the Bristol concrete after the NASCAR Cup Series race.
Brittney Wilbur | NASCAR.com

With the track eating up tires at a pace of every 40 to 50 laps, it led NASCAR to release an additional set of tires during the race, giving teams 12 sets (11 fresh and one carrying over from practice/qualifying) to get through the 500 laps. There were some anxious moments about whether there would be enough tires to get through the race, but the action on the track was undeniable.

“On the allotment (of tires) we actually removed a set of tires from the fall race coming into this race,” said John Probst, NASCAR chief racing development officer. “That’s on us, not Goodyear. So, we actually gave that back during the race as you guys saw. We’ll go back and look at it all. There were times in the race obviously when there was anxiety over whether we were going to have enough tires to finish it. But man, coming out in the end and watching all that, I wouldn’t want to change much at all.”

One difference this weekend as opposed to the fall was the use of resin instead of PJ1 as a track compound to help promote grip in the bottom lane and applied in the corners. Several drivers noted after practice and qualifying how it was giving them a different feel. But there was a reason for the change.

“One thing we learned with our testing on the wet weather on ovals was that the cars are the best way to dry the track quickly. The fans want to see the cars on track,” Probst said. “So when we came here and tested, we tried the PJ, and when we wet the track down, it was almost like oil on the track, the cars were getting no traction. So when we came back here this year with the wet-weather package for Bristol, we elected to use the resin vs. PJ1.”

MORE: No. 11 tire changer: ‘We’ve got everything it takes’

There will be much to unpack from this race, and Probst said NASCAR would work with Goodyear and the teams to look at things further. Goodyear echoed that assessment.

“We tested here last year with the intent to come up with a tire package that generated more tire wear,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “That was the request from NASCAR and the teams.

“And we feel like we had a very successful test and a very successful race in the fall of last year because we did exactly that. We ran a full fuel stop and definitely saw wear, but we thought it was spot-on. So now we’re trying to understand what’s different and why is the race track behaving differently this weekend than what it did a year ago.”

Stucker also said he thought it would be a good bet that there would be a test between now and the race in the fall at Bristol, which will be the elimination race in the Round of 16 of the NASCAR Playoffs. That should give everyone plenty of time to think about what just happened at Bristol and the unique situation that unfolded on Sunday.

“While it’s hard on us, yes, it’s supposed to be hard, you’re supposed to see these guys struggle,” Gabehart said. “You’re supposed to see the 25th-place car look like a mess and the teams trying to figure out how to rebound and rally. Help (the driver) understand whether this run the (tire) management didn’t work or the leader’s running too hard this run, but tell your driver … and let him adjust inside (the car). It’s supposed to be hard. This is not supposed to look easy.”

Posted on by John Crane

BRISTOL, Tenn. — A bottom-10 starting position was not what Alex Bowman and the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team had in mind heading into Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Coupled with the grind-it-up tire conditions, perhaps the adversity would be too much to bear.

Not entirely.

Starting 29th didn’t stop Bowman from capitalizing late to finish fourth, the 30-year-old’s second top five of 2024 and first since the season-opening Daytona 500. The Bristol finish additionally netted the Tucson, Arizona, native a new career-best finish at “The Last Great Colosseum” in 14 career Cup races.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

“I think we all saw it coming in practice, somewhat,” Bowman told NASCAR.com regarding the heavy tire wear. “I don’t think we thought it would be that bad. I thought the race track would lay a little bit of rubber and kind of move to the top, but I mean, we knew in practice, like 35 laps, tires were on cords, so try to make the most of it there.”

So while Bowman had to manage how quickly his tires wore on the track, crew chief Blake Harris had to navigate how to maximize pit strategy for the No. 48 Chevrolet.

“We weren’t in a good spot all day with right-front tire wear, really right-side tire wear in general, you know, better than some, but not as good as you’d like to be,” Harris told NASCAR.com. “So really, it’s just trying to have that discipline to give him (Bowman) targets and lap times and try to watch his steering traces and making sure he’s managing it to the level of what we’ve seen for successful runs, so yeah. I thought he did an amazing job within that all day.”

Of course, Sunday’s 500-lap affair wasn’t one of immediate success right out the gate for the No. 48. A 19th-place finish at the end of Stage 1, followed by a 16th-place run at the end of Stage 2, certainly marked improvement over where the team started. But there was still work to be done.

Being track-savvy and adapting to early-race conditions continued Bowman’s chip-away approach, even when Hendrick teammates William Byron, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson weren’t in the vicinity to aid in the pursuit.

“I don’t know that we really did anything to work together as teammates. I’m sure on the pit boxes, they’re giving each other a lot of info,” Bowman said. “Not that we didn’t work together. We just really weren’t around each other until we got them at the end, and so just trying to outsmart guys around you. There are times you want to push, and like, at any point, you can pass a car in front of you, but it’s like, what’s the price you pay on the other side of the runs, so just try to be smart about it … feel like we did a pretty good job.”

The real trick came during the race’s waning laps. After Brad Keselowski’s No. 6 RFK Racing Ford came in during a green-flag pit stop, Bowman’s No. 48 Chevy transitioned to the lead. Bowman led the field for three laps before it cycled back to eventual race-winner Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

“It was pretty nerve-wracking, especially there at the end in that green-flag cycle, Harris said. “Last thing you want to do is pit under caution … under green and look like every time you’re getting close to pitting, it looked like there might be a caution, so ran a little bit long there.

“I think that was our best shot to get the lead and potentially a win. Maybe cost us one or two more … maybe one more spot by running long there, but ultimately, just really happy. We’ve had a couple rough weeks. Didn’t get the finish that I thought we deserved last week in Phoenix, so to come out here with a top five is a big deal for this team. Get a little momentum on our side.”

MORE: Standings after Bristol | Cup schedule

Although the end result might not have culminated with a race win, the finish was one for the No. 48 team to build upon, whether from inside the No. 48 machine to atop the No. 48 pit box. Bowman currently sits 12th in the Cup points standings, a one-position bump from last week after Phoenix.

“I think it’s been a tough couple weeks, so glad to finally get a solid run and wish we could’ve ripped the fence like normal here for the fans, but it still was a good run for us,” Bowman said.

Next will be Circuit of The Americas on March 24 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), where Bowman has three top-10 finishes in as many Cup races there. And who knows? After navigating through a tough Bristol race weekend and grinding out a top five, the finish could be the start of something greater.

“Use this weekend as a perfect example,” Harris said. “We qualified 29th. Practice, with everything we had going on at the track, which was a huge challenge, we had to come in today, throw that out, be confident in what we put underneath Alex and him having confidence in us to just go get the job done. And yeah, I thought even before all the tire issues, we had a really good car. We were able to move up through there and just kind of manage the chaos from there. But yeah, you have to come in, reset and go after it, and that’s what we were able to do today.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

BRISTOL, Tenn. — How appropriate.

On a day where tire management was the essential element in a NASCAR Cup Series race, three veterans swept the podium positions, with Denny Hamlin winning Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

In a race that produced 54 lead changes — a record for Cup Series short tracks — Hamlin lost the lead briefly to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. in the closing laps but regained it in traffic and beat Truex to the finish line by 1.083 seconds.

RELATED: Full results | At-track photos

In a return to concrete after three straight spring races on dirt, Hamlin won his second straight race at the 0.533-mile speedway and his fourth overall, second-most among active drivers to Kyle Busch’s eight.

The victory was the 52nd of Hamlin’s career, 13th all-time and his first this season.

But the story was the tires and the mysterious way they behaved in a race that saw the track start to eat through to the cords 45 laps into a green-flag run.

Goodyear brought the same tire that ran without issues in last fall’s night race, but on Sunday, the concrete surface did not take rubber. Instead, marbles (small balls of rubber from degraded tires) accumulated high in the corners, making the top of the track untenable.

There were two variables that might have helped to account for the tire issues. The temperature was roughly 10-15 degrees cooler than it was for last year’s night race, which was run on Sept. 16.

NASCAR also opted for a different resin in the bottom lane from the PJ1 traction compound previously in use.

Whatever the cause, with his short-track background, Hamlin was best equipped to deal with the surprising situation.

“That’s what I grew up here doing in the short tracks in the Mid Atlantic, South Boston, Martinsville,” said Hamlin, who grew up in Chesterfield, Viriginia. “Once it became a tire-management race, I really liked our chances.

“Obviously, the veteran in Martin, he knew how to do it as well. We just had a great car, great team. The pit crew just did a phenomenal job all day. Can’t say enough about them. … Man, it feels so good to win in Bristol.”

SHOP: Race winner gear

Truex passed Hamlin for the lead in traffic on Lap 483 but surrendered the top spot to the race winner one lap later, as the teammates worked around slower cars. Truex’s tires gave up the ghost on the last few circuits, as Hamlin pulled away.

“Apparently, that’s what I needed to have happen here at Bristol to have a shot at winning — I guess this tire management thing fit into my wheelhouse here at Bristol,” Truex said.

“Man, the difference was just coming out of the pits so far behind Denny (after green-flag pit stops during the final run). I had to use mine up more on the last run. The last four, five laps of the race, was cord.”

Hamlin led a race-high 163 laps, as the four JGR drivers spent a combined 383 of 500 laps at the front field, with Ty Gibbs leading 137, Truex 54 and Christopher Bell 29.

Brad Keselowski, a three-time winner at the track, finished third, 7.284 seconds behind Hamlin. Hendrick Motorsports drivers Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson were fourth and fifth, respectively, as only five drivers finished on the lead lap.

The last time five or fewer drivers finished on the lead lap was the June 6, 2004 race at Dover.

John Hunter Nemechek, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, Gibbs and Bell came home sixth through 10th, respectively.

Larson and Truex leave Bristol tied for the series lead, passing defending series champion Ryan Blaney, who finished 16th.

William Byron, the Daytona 500 winner, hit the wall at Lap 21 and lost numerous laps on pit road, ultimately finishing 35th, eight laps down.

The Cup Series makes the shift to its first road course of 2024 as Circuit of The Americas awaits next Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Notes: No issues were found in post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage, confirming Hamlin’s first victory of the season. No cars were taken back to the NASCAR R&D Center for teardown inspection.

Contributing: Staff report.

Posted on by Staff Report

William Byron found trouble early in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet contacted the outside wall on Lap 21 after a bump from behind by Joey Logano. Logano was in the middle of a three-wide sandwich with Christopher Bell to his left and Byron to his right.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Slight contact between Logano and Bell sent Logano’s No. 22 Ford up into Byron’s left-rear quarter panel, leading Byron into the wall before sliding there again in Turns 3 and 4. The caution flag waved two laps later for debris from Byron’s Chevrolet.

Byron’s No. 24 team, headed by crew chief Rudy Fugle, repaired a bent right-rear toe link within the allotted time of the damaged vehicle policy and returned to competition six laps down.

“Car feels fine here,” Byron radioed after the restart at Lap 31.

Byron, the 2024 Daytona 500 winner, was unable to recover and finished 35th, eight laps down.

Posted on by Staff Report

Editor’s Note: This story was updated after Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions.

After Christopher Bell led the charge in a dominant Toyota performance on the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway, Racing Insights predicts the manufacturer to stay on top, and this time sees Denny Hamlin take the checkered flag at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Food City 500 on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Hamlin is the most recent winner on the Bristol concrete and has been stout on the surface dating back to 2019 with a pair of victories and five top 10s in the last seven races.

RELATED: Set your Fantasy Live roster | Weekend schedule

The metrics predict Kyle Larson, 2021 fall Bristol winner, to finish second. Polesitter Ryan Blaney and Larson’s Hendrick teammates Chase Elliott and William Byron are projected to round out the top five. Christopher Bell, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr. and Bubba Wallace are projected to complete the top 10.

The twist of not running the new short-track package, coupled with the fact that it will be the first time in the Next Gen era that the Bristol spring race is on concrete, could cause fierce battles up and down the grid. This weekend will be a test for how teams react to the new landscape surrounding Sunday’s race.

OTHER DRIVERS TO WATCH

CHRISTOPHER BELL: Bell won at Bristol last spring, but the difference is that there is no dirt this time. That shouldn’t be a problem for Bell. Whether it’s dirt or concrete, he stands firmly at the top with 835 laps run in the top five at Bristol since 2022 and has scored the second most points at the circuit in the Next Gen era.

CHASE ELLIOTT: The 2020 champ is focused on becoming a perennial contender once again. Bristol bodes as a circuit for Elliott to finally crack the top 10 as he’s finished second (2022) and seventh (2023) in his last two visits there.

TY GIBBS: It’s already been an impressive start to Gibbs’ sophomore season. He led 102 laps last time around the “Last Great Colosseum,” and given how he took control at The Clash in February and Phoenix last week, the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will be one to watch.

CHRIS BUESCHER: A previous Bristol winner himself, it’s hard to think Buescher won’t be in the mix this weekend. He’s finished in the top 10 in three of the last four Bristol races and only ranks third behind Bell and Larson for most laps run inside the top five at Bristol in the Next Gen era (609).

BRAD KESELOWSKI: Both RFK cars cracked the top five last week, and with another short track on deck, it’s hard to imagine they won’t ride the momentum into another solid weekend. Keselowski is a three-time Bristol winner and RFK Racing has made a note to be a force on the short track since last season.

RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE FOOD CITY 500

Racing Insights’ advanced statistical formula includes current track, current track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to arrive at a projected winner and full race results.

FinishCar NumberDriver
111Denny Hamlin
25Kyle Larson
312Ryan Blaney
49Chase Elliott
524William Byron
620Christopher Bell
76Brad Keselowski
822Joey Logano
919Martin Truex Jr.
1023Bubba Wallace
111Ross Chastain
1214Chase Briscoe
1317Chris Buescher
1445Tyler Reddick
1548Alex Bowman
168Kyle Busch
1754Ty Gibbs
1841Ryan Preece
193Austin Dillon
2034Michael McDowell
2110Noah Gragson
227Corey LaJoie
2343Erik Jones
2499Daniel Suárez
2521Harrison Burton
2638Todd Gilliland
2777Carson Hocevar
282Austin Cindric
2947Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
3016AJ Allmendinger
3151Justin Haley
3242John H. Nemechek
334Josh Berry
3471Zane Smith
3531Daniel Hemric
3615Kaz Grala

Posted on by John Crane

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Christian Eckes’ hoisting of the victory sword in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race wasn’t the only celebration under the lights for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing at Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday evening.

It wouldn’t require much of a glimpse to see where else the organization excelled at “The Last Great Colosseum,” either, given how littered the top 15 was with McAnally-Hilgemann Chevrolets. Zane Smith, in the part-time No. 91, finished third, while Tyler Ankrum rounded out the top five with a fifth-place triumph. Daniel Dye, in the No. 43 Chevy, completed the McAnally-Hilgemann pack with a 13th-place finish.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

“It’s huge for us. It’s kind of been a rough stretch for this company, honestly,” Eckes said. “I mean, the 18 (Ankrum) has been running pretty good, but it’s been a grind at the shop trying to get everything together, and these guys deserve every minute of it because they work so hard. Yeah, this was a huge collaborative effort. It’s basically our setup from last year all four trucks ran, so what you saw in the 19 tonight, all three of the other trucks had, and you know, it’s cool to kind of have that level of team that we’re all building, and we’re all trying to do something special here, for sure.”

Lapped traffic and switching between the top and bottom lanes didn’t dissuade McAnally-Hilgemann from making the necessary strides where necessary. Eckes earned the pole during Saturday’s qualifying session and maintained his track position by battling and eventually prevailing over Kyle Busch during the waning laps, while Zane Smith (who started seventh) and Tyler Ankrum (who started ninth) each improved on their starting positions.

With the result, McAnally-Hilgemann finished inside the top five with multiple trucks for the first time this year after ending the 2023 Truck Series season at Phoenix Raceway with Eckes and Jake Garcia finishing 1-2 in the contest. The Bristol triumph Saturday evening additionally marked the first time that the organization finished with three trucks inside the top five.

“We were really good firing off; we made a couple of lane choices that I wish I could maybe have back, but our final ones were good,” Smith said. “I was happy with (our race), just needed a little bit more. I felt like we had a pretty good truck, just needed to be a little bit better on the longer run. Fun race track, had fun all day long. MHR is strong here, man. They’re fun trucks to drive, appreciate MHR and everyone for letting me have one to drive.”

Ankrum’s fifth-place finish gave the 23-year-old his second top five of 2024, netting the San Bernardino, California native multiple top fives in a Truck season for the first time since 2021. With the finish, Ankrum remains atop the Truck field in the points standings.

To Ankrum, the organizational victory further cemented McAnally-Hilgemann’s place among Truck teams jockeying for early-season positioning. McAnally-Hilgemann currently ranks first in the owner standings, 13 points clear of Spire Motorsports.

“Tonight, we broke that Spire parade up, and we’re gonna wanna continue that at COTA,” Ankrum said. “Right now, I feel like if you look at all the organizations, I mean, Spire is right there with us, but ThorSport isn’t qualifying and racing like we are as a whole and as an organization, Tricon (Garage) isn’t. The 17’s really fast right now, the 11 is really fast right now, but just as a whole, for a whole organization, it just goes to show you what kind of leadership that we got.”

MORE: 2024 Truck Series standings | 2024 Truck schedule

Next up on the spring docket will be a trek to Texas, where McAnally-Hilgemann will vie for another strong showing at Circuit of The Americas on March 23 (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

McAnally-Hilgemann will need to lean on the same top-to-bottom success the organization illustrated at Bristol for another strong effort to show itself. And with a huge momentum swing, the possibility is certainly there for the taking.

Such a possibility can only exist with uplifting momentum, and the upbeat organization certainly isn’t lacking in that area.

“It all starts with Bill McAnally and Bill Hilgemann, and then that just trickles down to the crew chiefs and to the drivers, all the way down to the electrician that rolls up on the shop on Monday to fix lightbulbs,” Ankrum said. “It’s huge as an organization.”