Bristol qualifying format equals dirt in uniqueness

Posted on April 16, 2022April 16, 2022 by Terrin Waack

BRISTOL, Tenn. — It’s on brand to be off brand this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.

There’s currently dirt on top of Bristol’s normal concrete surface. That’s already abnormal for NASCAR. Then, to go along with the plot twist, heat races determined the starting lineup rather than the regular one-lap sprints.

“It puts different guys that you may not race around on a regular basis kind of in the middle, and I think it’s good,” Justin Allgaier said. “I think it somewhat teaches you how to navigate and teaches you race craft. And it definitely is a lot different skill than what I would say we normally have by the typical practice, qualifier, race. Now, that also being said, there’s risk in it. I mean, anything can happen and you can get torn up just as easily in heat races as you can in the feature. But I’m excited for it.

“I think to really capitalize on having dirt on this race track you have to kind of go full-in, right?”

RELATED: Weekend schedule | Betting odds | Paints schemes

Four 15-lap shootouts with nine drivers apiece were held Saturday. The mini fields were determined in advance by a random draw. Friday’s practice had no impact.

During the heats, drivers accumulated points for finishing and passing. Finishing points came the same way stage points are earned in regulation – first receives 10, second gets nine, etc. Passing points were then earned for every position gained during the mini race – start ninth, finish sixth, gain three points. There was no way to lose points.

Isaiah Robinson | NASCAR Digital Media

“We’re starting dead last in our heat race just off of pill draw,” Custer said before his heat. “I have to pass five cars to get my points to where I’m gonna be decent. So it makes it a little bit tougher on the guys who get a bad pill draw, but we’ll see.”

Custer started ninth and finished second in Heat 1. He got nine finishing points and seven passing points. That’s 16 points total — which ultimately awarded him the Busch Light Pole Award, his first ever. He’ll lead the field to green Sunday in the Food City Dirt Race (7 p.m. ET, FOX).

“Yeah,” he said during his post-qualifying presser when reminded of his previous concerns, “I was actually thinking about that when I walked in. That kind of backfired on me.”

But in a good way.

Christopher Bell checked in second with 14 points. Tyler Reddick was third with 13.

On the opposite end of the grid, the lowest point total ended up being two from Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Cody Ware and Josh Williams. Team owner points broke all ties, so the order their names are listed fill out 33rd through 36th.

“It’s cool,” Bell said. “The only thing I dislike about heat races is you can draw a stacked heat race, right, where you have a bunch of good cars in it. … The dirt kind of levels the field because the heavy hitters aren’t the normal heavy hitters. But yeah, it’s fun to do something different.”

Posted on April 16, 2022April 17, 2022 by Staff Report

Cole Custer gathered up the Busch Light Pole Award on Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt track, collecting the most points in Saturday evening’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying heats.

Custer drove from ninth to second place in the first 15-lap heat, accumulating one point in the starting-lineup formula for each position gained. The points for his finishing spot and the passing points put his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford in the first starting spot for Sunday’s Food City Dirt Race (7 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM), icing his first Cup Series pole.

“I wouldn’t call myself a dirt racing expert whatsoever,” Custer said. “I did it when I was younger. I raced some Ford Focus midgets when I was in my early teens and I always loved dirt, but I wouldn’t say that I’m an expert. I’m nowhere near Kyle Larson, so getting my first pole at a dirt race is pretty crazy.”

Avid dirt racer Christopher Bell is set to start second in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota in Sunday’s 250-lap main event. Tyler Reddick earned the third starting spot, with Chase Briscoe and Kyle Larson finishing out the top five in order.

Reddick slipped by Ross Chastain on Lap 5 and led the rest of the first heat. A Turn 2 spin by Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Ford was the qualifying race’s only caution period, flying with nine of the 15 laps complete.

Bell drove past Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch with five laps remaining to win Heat 2. Bell went from fifth to first in the qualifying race. Daniel Suárez’s solo spin with four laps complete forced the only caution flag.

Justin Haley’s No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet sped to a wire-to-wire win in Heat 3. Ty Dillon withstood the challenges of Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Larson to take Heat 4.

QUALIFYING HEAT RESULTS

Heat 1
Pos.	No.	Driver	Manufacturer
1	8	Tyler Reddick	Chevrolet
2	41	Cole Custer	Ford
3	48	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet
4	6	Brad Keselowski	Ford
5	38	Todd Gilliland	Ford
6	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford
7	7	Corey LaJoie	Chevrolet
8	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota
9	1	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet

Heat 2
Pos.	No.	Driver	Manufacturer
1	20	Christopher Bell	Toyota
2	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota
3	14	Chase Briscoe	Ford
4	34	Michael McDowell	Ford
5	43	Erik Jones	Chevrolet
6	77	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet
7	99	Daniel Suárez	Chevrolet
8	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford
9	78	Josh Williams	Ford

Heat 3
Pos.	No.	Driver	Manufacturer
1	31	Justin Haley	Chevrolet
2	22	Joey Logano	Ford
3	17	Chris Buescher	Ford
4	45	Kurt Busch	Toyota
5	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet
6	23	Bubba Wallace	Toyota
7	15	JJ Yeley	Ford
8	16	Noah Gragson	Chevrolet
9	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota

Heat 4
Pos.	No.	Driver	Manufacturer
1	42	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet
2	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet
3	5	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet
4	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Chevrolet
5	24	William Byron	Chevrolet
6	2	Austin Cindric	Ford
7	21	Harrison Burton	Ford
8	10	Aric Almirola	Ford
9	51	Cody Ware	Ford

Posted on April 16, 2022April 17, 2022 by Staff Report

Joey Logano landed the pole position for Saturday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt track.

RELATED: Starting lineup | Weekend schedule

Logano, a Cup Series regular, emerged from Saturday afternoon’s four 15-lap qualifying heats with the best points tally — a combination of heat results and points earned by passing. His No. 54 Team DGR Ford will start first in Saturday night’s main event, the Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM). He’ll make his first Truck Series start since 2015.

Series points leader Ben Rhodes will start second in the No. 99 ThorSport Racing Toyota. Stewart Friesen, Parker Kligerman and Chandler Smith completed the top five in the 36-truck starting lineup.

Cup Series regular Austin Dillon led all the way in the opening heat, driving a No. 20 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet that was repaired after a bump-up in Friday’s practice. Trucks regular Ty Majeski went wire-to-wire in Heat 2, holding off Carson Hocevar’s late surge.

Heat 3 was slowed eight laps in after Hailie Deegan spun the No. 1 Ford in Turn 2. That was the only thing that slowed Logano, who vaulted from fifth to first to rack up passing points, bypassing Grant Enfinger on the lone restart for the heat win.

Smith led all 15 laps in the fourth and final heat, warding off persistent pressure from Chase Elliott.

Jessica Friesen and Norm Benning failed to qualify for the 150-lap feature.

QUALIFYING HEAT RESULTS

Heat 1
Pos.	No.	Driver	Manufacturer
1	20	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet
2	75	Parker Kligerman	Chevrolet
3	91	Colby Howard	Chevrolet
4	49	Andrew Gordon	Ford
5	22	Austin Wayne Self	Chevrolet
6	24	Jack Wood	Chevrolet
7	9	Blaine Perkins	Chevrolet
8	56	Timmy Hill	Toyota
9	51	Buddy Kofoid	Toyota
10	15	Tanner Gray	Ford

Heat 2
Pos.	No.	Driver	Manufacturer
1	66	Ty Majeski	Toyota
2	42	Carson Hocevar	Chevrolet
3	88	Matt Crafton	Toyota
4	16	Tyler Ankrum	Toyota
5	30	Tate Fogleman	Toyota
6	38	Zane Smith	Ford
7	33	Mike Marlar	Toyota
8	45	Lawless Alan	Chevrolet
9	61	Chase Purdy	Toyota
10	43	Keith McGee	Chevrolet

Heat 3
Pos.	No.	Driver	Manufacturer
1	54	Joey Logano	Ford
2	99	Ben Rhodes	Toyota
3	23	Grant Enfinger	Chevrolet
4	98	Christian Eckes	Toyota
5	25	Matt DiBenedetto	Chevrolet
6	02	Kaz Grala	Chevrolet
7	1	Hailie Deegan	Ford
8	44	Kris Wright	Chevrolet
9	6	Norm Benning	Chevrolet

Heat 4
Pos.	No.	Driver	Manufacturer
1	18	Chandler Smith	Toyota
2	7	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet
3	19	Derek Kraus	Chevrolet
4	52	Stewart Friesen	Toyota
5	4	John Hunter Nemechek	Toyota
6	17	Harrison Burton	Ford
7	40	Dean Thompson	Chevrolet
8	62	Jessica Friesen	Toyota
9	12	Spencer Boyd	Chevrolet

This story will be updated.

Posted on April 16, 2022April 17, 2022 by Press Release

In the midst of revitalizing historic North Wilkesboro Speedway, Speedway Motorsports will bring grassroots racing back to the famed 0.625-mile short track in August and October of 2022, officials announced today at a press conference at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Produced by XR Events, Racetrack Revival will be a multi-week grassroots racing event featuring multiple series on the current North Wilkesboro asphalt in August. Then, following removal of the pavement, Racetrack Revival will return for several weeks in October on dirt before a repave takes place in 2023.

“As we begin the process of bringing North Wilkesboro Speedway back to life, this is a great opportunity for the historic short track to host grassroots racing and allow our team to learn more about what needs be done before a grand re-opening in the future,” said Speedway Motorsports President and CEO Marcus Smith. “Our vision is to revive this venue into a multi-use entertainment facility, but racing will always be the core product. We know fans and competitors will enjoy ‘kicking the tires’ alongside us with some live competition this year as we begin renovations.”

Speedway Motorsports is working with Wilkes County and North Carolina state officials to utilize an $18 million American Rescue Plan budget allocation earmarked for infrastructure improvements at the nearly 75-year-old facility.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for competitors and short track race fans to experience North Wilkesboro Speedway one more time on the old asphalt and then on dirt as it first began,” said XR Events CEO Barry Braun. “We have a lot of work to do with sanctioning bodies and competitors to get ready for August, but we’re committed to producing an event that both fans and racers will remember for a lifetime.”

Racetrack Revival is expected to include Super Late Models, Street Stocks, Pro Late Models, Limited Late Models, Open Wheel Modifieds, Late Model Stocks and Hornets in August on pavement. Series expected to compete on dirt in October include Super Late Models, 410 Sprint Cars, Big Block Modifieds, Street Stocks, Open Wheel Modifieds, 602 Crate Late Models, 604 Crate Late Models, Stock Cars and Hornets. Competitors can register at www.northwilkesborospeedway.com. Complete schedules and final participating series as determined will be listed on the website.

XR Events has produced grassroots race events at several Speedway Motorsports venues, including Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway. The company will also produce the upcoming May 10-14 Colossal 100 at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Posted on April 16, 2022 by Terrin Waack

BRISTOL, Tenn. — The Next Gen car is no longer NASCAR’s shiny, new toy. It’s now dirty and two months old.

The dirtiness, of course, is built up and caked on from Bristol Motor Speedway’s temporary surface in place for this weekend. Sunday is the Next Gen’s ninth points race of 2022 and the Cup Series’ second edition of the Food City Dirt Race (7 p.m. ET, FOX). A pair of 50-minute practices were completed Friday on the 0.533-mile makeshift dirt track.

“I basically went from feeling like I was OK, pretty decent at the end of the first practice to the second practice, the entire time, just feeling like I was a bird with no wings,” Martin Truex Jr. said. “I couldn’t do anything. I was just hanging on. I was really slow, couldn’t find any traction on the race track.”

Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media

RESULTS: Practice 1 | Practice 2

The entire field was slower in the later go-around. Tyler Reddick set the pace in the first practice, turning a lap in 20.017 seconds at 89.924 mph. Denny Hamlin topped the second leaderboard at 20.638 seconds and 87.218 mph.

Before the 2021 inaugural dirt event, the second practice was also a tick slower than the first, but not as noticeably. The difference between the best times from Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney was 0.017 seconds and the top speeds was 0.075 mph.

“Last year, we saw the race track like really come apart, get real patchy and have holes, which you can make grip through the holes and give it a bunch of character,” Bowman said. “And this year, it’s just super slick and smooth and a little bit on the bottom, little bit on the top and then a bunch of dust.”

Said Chase Briscoe: “I thought it was interesting how we were running the top versus last year we were always on the bottom. Hopefully, we can race where it’s like that and you can kind of move around and it’s not just stuck on the bottom.”

RELATED: Weekend schedule | Betting odds | Paints schemes

The track, understandably so, got slicker and smoother the more it was raced on during daytime conditions.

Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media

There was a Camping World Truck Series practice in between the Cup Series’ slots. As the dirt packed down, though, multiple lanes formed. Bowman and Briscoe each independently noted the top and bottom grooves, and there were also cars running practically in the middle.

“By the end of practice, like (Kyle) Larson and (Christopher) Bell, they were up there, they could do it really good, but I think they both hit the fence pretty hard,” Blaney said. “I was right around the middle. I’m not good enough to run up there consistently like they’re good for honestly. So I was like middle, I thought I had pretty decent grip actually, so yeah, that’s gonna be tough.”

For what it’s worth, Larson and Bell are dirt-racing MVPs outside of NASCAR.

Grip, which Blaney touched on, was another practice highlight. Despite Truex’s traction comment, multiple compliments were tossed around about Goodyear’s new radial this year. That doesn’t mean there won’t be any slipping and sliding as the weekend progresses, especially Saturday when the cars are pushed even harder in their respective qualifying heats (6 p.m. ET, FS2) that’ll ultimately set Sunday’s lineup. The ability to successfully control consistent runs up against the wall may prove to be advantageous.

“You’ll just have to weigh that out as you go,” Chase Elliott said. “Because there might be a certain point in the race where you have to take that risk and then maybe points where don’t need to. We’ll see.”

MORE: See the scenes from the 2022 Bristol Dirt Race weekend

Posted on April 16, 2022April 17, 2022 by Bozi Tatarevic

Editor’s note: Bozi Tatarevic is a professional racing mechanic and pit-crew member. He will provide technical analysis for NASCAR.com throughout the 2022 season.

BRISTOL, Tenn. — The first day of track activity at Bristol was eventful as the Next Gen car made its dirt debut Friday in practice.

With rubber already laid down due to the previous Truck Series practice, track conditions had most drivers following a line down the middle of the track. Some tried to move up the track, but it became tricky and the No. 11 of Denny Hamlin ended up colliding with the wall and limping back to pit road.

RELATED: Full practice speeds

Once Hamlin was out of the car, his crew got to work where they were able to replace an upper control and a toe link while that first practice was wrapping up. Due to the modularity of the Next Gen car, they were able to replace these components quickly and even had time to run the car through tech to verify that everything was back in place before the second practice session started. Those repairs were seemingly back in place as Hamlin was able to head back out for that second practice session and top the chart with a lap time of 87.218 mph (20.638 seconds).

The second practice session proved to be even more eventful as many others followed the path of Hamlin while getting close to the wall and ending up with a stripe on their right side. Dirt aces like Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell were running at the top of the track as the practice session went, and both ended up impacting the wall and leaving stripes on the right side of their cars. Larson sustained damage similar to what was seen on Hamlin’s car while Bell seemingly got off lucky as all of the suspension components on that No. 20 passed team checks.

Similar repairs were happening all along pit road as teams worked on replacing components on the right side of the car. The crew on the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team of William Byron chose to replace the entire front corner of the suspension as an assembly and pulled those parts from their backup car. When multiple suspension components might be damaged on a corner, it is often easier to pull the entire assembly as you can unbolt the control arms and just transfer it over.

Further down pit lane there were other teams similarly replacing toe link or control arms after their drivers got just a little too close to the wall. The crew on the No. 2 Team Penske Ford of Austin Cindric was hard at work replacing the right rear suspension assembly after an on-track impact — and Cindric was helping out by cleaning up his car.

Cindric shared that he thought we were seeing some of these suspension components breaking or bending due to the nature of the wall at Bristol being harder than what is seen at some of the larger ovals.

The good news for most teams is that even though there were plenty of right-side impacts, there weren’t a lot of suspension repairs as the composite body on the Next Gen car took the impacts well and snapped back into shape immediately after impact in most cases. Many of the impacts were light enough that the only repair that was required was the replacement of some vinyl. As the No. 11 crew was able to complete the suspension repair prior to the start of the second practice, the team was able to spend time cleaning their car and fixing vinyl after the conclusion of the final practice.

While Bristol dirt might be trying to compete with Darlington for the honor of having a signature stripe, the modularity of the suspension components on the Next Gen car and the composite body panels meant that most repairs could be completed quickly and crews would be able to make it to dinner at a reasonable time.

Posted on April 15, 2022April 15, 2022 by Staff Report

Denny Hamlin capped Friday’s final NASCAR Cup Series practice with the fastest lap on the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt track.

Hamlin posted a best speed of 87.218 mph in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Kyle Busch was second-fastest at 87.091 mph in the No. 18 Camry, completing a 1-2 sweep for JGR drivers. Rookie Todd Gilliland, Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell — another Gibbs pilot — completed the top five in the second practice for Sunday’s Food City Dirt Race (7 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM).

RELATED: Practice 2 results | Weekend schedule

Like opening practice, several incidents sprang up in the second 50-minute session. Bell, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, Austin Cindric, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., William Byron and Kyle Larson were among the drivers who scraped the outside retaining wall as the grooves widened out during the day.

Ty Dillon turned a 360 in the No. 42 Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet at the seven-minute mark. Chase Elliott spun around for the fourth time of the day just 12 minutes in, righting his No. 9 Chevy and continuing.

The event is just the second for NASCAR’s top division on a dirt surface since 1970. Joey Logano won last year’s inaugural event, and his No. 22 Team Penske Ford was 19th-fastest in opening practice, and improved to seventh-fastest in final practice.

Four qualifying heats are scheduled, starting Saturday at 6 p.m. ET (FS2), to set the starting lineup for Sunday evening’s main event.

Tyler Reddick bests field in first practice

Tyler Reddick topped the leaderboard in the first of two Friday practices for the NASCAR Cup Series on Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt track.

Reddick clocked a lap of 89.924 mph in the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Chase Briscoe was second fastest on the .533-mile track at 89.753 mph with Kyle Busch, Justin Haley and Kurt Busch completing the top five.

Reddick was also third on the chart of consecutive 10-lap averages, but said that he expected the track conditions to shift from the late-afternoon practice’s timing to a main event scheduled under the lights.

“It’s going to be different, like the way it was different last year for this race. From practice to the race was a huge difference,” Reddick said. “But we’re going to be running this race at night on Sunday. This track holds moisture better. There are just a lot of factors that will play into that. The track is going to be different, but I can’t really foresee what it’s going to be like. We kind of have to wait and see how the track is prepped. Certainly, it’s just going to take a lot longer to get to where it did at the end of our practice there when we’re racing under nighttime conditions and the sun isn’t really beating down on the race track.”

The 50-minute session was dotted by a handful of relatively minor incidents. Alex Bowman went for a solo spin just two minutes into the session in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and teammate Chase Elliott looped the No. 9 Chevy out of Turn 4 at the seven-minute mark, then again at the halfway point out of Turn 2 and a third time with 7 1/2 minutes to go.

Briscoe’s No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford slowed with a flat left-rear tire at the 10-minute marker. Denny Hamlin scraped the right-rear fender with his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 19 minutes in.

“Couldn’t see the corner,” Hamlin told FOX Sports. “The dust was so bad that somebody was about 10 lengths in front of me, and they’re right up against the wall, so it was a ton of dust. I didn’t even see where the corner was, so just was late.”

Ross Chastain added his name to the list with a lazy spin onto the apron with 10 minutes left, and Logano slipped out of the high groove and around in Turn 2 with nearly four minutes remaining. Haley’s spin coincided with the red and black flags that ended the session.

Posted on April 15, 2022April 16, 2022 by Terrin Waack

BRISTOL, Tenn. — The Friesens are a match made on dirt.

Stewart and Jessica Friesen have been married since 2014, and their history of racing against – alongside? – each other dates back well before then, specifically at dirt tracks. That didn’t stop after marriage, nor did it after their son, Parker, was born. In fact, both parents are entered into Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway, with the youngster on site.

“It’s a little bit further than Utica-Rome (Speedway), where we met, you know, sneaking dates at the drivers’ meeting back in early 2000s,” Stewart told NASCAR.com. “Jess was running the sportsman, I was running a modified there, and that’s kind of where we met and all this got started. I never dreamed it would end up here at Bristol, let alone with dirt, our kind of native surface.”

RELATED: Weekend schedule | Bristol paint schemes

The racing duo tried to do this exact same thing last year in the inaugural Bristol dirt weekend, but weather literally washed out the heat races, which Jessica needed in order to qualify into the main event. Before rain ruined her chances to compete, Jessica posted the 19th (of 43) and 27th (of 44) fastest times in the two practices. Stewart then ultimately finished 12th in the feature.

Both Jessica and Stewart raced in the Trucks’ second dirt event in 2021 at Knoxville Raceway, though they wouldn’t call it a big success. Jessica came in 26th. Stewart placed 27th.

“Last year, I felt like Bambi on ice,” Jessica said. “I was not super. I was a little tough on Stewart. We had to totally change a lot of things on the trucks at Knoxville.”

Stewart, a Trucks full-timer and team co-owner, was in his usual No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota. Jessica ran the organization’s No. 62 entry.

“Over the winter, our guys went to work,” Stewart said. “We hacked up both the dirt trucks and made a lot of changes from the frame up through the bodywork and everything. That was all due to a lot of Jess’ feedback and her hammering on Trip (Bruce, general manager), saying we gotta get these better.

“So, hopefully, we can unload in practice and see those results.”

The Trucks’ first practice on Bristol’s dirt began Friday at 3 p.m. ET. Stewart topped the leaderboard, turning the 0.533-mile loop in 19.369 seconds at 92.932 mph. Jessica checked in 31st (of 37) with 20.369 seconds and 88.37 mph.

MORE: Full practice results

The second and final run set for 5:35 p.m. ET, live on FS1. Qualifying – which will consist of four 15-lap heats – is Saturday, starting at 4:30 p.m. ET (FS2). The main feature – Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt – is then at 8 p.m. ET (FS1).

Like last season’s attempt, Jessica will need to qualify into the finale. Stewart, running for points, is guaranteed a spot. As long as one of the teammates wields Bristol’s sword in Victory Lane, they’re a happy family.

“We’re always the first ones to kind of tell each other when somebody is wrong, definitely,” Jessica said. “He’s the first one to critique me when I need to do something better or something needs to be changed.”

Said Stewart: “Which doesn’t happen too often. I mean, you don’t really make too many mistakes.”

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Track Release

CONCORD, N.C. — Earlier this week, Coca-Cola Racing Family driver and team owner Denny Hamlin met via zoom with troops from U.S. Army Central and the U.S. Army 163rd Cavalry Regiment from Camp Buehring, Kuwait, as Charlotte Motor Speedway kicked off its 2022 Mission 600. As a prelude to the 63rd running of the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day Weekend, Mission 600 is designed to honor the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces by pairing drivers with military bases to educate the NASCAR community about the day-to-day lives of the men and women who serve.

Separated by more than 6,800 miles, Hamlin and the troops found plenty of common ground during their hour-long conversation, which covered topics ranging from leadership and teamwork to training regimes and the differences in shift patterns between a military tank and Next Gen race car.

Hamlin was even given a personal tour of the inner workings of an M1A1 Abrams tank and introduced to each member of the tank’s four-person crew, who talked through their respective roles and responsibilities as commander, gunner, loader and driver.

“When they get out there, they know what they’re doing,” said SSG Thomas Moore. “But it doesn’t happen unless we do have that leadership, we have that capability. Like the captain was saying about being on the battlefield, being coordinated, especially with the medical crews, the retrieval crews, that’s just like your pit crew. We have those roles that are ready to go at a moment’s notice.”

Following the tour, members of the unit showered Hamlin — a 17-year NASCAR driver and more recently co-owner of 23XI Racing — with questions about balancing his dual roles as driver and owner, how he stays in shape to handle the rigors of a 130-degree race car and who some of his mentors were coming up through the racing ranks.

“What the normal person would not be able to do inside of our cars, deal with the heat,” Hamlin said. “Maybe you guys, because it does not look cool inside those tanks. But you know, it’s 130 to 140 (degrees) in the car usually. And we’re in there for four hours and there’s not AC blowing or anything like that.”

“About the 130-degrees in the car, that’s kind of what it is outside here,” Moore joked.

https://twitter.com/CLTMotorSpdwy/status/1514740461726052354?s=20&t=isdRc1XLnEBdMuzRRGhiIA

Hamlin’s virtual visit is the first of six engagements that are planned for the 2022 Mission 600 campaign. In the coming weeks, fellow Coca-Cola Racing drivers Daniel Suarez and Austin Dillon are scheduled to visit Coast Guard Station Wrightsville Beach and Fort Bragg, respectively, while Joey Logano is expected to visit virtually with an overseas U.S. Air Force unit. Additionally, Kurt Busch will make a trip to Camp Lejeune and Kyle Larson — the defending Coca-Cola 600 winner — will visit Arlington National Cemetery.

“The connection of our military and our driving community and fans really embodies what the Coca-Cola 600 is all about,” said Greg Walter, executive vice president and general manager at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “One of the wonderful things about our sport is the sense of patriotism that our fans have, that our athletes like Denny have — a true appreciation for what our servicemen and women do each and every day. What Mission 600 does is bring those two worlds together.”

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Terrin Waack

BULLS GAP, Tenn. — For the first time in his 24 years of life, eight of which have been spent professionally racing stock cars, William Byron strapped into a Late Model and powered it around a dirt track.

Truth be told, his debut wasn’t always the prettiest. Byron spun more than once throughout the action-packed Thursday night at Tennessee’s Volunteer Speedway, including during his opening run in qualifying hot laps. But he kept at it. He even competed in not just one but ultimately two races.

“I could go do asphalt Late Model races and compete for wins, and that’s a little bit different than this,” Byron told NASCAR.com. “This was more just to put myself in a different environment and see what happens. So, hopefully, I can do a lot more of it and kind of learn behind the scenes, not learn under pressure so much. But it was definitely good to just get some experience around these guys and kind of know what I have to build towards.

“Yeah, it was cool.”

Byron advanced out of the heat races into a B-Main, in which he finished 10th out of 11. His NASCAR Cup Series teammate, Kyle Larson, however, was the promoter of the overall event – officially called the inaugural FloRacing Late Model Challenge powered by Tezo – and was able to gift Byron his promoter’s provisional, a guaranteed spot in the feature race.

The finale was a 50-lap shootout with 25 competitors. Byron came in 24th. Larson crossed fourth behind winner Mike Marlar, runner-up Jimmy Owens and third-place Scott Bloomquist.

“The field was really tough,” Larson said. “A lot of these drivers are every bit as good as what Kyle Busch would be in a Cup car.”

Busch is a two-time Cup Series champion, the only current multi-time champ in the premier series garage. Larson is the reigning titleholder.

Larson, who is just as successful in the dirt world as he is within the stock realm, knows one can’t compare a Cup car to a Late Model, especially when it comes to dirt. A Late Model is built for the surface type. Cup is not; it only races on dirt once a year as of last year. That weekend just so happens to be this weekend, with the second Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway scheduled for Sunday (7 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM).

BRISTOL DIRT: Weekend schedule | Qualifying, race format | Cup entry list

That may have played a small part in Byron’s decision to enter Larson’s showdown, but it wasn’t the sole reason, as he himself noted earlier.

“It was cool for him to show up and do it,” Larson said. “Obviously, way different than what he grew up doing. So yeah, neat that he was willing to kind of step way out of his comfort zone and try something really different.”

This wasn’t really out of his comfort zone given his NASCAR history, but just last week at Martinsville Speedway, Byron ran just his second Camping World Truck Series race since 2016 — and won.

Afterward, when asked about the rather unexpected seat add, he said, “I’m just having fun.” The spontaneous dirt adventure tracks more so there than Bristol prep.

It’s not always about winning, especially at the very beginning of a new endeavor.

“I was just trying to get up to speed,” Byron said. “I don’t have any laps in these cars, so just figuring out how they feel and what to do. But it was a lot of fun, for sure.”