Bristol Schedule | Entry List | Past Winners
The second short-track race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season awaits in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Clint Bowyer was victorious two weeks ago at Martinsville Speedway in the opening race of the short-track season. Now the attention shifts to the .533-mile, high banked Tennessee bullring.
Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch won last year’s two Bristol races. Busch comes to Bristol with a stellar record as well as a great deal of momentum after his Texas Motor Speedway win last weekend. In addition to his six career Cup Series wins, Busch has notched nine top fives and 14 top 10s in 25 career starts in “Thunder Valley.”
“I certainly look forward to Bristol and I definitely have over the years, whether it was the old surface or when they repaved it,” Busch said. “It’s been kind of frustrating a little bit for me on the Cup side since the (track surface) grind, but I think we are starting to get the hang of it now.
“We’ve had fast racecars there for a stretch, but different things have happened that have kept us from being able to finish those races off. And then we finally got back on track last August. I definitely look forward to this weekend.”
Things have not gone well for last year’s other Bristol winner in Johnson. He continues to navigate his way through the longest drought of his Cup career and struggled again last week in Texas. Johnson knows despite his past success at the track, turning things around at Bristol will be a difficult proposition.
“Your comfort level has to be high at Bristol, which means the car has to be a little on the snug side – it’s a fine balance where you have to have an edgy car and but you are comfortable enough to be the aggressor,” he said. “It takes a lot out of you both mentally and physically. It’s the most physical track we run and having to stay sharp for four hours with guys banging on your bumper for 500 laps – it’s just tough.”
Like Johnson Kyle Larson is searching for his first Cup win of the year after a pair of top-10 finishes at Bristol last year. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver is optimistic about his chances this this weekend and his anticipation level for short track racing is always high.
“I am always excited to get back to Bristol; it’s one of my favorite tracks,” Larson explained. “And, especially coming off of a tough weekend at Texas for our team, it’s nice to go to a place where we have confidence and have been fast.
“The stats maybe don’t show it, but I feel like Bristol is one of my better tracks and is a place where we usually have really good cars. This is a tough, physical race, with almost no time to relax for the entire 500 laps, but it’s a fun place to drive.”
Speaking of not winning yet at Bristol, Martin Truex Jr. is also in that category. The defending series champion has been improving of late but his still has not yet found Victory Lane on any short track. His Bristol numbers read 24 starts, two top fives, three top 10s and 230 laps led. His average starting position is 15.8 and a finishing average of 20.3.
“For me Bristol has been an up and down place as far as getting good finishes,” Truex said. “This race last year I thought we had the car to beat. Led late until I got caught speeding on pit road. Bristol is one of those places you have to be perfect all day in order to win.
“We’ve had some strong races, including wins, with the No. 78 Auto-Owners Insurance blue paint scheme and hopefully it will give us another positive lift this weekend.”
