It’s Bristol Baby!
Thirty-seven drivers will battle it out at the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol for some Saturday night racing.
The drivers practice and qualify the race in the heat of the afternoon on Friday before racing under the lights on Saturday.
Bristol Motor Speedway is in Tennessee; but the city of Bristol borders the Virginia/Tennessee state line with half of the city in each state.
This is the final race of round one in the playoffs. At the end of the night on Saturday, four drivers will be eliminated from the playoffs.
After numerous tire wear issues in the spring race, NASCAR has scheduled a full 45 minute practice in a single group practice. Goodyear has brought the same tire to the track as was used in the spring.
Many of the drivers are wearing skeleton gloves this weekend which will later be auctioned for charity through Dale and Amy Earnhardt’s foundation.
Bubba Wallace and Carson Hocevar were the only non-playoff drivers in the top 10 at the end of practice.
Chase Briscoe is on baby watch with twins due any day. He hopes his wife will hold on until he gets home on Sunday.
The first driver to make a qualifying run is Kaz Grala who posted a time of 15.717 seconds. The drivers get two laps to make their best time.
The drivers have been divided into two groups for qualifying. The top five from each group will move on to a second round of qualifying to set the pole.
Group A drivers Martin Truex Jr, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, and Christopher Bell will be moving on to round two of qualifying.
Josh Bilicki is the first driver from Group B to make a run on the track and posted a time of 16.190 seconds.
From Group B, Alex Bowman, William Byron, Chase Briscoe, Corey LaJoie, and Carson Hocevar will all be moving on to round two of qualifying.
Chase Briscoe in a Ford and Alex Bowman in a Chevrolet qualified with the exact same time of 15.197 seconds.
In Group A, all of the top five are playoff drivers with three of the five from Group B in the playoffs. Spire Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, and one Stewart-Haas driver occupy all of the top 10 spots.
Chase Elliott is the first of the top 10 drivers to qualify in round two with a time of 15.320 seconds.
As the track begins to cool, track times are getting faster; Kyle Larson posted a time of 15.181 seconds – the fastest of the day so far.
With a time of 15.142 seconds Alex Bowman put his number 48 car on the pole for his first pole of the season with teammate Kyle Larson starting alongside on the front row.
The starting lineup for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol:
Alex Bowman
Kyle Larson
William Byron
Martin Truex Jr
Chase Briscoe
Christopher Bell
Carson Hocevar
Denny Hamlin
Corey LaJoie
Chase Elliott
Bubba Wallace
Ross Chastain
Ty Gibbs
Ryan Preece
Tyler Reddick
Noah Gragson
Chris Buescher
Michael McDowell
AJ Allmendinger
Joey Logano
Daniel Hemric
Ryan Blaney
Brad Keselowski
Todd Gilliland
Josh Berry
Justin Haley
Austin Cindric
John Hunter Nemechek
Kyle Busch
Austin Dillon
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Erik Jones
Zane Smith
Harrison Burton
Daniel Suarez
Kaz Grala
Josh Bilicki
Bristol Motor Speedway reports that 100,000 fans are in attendance at the race tonight from all 50 states and 16 countries!
Continuing the tradition, the children of the crews and drivers perform the National Anthem.
Stages one and two are 125 laps each with stage three lasting 250 laps for a total of 500 laps around the half mile track.
Alex Bowman brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with teammate Kyle Larson alongside. Bowman jumps out in front for the lead with Martin Truex Jr in second.
Kyle Larson passes Martin Treux Jr for second.
Lap three, the top five ae Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, and Christopher Bell.
Lap five, John Hunter Nenechek brings out the first caution flag of the race when he gets into the wall with a flat tire.
Alex Bowman brings the field down for the green flag restart on la eleven. Bowman gets out in front with Martin Truex Jr and Kyle Larson battling for second.
Lap 13, Alex Bowman leads the race with Kyle Larson in second; Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five. John Hunter Nemechek is five laps down.
Lap 16 Alex Bowman has a third of a second lead on Kyle Larson; third place driver Martin Truex Jr is over a second behind the leader with William Byron and Chase Briscoe rounding out the top five.
Lap 21, Alex Bowman has a lead of nearly half a second on Kyle Larson.
Lap 28, Alex Bowman is approaching slower traffic and will begin lapping cars shortly.
Goodyear has brought the same tires that were used in the spring race – a race that saw numerous tire issues.
Lap 29, Alex Bowman leads the race with team mate Kyle Larson in second; Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
After some on track contact, Kyle Busch has dropped to 34th place.
Lap 33, Kyle Larson passes Alex Bowman for the lead.
Kyle Larson has begun passing slower cars.
Lap 42, Kyle Lartin has a quarter of a second lead on Alex Bowman; Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
Lap 55, Kyle Larson has a lead of over half a second on Alex Bowman; Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, and Christopher Bell round out the top five. There are 31 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 62, Kyle Larson increases his lead to nearly a second on Alex Bowman. Kyle Larson passes Daniel Suarez in 31st place.
Lap 70, the top five are Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, and Christopher Bell.
Lap 75, Kyle Larson has a one second lead on Alex Bowman; Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, and Christopher Bell wound out the top five as Larson puts Kyle Busch one lap down. There are now 28 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 87, Kyle Larson has a lead of over a second on Alex Bowman; Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.
Chase Briscoe reports his rear camera is not working.
There are 27 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 99, Kyle Larson works to put 27th place driver Brad Keselowski a lap down. Keselowski reports that his car is way too tight.
Zane Smith is the last car on the lead lap in 26th.
Lap 104, Kyle Larson has a second and a half lead on Alex Bowman; Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr, and William Byron round out the top five.
With 12 laps remaining in stage one, there are 25 cars on the lead lap.
Ten to go, Kyle Larson has a lead of over a second and a half on Alex Bowman.
Seven to go, Kyle Larson is driving his way through the field; there are now 23 cars on the lead lap.
Kyle Larson wins stage one for his eleventh stage win of the season.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Kyle Larson
Alex Bowman
Christopher Bell
Martin Truex Jr
William Byron
Denny Hamlin
Chase Briscoe
Ty Gibbs
Chase Elliott
Bubba Wallace
Broadcaster Leigh Diffey noted that he has called races all over the world but said his first trip to Bristol “blew my mind”.
Drivers come down pit road for service with Kyle Larson winning the race off of pit road.
Christopher Bell has secured a spot in the next round of the playoffs.
Ty Gibbs was caught speeding on pit road and Zane Smith was charged with pitting outside of his pit box.
Kyle Larson brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 136 with Christopher Bell alongside. Larson holds on to the lead with Bell in second; Martin Truex Jr, Alex Bowman, and William Byron round out the top five.
Lap 141, Kyle Larson has a lead of half a second on Christopher Bell; Martin Truex Jr, Alex Bowman, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.
Lap 146, Ty Gibbs is the last car on the lead lap in 24th place.
Lap 148, Kyle Larson holds a half second lead on Christopher Bell.
Lap 152, Kyle Larson has increased his lead to over half a second on Christopher Bell; Martin Truex Jr, Denny Hamlin, and Alex Bowman round out the top five,
Lap 159, Kyle Larson has a lead of over half a second on Christopher Bell; Martin Truex Jr, Denny Hamlin, and Alex Bowman round out the top five.
Lap 163, Bubba Wallace is the only driver in the top 10 not in the playoffs.
Lap 171, Kyle Larson has pulled out to a lead of over a second on Christopher Bell; Martin Truex Jr, Denny Hamlin, and Alex Bowman round out the top five with 24 cars on the lead lap.
Ty Gibbs nearly caused a wreck trying to thread the needle between two cars.
Lap 179 Kyle Larson’s lead is now under a second as he battles slower traffic.
Lap 187, Kyle Larson’s lead is now just half a second on Christopher Bell; Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr, and Alex Bowman round out the top five.
Lap 192, Kyle Larson has again increased his lead to a second on Christopher Bell.
Lap 210, Kyle Larson continues to dominate the race with Christopher Bell in second; Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, and Martin Truex Jr round out the top five.
In the spring the drivers could only run around 50 laps on a set of tires; tonight they have been running over 100 laps on the same tires. The only difference is it was cool in the spring and hot tonight.
William Byron reports that his car is very tight.
Ty Gibbs also reports that his car is tight.
Lap 222, Kyle Larson has a lead of nearly two seconds on Christopher Bell with 23 cars on the lead lap.
RFK drivers Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher are reporting ill handling cars.
Kyle Larson has now led over 1,000 laps in races at Bristol.
Lap 233, all 37 cars that started the race are still on the track.
Lap 237, Harrison Burton takes his car to the garage; reporting he has no power steering.
Lap 241, Kyle Larson has a one second lead on Denny Hamlin; Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, and Martin Truex Jr round out th top five with 23 cars on the lead lap.
The caution flag comes out on lap 243 for Joey Logano who spins out with a flat tire after some on track contact. Logano is the only driver who has secured a spot in the next round of the playoffs with a win.
Drivers come down pit road for service and adjustments, short pitting the end of stage two. Kyle Larson wins the race off of pit road.
After staying out on the track Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the green flag restart with just two laps remaining in stage two with Kyle Larson alongside. Kyle Larson jumps out in front for the lead. Reddick gets shuffled back in the field by drivers with fresher tires.
Kyle Larson wins stage two for the stage sweep.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Kyle Larson
Martin Truex Jr
Denny Hamlin
Tyler Reddick
Christopher Bell
Bubba Wallace
Alex Bowman
Chase Briscoe
Ryan Blaney
Chase Elliott
Kyle Larson has led 216 of the 255 laps run so far.
Alex Bowman has secured a spot in the next round of the playoffs on points.
Kyle Larson brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 261 with Martin Truex Jr alongside. Larson holds on to the lead with Truex in second; Denny Hamlin, Christoher Bell, and bubba Wallace round out the top five.
Bubba Wallace passes Christopher Bell for fourth.
Bubba Wallace passes boss man Denny Hamlin for third.
Lap 267, Kyle Larson has a lead of nearly half a second on Martin Truex Jr; bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
Chase Briscoe is reporting some electrical issues in the car. He cannot use the brake fans.
Lap 275, Kyle Larson has a lead of over half a second on Martin Truex Jr; Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
Lap 284, Kyle Larson has a near one second lead on Martin Truex Jr; Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five with 24 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 292, Kyle Larson has a lead of over a second on Martin Truex Jr; Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
The in-car cameras show the drivers wearing different coloured skeleton gloves. The gloves will be autographed by the drivers and Dale Earnhardt Jr before being put up for auction as a fundraiser for Dale Jr’s foundation.
Lap 288, Kaz Grala brings his car down pit road for an unscheduled stop with a possible front end issue.
Lap 308, Kyle Larson has a lead of over a second on Martin Truex Jr; Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
Coming into the race, Kyle Larson was just 26 points above the cut line and was not guaranteed a spot in the next round of the playoffs.
Lap 315, Chase Briscoe passes Bubba Wallace for fourth.
Lap 320, Kyle Larson has pulled out to a lead of over two and a half seconds on Martin Truex Jr; Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, and Chase Elliott round out the top five.
Martin Truex Jr, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Briscoe are in a three way battle for second.
Lap 327, Kyle Larson has pulled out to a lead of over three and a half seconds on Martin Truex Jr; Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Elliott round out the top five.
Corey LaJoie brings out the caution flag on lap 330 when he gets into the wall hard after on track contact.
Pit road is busy with drivers making stops with Kyle Larson winning the race off of pit road.
Chase Briscoe had a slow stop after some equipment issues.
Martin Truex Jr was caught speeding on pit road and will have to restart the race from the back of the field.
Kyle Larson brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 338 with Denny Hamlin alongside. Larson jumps out in front for the lead. Chase Elliott comes up on the outside to take second.
The top five are Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, and Chrisotpher Bell.
Corey LaJoie is out of the race.
Lap 344, Kyle Larson has a near one second lead on Chase Elliott; Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.
Lap 351, Kyle Larson has a lead of nearly a second and half on teammate Chase Elliott; Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Ryan Blaney round out the top five.
Kyle Larson has led 314 laps so far. It has been 15 years since a single driver has led that many laps in a single race.
With 141 laps remaining in the race, Kyle Larson has a lead of over two seconds on Chase Elliott; Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
Lap 372, Kyle Larson has a lead of over two seconds on Chase Elliott.
With 123 laps remaining in the race, Kyle Larson continues to dominate the race with a second and a half lead on Chase Elliott; Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
With 114 laps to go, Kyle Larson is again two seconds ahead of teammate Chase Elliott.
There are 110 laps to go, Martin Truex Jr has not been able to advance since get caught speeding on pit road and restarting the race at the back of the field.
Just 100 laps to go, Kyle Larson has a three second lead on Chase Elliott; Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
Harrison Burton has returned to the track after the crew repaired the steering issue, but is 77 laps down.
In 24th place, Martin Truex Jr is the last car on the lead lap but leader Kyle Larson is on his bumper.
Lap 414, the battle between Martin Truex Jr and leader Kyle Larson continues. Truex is fighting to stay on the lead lap.
Kyle Larson has finally gotten around Martin Truex Jr and is pulling away with 80 laps remaining in the race. Larson has a lead of over three seconds on Chase Elliott with 22 cars on the lead lap.
Seventy to go, the top five are Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Chrisotpher Bell, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Briscoe.
After dominating the race, Kyle Larson has secured a spot in the next round of the playoffs.
Kaz Grala is out of the race.
Lap 442, Kyle Larson has led 400 laps of the race.
Just 54 laps remaining in the race, Kyle Larson has a near two second lead on Chase Elliott; Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
There are only 18 cars on the lead lap.
Daniel Suarez is five points above the cut line and Ty Gibbs is five points below the cut line. The two drivers are now in a battle for position.
Forty to go! Kyle Larson has a three second lead on Chase Elliott; Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five with 16 cars on the lead lap.
Not only has Daniel Suarez held on to his spot, Ty Gibbs has dropped four more points after being passed by other drivers.
Just 25 laps remain in the race, Kyle Larson has led 435 laps – the most by any Hendricks Motorsports driver in a single race – and is over four seconds out in front of the field.
Bubba Wallace has passed Chase Briscoe for fifth.
With 18 laps to go, there are only 13 cars on the lead lap.
Kyle Larson passes Ty Gibbs to put Gibbs one lap down leaving 12 cars on the lead lap.
Twelve to go and there are now only eleven cars on the lead lap with Kyle Larson five seconds out in front.
Ten to go, Kyle Larson has a lead of over five and a half second on Chase Elliott.
Ty Gibbs shoved Erik Jones out of his way.
Six to go, and just 10 cars on the lead lap.
Kyle Larson is “driving it like he stole it” with a lead of over six seconds on Chase Elliott.
Kyle Larson takes the white flag.
Kyle Larson wins the race in dominating fashion with a lead of over six seconds, he puts all but 10 cars a lap down. He led 462 of the 500 laps run in the race.
Kyle’s son Owen is sitting in the window as Dad drives to victory lane. Owen and Kyle Larson stand side by side in the window.
Martin Truex Jr, Ty Gibbs, Brad Keselowski, and Harrison Burton have all been eliminated from the playoffs.
The unofficial results of the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol:
Kyle Larson
Chase Elliott
Bubba Wallace
Denny Hamlin
Christopher Bell
Ryan Blaney
Ryan Preece
Chase Briscoe
Alex Bowman
Ross Chastain
Michael McDowell
Noah Gragson
Austin Cindric
Chris Buescher
Ty Gibbs
Zane Smith
William Byron
Carson Hocevar
Daniel Hemric
Tyler Reddick
Austin Dillon
Justin Haley
AJ Allmendinger
Martin Truex Jr
Kyle Busch
Brad Keselowski
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Joey Logano
Josh Berry
Erik Jones
Daniel Suarez
Todd Gilliland
John Hunter Nemechek
Josh Bilicki
Harrison Burton
Corey LaJoie
Kaz Grala
The playoff field has been reset with Kyle Larson at the top.
The 12 drivers moving on to round two of the playoffs are:
Kyle Larson
Christopher Bell
Tyler Reddick
William Byron
Ryan Blaney
Denny Hamlin
Chase Elliott
Joey Logano
Austin Cindric
Daniel Suarez
Alex Bowman
Chase Briscoe