The Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series were active this past weekend at Tennessee’s Bristol Motor Speedway. Most drivers had previous starts at the 0.533-mile concrete oval track but this was a new experience for all. The facility converted it to a dirt track for this weekend. NASCAR allowed teams two practice sessions for each series on Friday. This was the plan for Saturday until weather became a factor. The Truck drivers, who were split into four groups on Thursday, were supposed to enter four 15-lap “Heat Race” qualifiers to determine the line-up for Saturday night’s Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt. The Cup teams, also split into four groups, were set to run their four 15-lap Heat Races on Saturday afternoon to set Sunday’s line-up for the Food City Dirt Race. One lap into the first Truck Series Heat Race 1, the trucks were covered in mud and the qualifying races were put on hold. Several trucks, street cars, modified race cars and others were sent out to dry the track. Then it started to rain. NASCAR cancelled the Heat races for both series and rescheduled the Truck race to start after the Cup race on Sunday. Sunday turned out the same and both races were moved to Monday. See below for NASCAR’s decision on the lineups for each of the series’ races. Joey Logano became the 7th different Cup Series winner in as many races this season in Monday’s Food City Dirt Race. The XFINITY Series will return to action April 9 at Martinsville Speedway. The latest results and upcoming scheduled events for the NASCAR feeder series are also included below as well as details on all tracks mentioned in this column.
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Mon, Mar 29, Food City Dirt Race – Bristol Motor Speedway – 250 laps (+3 laps OT).
– Since the Heat Races were washed out on Saturday and the Cup race on Sunday, NASCAR’s qualifying metric set the starting lineup for Monday afternoon’s event based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed Kyle Larson (#5 Chevrolet Camaro) P1 on the starting grid. Denny Hamlin (#11 Toyota Camry) completed the front row in the P2 spot. #12 Ryan Blaney, #18 Kyle Busch, #19 Martin Truex Jr., #4 Kevin Harvick, #48 Alex Bowman, #24 William Byron, #3 Austin Dillon and #22 Joey Logano, respectively formed the rest of the top-10 in the lineup. Did not make the 40-car field: No one, only 39 entries.
– Joey Logano (#22 Ford Mustang) scored his 27th victory in 442 NCS races. This is his 1st victory and 4th top-10 finish in 2021. Logano is the 77th different driver to win on a dirt track in the Cup Series. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2nd) posted his first top-10 finish in 2021. Denny Hamlin (3rd) earned his 6th top-five finish this season. Chase Briscoe (20th) was the highest finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contender. Due to an engine change on Friday, Polesitter Kyle Larson had to drop from the front row to the rear of the field just before the green flag waved to start the race. He was caught up in a couple of accidents and finished 5 laps down in 29th place.
– NCS points leader: Denny Hamlin leads the point standings by 58 points over Joey Logano.
– TOP-16 NCS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. Denny Hamlin 0
2. Joey Logano +1
3. Martin Truex Jr. +1
4. Kyle Larson -2
5. Brad Keselowski 0
6. William Byron +2
7. Ryan Blaney 0
8. Kevin Harvick -2
9. Chase Elliott +1
10. Christopher Bell -1
11. Austin Dillon 0
12. Michael McDowell +1
13. Kyle Busch -1
14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +3
15. Kurt Busch 0
16. Alex Bowman -2
– Next: Sat, Apr 10, Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 – Martinsville Speedway – 500 laps.
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
– NXS points leader: Austin Cindric by 46 points over Daniel Hemric.
– TOP-12 NXS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. Austin Cindric 0
2. Daniel Hemric 0
3. Harrison Burton +2
4. AJ Allmendinger 0
5. Justin Haley +3
6. Jeb Burton -3
7. Myatt Snider 0
8. Justin Allgaier +3
9. Jeremy Clements +1
10. Brandon Jones -4
11. Brandon Brown -2
12. Riley Herbst 0
– Next: Fri, Apr 9, Cook Out 250 – Martinsville Speedway – 250 laps.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NTS)
Mon, Mar 29, Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt – Bristol Motor Speedway – 150 laps.- Since the Heat Races were washed out and the Truck race was postponed from Saturday, NASCAR’s qualifying metric set the starting lineup for Monday’s event based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed John Hunter Nemechek (#4 Toyota Tundra) P1 on the starting grid. #16 Austin Hill, #2 Sheldon Creed, #88 Matt Crafton, #13 Johnny Sauter, #21 Zane Smith, #52 Stewart Friesen, #98 Grant Enfinger, #99 Ben Rhodes and #45 Brett Moffitt, respectively formed the rest of the top-10 in the lineup. Did not make the 40-truck field: #83 Trevor Collins, #62 Jessica Friesen, #39 Ryan Newman and #3 JR Heffner were entries 41-44.
– Cup Series regular Martin Truex Jr. (#19 Camry), driving the #51 Toyota Tundra, scored his 1st victory in 3 NTS races. This was his 1st race in the truck series since 2016. He has now become the 35th different driver all-time to win in all three NASCAR national series. Ben Rhodes (2nd) posted his 4th top-10 finish in 2021. Raphael Lessard (3rd) earned his 1st top-10 finish in 2021. Polesitter John Hunter Nemechek was credited with a 39th place DNF after an accident on lap 4. Chase Purdy (18th) was the highest finishing ROTY contender.
– NTS points leader: John Hunter Nemechek by 6 points over Ben Rhodes.
– TOP-10 NTS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. John Hunter Nemechek 0
2. Ben Rhodes 0
3. Sheldon Creed 0
4. Matt Crafton 0
5. Stewart Friesen 0
6. Austin Hill 0
7. Zane Smith +1
8. Grant Enfinger +1
9. Todd Gilliland +3
10. Austin Wayne Self +4
– Next: Sat, Apr 17, ToyotaCare 250 – Richmond Raceway – 250 laps.
NASCAR Feeder Series
ARCA Menards Series:
Fri, Mar 12, * General Tire 150 – Phoenix Raceway – 150 laps.
Winner: Ty Gibbs – P1: Ty Gibbs ** – Points Leader: Corey Heim
Next: Sat, Apr 24, General Tire 200 – Talladega Superspeedway – 76 laps.
ARCA Menards East:
Sat, Feb 27, Pensacola 200 – Five Flags Speedway – 200 laps.
Winner: Sammy Smith – P1: Sammy Smith – Points Leader: Sammy Smith
Next: Sat, May 8, Music City 200 – Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway – 200 laps.
ARCA Menards West:
Fri, Mar 12, * General Tire 150 – Phoenix Raceway – 150 laps.
Winner: Ty Gibbs – P1: Ty Gibbs ** – Points Leader: Ty Gibbs
Next: Sat, Jun 5, General Tire 125 – Sonoma Raceway – 50 laps.
Whelen Modified Tour:
Season opener: Thu. Apr 8, Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200 – Martinsville Speedway – 200 laps.
Pinty’s Series:
Season opener: Sun, May 23, TBA – Sunset Speedway
Peak Mexico Series:
Season opener: Sun, May 22, TBA – Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas
* Combo race between ARCA Menards and ARCA Menards West
** Qualifying rained out, pole set by fasted in lone practice
Track Details
Bristol Motor Speedway (Dirt) – 0.533-mile – Bristol, Tennessee
Five Flags Speedway – 0.5-mile oval – Pensacola, Florida
Martinsville Speedway – 0.526-mile oval – Martinsville, Virginia
Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway – 0.596-mile oval – Nashville, Tennessee
Phoenix Raceway – 1-mile tri-oval – Avondale, Arizona
Richmond Raceway – 0.75-mile oval – Richmond, Virginia
Sonoma Raceway – 2.520-mile, 12-turn road course – Sonoma, California
Sunset Speedway – 0.333-mile oval – Innisfil, Ontario
Super Ovalo Chiapas – 0.75-mile tri-oval – Tuxtla Gutierrez
Talladega Superspeedway – 2.66-mile tri-oval – Talladega, Alabama