2 months agoOn Saturday afternoon, Ryan Blaney qualified 28th for Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuits of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, TX. Despite last week's 16th-place finish at Bristol, Blaney enters Sunday's race with considerable momentum, as he has already earned three top-five finishes in 2024. Unfortunately for
read more...
2 months agoFor the second time in a row at Bristol Motor Speedway, Denny Hamlin ended up in victory lane. In a race filled where tire management came into play in a major way, the Cup Series veteran was able to maintain speed over the course of the day for his first win of the 2024 season. The No. 11 Toyota ranked fastest in Green Flag Speed and was the best in Average Running Position as well. Hamlin now has four career victories at Bristol. After the race, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver noted that this win is one of the proudest of his career given the difficult circumstances with tires. Hamlin is now locked into the 2024 Playoffs with this win.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Fox Sports
2 months agoKaz Grala finished 19th in Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Heading into the race, there was little reason to be excited about Grala, particularly as it relates to DFS. Not only did Sunday mark his first Cup start at the Last Great Colosseum, but he was the only driver not to get under 16 seconds during Saturday's practice session. Despite the low expectations, the 25-year-old performed quite well, earning 44.75 points on DraftKings, a return of nearly 9x value on his $5,000 salary. Although Grala is scheduled to race only a limited number of dates for Rick Ware Racing in 2024, his performance on Sunday should be considered as a statement that he is the right choice to drive the No. 15 car when NASCAR returns to eastern Tennessee in the fall.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Jayski.com
2 months agoOn Sunday evening, Brad Keselowski earned his second top-five in a row by securing a third-place finish in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Despite the chaotic tire situation that affected many drivers throughout the 500-lap race, Keselowski managed to stay in the top 15 for 98.6% of the race and earned an impressive driver rating of 110.4. His strong finish, along with his 13 fastest laps and the fact that he moved up 14 places, helped the RFK driver-owner score 61.10 DraftKings points, exceeding value for the 15.96% of DraftKings players who had him on their roster. Next up for the Cup Series is a trip to the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), a track that the former Cup Series champion has struggled at in his three previous starts.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Jayski.com
2 months agoAfter the Food City 500 at Bristol this past weekend, many of the Cup Series drivers were very happy about the tire falloff and needing to manage their tires over the course of a run. One driver that was not happy about it, though, was fifth-place finisher Kyle Larson. After the race, Larson said, "I hope I never have to run a race like that again. To have to run a race like that every week would not be good, and it's honestly probably a black eye to Goodyear just with all the rubber that couldn't get laid down and just wearing through tires and all that." Larson still had one of the best cars all day, ranking fifth-fastest in Green Flag Speed and sixth-best in Average Running Position. He has now finished sixth or better in seven of his last eight starts at Bristol.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Autoweek
2 months agoOn Sunday evening, Chase Elliott finished eighth in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Sunday's result was the first top-10 finish for the former Cup Series champion since the Charlotte Roval last fall, a stretch that spanned eight races. Given that he only led eight laps, spent just 48.7% of the race in the top 15, and lost three places from where he started, there wasn't much to Elliott's day. Perhaps the most notable accomplishment coming out of Sunday for Elliott is that he was able to complete 499 of the 500 laps despite the tire issues that plagued the field. Up next for the No. 9 is a trip to the Circuits of the Americas (COTA) for NASCAR's first road race of the season, a style of track that Elliott has excelled at throughout his career.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Jayski.com
2 months agoRick Ware Racing certainly had a good day in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway this past weekend. Both Justin Haley and Kaz Grala were legitimate contenders for top-10 finishes, something that Rick Ware Racing as a whole doesn't contend for outside of superspeedway races. Haley led the way for RWR with the 12th-best Average Running Position in the race and 17th-fastest Green Flag Speed. He finished 17th in the race after fading late due to tires. This is the best finish for Rick Ware Racing in the NextGen era on a short track and it matches the best result for the organization at Bristol with Cody Ware's effort in the 2022 race.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Speedway Digest
2 months agoOnce again, it looked like Ty Gibbs was going to break through for his first NASCAR Cup Series win at Bristol this past weekend. Unfortunately, the No. 54 Toyota faded late and Gibbs was relegated to a ninth-place finish after dominating for most of the day. Gibbs looked masterful for most of the Food City 500, leading 137 of the 500 laps despite starting back in 19th and also having to drive through the field mid-race due to a pit stop penalty. Gibbs won Stage 1 and Stage 2 but, during the final green flag run of the race, he was unable to manage his tires and faded late. Still, it was another strong run for the Joe Gibbs Racing racer, as he is the only Cup Series driver with four top-10 finishes through the first five races of 2024.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
2 months agoJohn Hunter Nemechek drove all the way up to sixth from 25th on Sunday at the Food City 500. Toyota was absurdly fast and the Legacy Motor Club driver racked up 13 stage points as he flirted around the Top 5 all afternoon. It was unfortunate that he could not stay on the lead lap. However, Nemechek held off Chris Buescher and Chase Elliott for the sixth spot. His 99.2 driver rating and 440 laps inside the Top 15 showed his racing ability. The high-tire wear did not phase the No. 42 Toyota at all. Nemecheck set several career highs on the 0.533-mile track including quality pass percentage (77.1%).
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
2 months agoChris Buescher did not have the best of races starting 34th. However, the RFK Racing driver ended up seventh at the end of 500 laps in Bristol. Buescher led 17 laps but fell back even behind teammate Brad Keselowski. Keselowski finished third while Buescher ended up a lap down. With only five cars on the lead lap and all the tire wear, the No. 17 Ford clawed his way to a good result. Buescher now has three Top 10 results in his last four races heading to COTA next week. He did finished eighth last year and fifth after Stage 2 on the Austin track.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
2 months agoIn an otherwise mediocre season, Alex Bowman made a surprise charge to fourth on the final stint of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol on Sunday. Bowman tends to thrive in chaotic situations, so his strong finish shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Nearly lapped in the closing stages of the race, he managed to pass a string of cars also fighting to stay on the lead lap and drove from 10th to fourth in the final twenty laps. While Bowman delivered a clutch performance, he did not run as well earlier in the race, as he only ranked 10th in average running position, ninth in driver rating, and 17th in speed. This season, Bowman has not had a race where he ran strongly from start to finish in quite a while, but his result at Bristol may be an encouraging sign that he will have stronger runs in the future.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoChristopher Bell had a solid run at Bristol this weekend, but in almost every regard he was outperformed by his three Joe Gibbs Racing teammates. While all four JGR drivers took turns up front and had multiple passes for the lead, Bell had the worst finish (10th), the fewest laps led (29), the lowest driver rating (108.0), and the slowest average speed (sixth) among JGR drivers. His three teammates were the best in both speed and laps led in the Food City 500. As at Phoenix, JGR largely dominated start-to-finish, but this time, it was because they were the best at conserving their tires. Since tire conservation tends to be something where drivers improve with age, it makes sense that the veterans Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex, Jr. came out on top while Bell and Ty Gibbs faded in the end. It was a solid run for Bell, but nothing like last week, where he had the dominant car at Phoenix.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoMartin Truex Jr. finished the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway as the runner-up for the victory on Sunday. Truex ran in the Top 10 throughout most of the entire race and was a contributing factor to Joe Gibbs Racing's dominance at Bristol this week. The driver
read more...
2 months agoDuring the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Ryan Blaney finished in the 16th position after a hard-fought day. Blaney began Sunday's race on the pole, where he would trade the lead with several drivers and lead a total of 14 laps. Blaney ran mostly inside the Top 10 as the race progressed, getting as high as the Top 5 before a bad-handling car shuffled him back through the field and eventually off the lead lap. Although Blaney would have to pit for tires in the late run, he would eventually rally back for his worst finish of the year since the Daytona 500 (16th). Despite a strong car in the earlier part of the race, Blaney's finish of 16th marks his third Bristol finish where he failed to place in the Top 10 by the end. As NASCAR heads to Circuit of the Americas next, Blaney will look to recapture the season points lead while looking for his second career top-10 finish there.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
2 months agoHendrick Motorsports driver William Byron will start the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway from the eighth position after qualifying. This marks the third consecutive race Byron obtained a top-10 starting position. In nine starts at Bristol, the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet has four top-10 finishes, all of which were scored in his last five appearances at the site. Byron could be primed for another top-10 finish as he ranked fifth in five and ten-consecutive lap averages while ranking fourth of all drivers in 15-consecutive lap averages. When considering how Byron is one of the better performers of the year regardless of track type, with two top-10 finishes in four races so far, it should not be a surprise for Byron to compete for a top finish, especially when factoring recent Bristol history.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: Driveraverages.com
RADIO
