Nestled deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains on the border of Tennessee and Virginia is none other than the world-renowned Bristol Motor Speedway.
Known locally as “Thunder Valley”, the stars of the NASCAR Cup Series rip around this high-banked half-mile circuit at lightning quick speeds with tempers always ready to strike and stir up a storm of epic proportions.
Contact often becomes the name of the game at “the Last Great Colosseum”. As soon as drivers start to lose time, they begin to lose patience as well, unafraid of moving the car ahead if they think they’re faster. Or, if they have a prior score to settle.
With tires falling off faster than usual, this weekend’s Food City 500 will require the heart of a warrior, willpower, and restraint from its victor as well as punctual, picture-perfect pit stops.
Though it’s not a 500-mile race, 500 laps around the bottom, the middle, and the top while navigating lapped traffic remains one of the most maddening tasks for a NASCAR Cup Series driver.
Which of the stars of this series will rise to the occasion to ascend to king of the Blue Ridge Mountains? It’s almost time to find out on Fox Sports 1.
Last Week at Darlington…
In this section, I normally give a short summary of last week’s race before linking to a more comprehensive recap by one of my colleagues, but this week, I am the colleague in question.
So, here’s a link to my recap for last week’s Goodyear 400 from Darlington.
This Week in NASCAR
The sport of NASCAR suffered a trio of sudden, devastating passings that shocked many in the garage.
First was the news of team owner Shigeaki Hattori losing his life in motor vehicle accident last Saturday. The man affectionately known as “Shige” ended his racing career that spanned open-wheel and stock car starts before diving into the world of car ownership.
Hattori Racing Enterprises grew out of the ARCA Menards Series in the late-2000s to become a powerhouse in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series where driver Brett Moffitt took the team to unprecedented heights, winning five races on the way to the team’s first and only Truck Series title. Hattori was 61 years old.
Two members of the greater NASCAR industry passed away on Tuesday. Jon Edwards spent many years by Jeff Gordon’s side before ultimately leading Hendrick Motorsports’ public relations team. He was 53 years old.
Thursday’s second loss came from the journalism field as longtime writer Al Pearce passed away at the age of 82. Pearce gave a lot of time to younger journalists and remained a stalwart in the media center and most recently held the position of NASCAR editor at Autoweek.
In other news, a number of drivers announced starts in future races, including Katherine Legge. The British driver made her Cup Series debut at Phoenix, becoming the first woman to start in the series since Danica Patrick in 2018, but now, she’s taking her e.l.f Cosmetics sponsorship to the Xfinity Series.
Legge is set to make sporadic starts in a third entry for Jordan Anderson Racing, starting next weekend at Rockingham as well as intentions to run the Cup Series race in Mexico City.
Speaking of Xfinity drivers, Connor Zilisch announced his return to the Trackhouse No. 87 and the Cup Series this week as the 18-year-old wunderkind looks to tackle the Coca-Cola 600 in May, the sport’s longest event.
Jey and I crafted our weekly power rankings that dropped on Friday, so if you’re interested in what some of our writers have to say about the best of the best in the sport, click here.
As for the Craftsman Truck Series, Kyle Larson’s bid for a sweep was gone before it ever got off the ground as Chandler Smith put on a clinic in his Front Row Motorsports Ford F-150 en route to his first victory of the 2025 season.
Drivers like Rajah Caruth, Corey Heim, Daniel Hemric, and Bayley Currey took time at the front of the field, but in the end, Larson ran out of time trying to catch Smith, settling for a runner-up result in his No. 07 Spire Motorsports Chevy Silverado.
The Xfinity Series was a different story, which you can read about here.
Qualifying on Saturday for the Cup Series race ended with a common sight at the front of the field, a Hendrick Motorsports car. This time, it was Alex Bowman’s Ally Chevrolet taking top honors with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. starting on the outside of the front row. For the starting lineup, click here.
The Race
Today’s Food City 500 will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 starting at 3pm Eastern Time with Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer, and Kevin Harvick on the call.
Unlike last week’s race, the 500 represents the amount of laps run today, and the race will be split into three stages that end on the following laps: 125-250-500.
If you were wondering what the average spring race at Bristol looks like, take a look at these statistics: 11 cautions for 89 caution laps, 21 lead changes, 2,168 green-flag passes (or 5.3 green-flag passes per lap), and an average duration of 3 hours and 11 minutes.
The last time the spring race went into NASCAR Overtime goes all the way back to 2015 when Matt Kenseth held on for a victory, and the average lap of final caution comes on lap 446 or 55 laps to go.
Writer’s Pick
Last week’s pick was Denny Hamlin. After catching a lucky caution while running long on the first green-flag pit cycle, Hamlin rode in the top-5 for much of the day before the final caution brought the field to pit road where the No. 11 crew put their driver out front. The advantage proved pivotal as Hamlin went on to win.
I am sticking with Hamlin again this week.
The 44-year-old veteran took it to the competition last spring. When everyone in the field got spooked by the high tire wear, Hamlin remained cool as a cucumber, even after a spin. That poise led to his first win of 2024.
Riding quite the hot streak, Hamlin starts on the outside of the second row and will look to replicate his dominant performance from last season, and I expect him to do so.
(Top Photo Credit: Wade Payne/AP Photo)
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