BRISTOL, Tenn. (April 17, 2022) – Things got dirty at the Bristol Motor Speedway on the final lap of the Food City Dirt Race when Chase Briscoe made contact with race leader Tyler Reddick in the final turn and opened up an opportunity for a third-place Kyle Busch to steal the win.
After several red flags due to rain, the race crew made sure that the fans at home and in the stands were able to see the conclusion of the race on Sunday night.
It wasn’t just a weekend for the Cup series, the Truck series also ran the day before and gave fans a glimpse of what was to come the following day when the defending series champion, Ben Rhodes, won the Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt after leading 95 laps.
Rhodes had a mishap due to the unique pit road at Bristol when he missed the correct path to the pits and was forced to stay out during the cold stops. Unlike the other races on the schedule, drivers and teams are given an allotted time to complete their pit stops while freezing the running order.
With Rhodes now locked into the playoffs with his first win of the season, he is becoming a clear championship favorite with five top fives and one win in just six races so far. The trucks will have two weeks off and will fire back up for NASCAR’s throwback weekend at Darlington on May 6.
The Cup Series race had fans nervous as weather forecasts turned grim. What was supposed to be a clear day became overcast skies and rain. As the day progressed, NASCAR pushed the start time up in order to get as much racing in as possible.
In the sport, a race must reach halfway to be considered official under a rainout. Due to the dirt, the race was able to begin as light rain fell.
The pole-sitter, Cole Custer, fell victim to the weather and track conditions early, as he and teammate Aric Almirola were forced to pit early due to mud build-up on their grille.
NASCAR gave the yellow flag a few laps later, letting teams clean the air vents to prevent the cars from overheating.
The race had a few red flags throughout the 250 laps as showers came and went.
The drivers that were expected to run well battled for the lead, from defending Cup series champion, Kyle Larson, to upcoming stars such as Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe.
Suarez, the only Mexican-born driver in the Cup, had a standout performance at last year’s dirt race and led 64 of the 250 laps and finished in 12th place.
Larson, a life-long dirt racer, was a heavy favorite to win the race. After leading 27 laps, he went home with a 4th place finish.
Briscoe, in his second season, was handpicked by motorsports legend Tony Stewart to drive for Stewart-Haas after proving himself across the nation in a dirt car. Briscoe led 59 laps and was in contention to win on the final lap.
Reddick, a fan favorite driver for many reasons, looked to finally break the curse of the No. 8 car, a number that hasn’t won since Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Richmond in 2006. Reddick controlled much of the last half, leading 99 laps.
Reddick took the white flag, signaling one-to-go with a decent lead over Briscoe who had a great run out of turn two. As the drivers were nose to tail entering the final turn, Briscoe knew what he had to do to win and pushed the car beyond its limit. Briscoe started to spin out and as he spun up the track he clipped the Reddick’s left rear and caused both leaders to spin out as they approached the checkered flag.
Fans were sent into a frenzy once it was realized who was in third place at the time of the wreck. Kyle Busch, the villain of NASCAR and a Bristol ace, found himself in the right place at the right time as Reddick struggled to get his car moving again and stole the win by .330 seconds.
Busch only led one lap all day, the final one.
Fans gave Busch what he loves the most as boos filled the stadium.
A great overall weekend for racing saw one of the best turnouts for the Spring Bristol race in several years and was also the most-watched Bristol race since 2016, earning over 4 million viewers on Fox.
As the short track portion of the schedule ends, NASCAR is headed to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend for an exciting race that always offers high speeds and big crashes.
