Day-by-day Bristol Dirt Race weekend format

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Terrin Waack NASCAR.com April 14, 2022 at 10:07 AMThe NASCAR Cup Series heads to its second-ever Bristol Dirt Race weekend, starting Friday and concluding Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. There will be on-track action each day due to practice, qualifying and the main event. And because dirt deviates from the norm, the race format does the same.

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Below is a day-by-day breakdown of the weekend format:

FRIDAY

• 4:05 p.m. ET — First practice (FS1) | Results
• 6:35 p.m. ET — Final practice (FS1) | Results

There are two practices, each 50 minutes in length. This is the only track in 2022 where two practices are scheduled. There are no abnormal rules or regulations in place for practice, despite the dirt aspect. Drivers and teams simply have designated time on the 0.533-mile circuit to prepare for qualifying and the main event.

ANALYSIS: Digging into Next Gen car changes for dirt race

SATURDAY

• 6 p.m. ET — Qualifying (FS2)

Qualifying consists of four heat races. Each is a quick 15 laps. The first starts at 6 p.m. ET, the second at 6:15 p.m. ET, the third at 6:30 p.m. ET and the final at 6:45 p.m. ET, according to the at-track schedule.

Heat assignments and lineups were determined by a random draw, conducted in order of team owner points. The drawing took place at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, and the results are as follows:
HEAT 1 HEAT 2 HEAT 3 HEAT 4 Todd Gilliland Kevin Harvick Joey Logano Chase Elliott Ross Chastain Kyle Busch Justin Haley Ty Dillon Brad Keselowski Michael McDowell JJ Yeley Aric Almirola Tyler Reddick Justin Allgaier Chris Buescher William Byron Alex Bowman Christopher Bell Denny Hamlin Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ryan Blaney Josh Williams Kurt Busch Kyle Larson Martin Truex Jr. Chase Briscoe Bubba Wallace Austin Cindric Corey LaJoie Erik Jones Austin Dillon Cody Ware Cole Custer Daniel Suárez Noah Gragson Harrison BurtonDEBATE: Best driver without dirt-racing resume for Bristol Dirt Race?

During the heat races, drivers accumulate points for finishing and passing. First place earns 10 points, second gets nine and so on down to two points for ninth — it’s the same way stage points are determined during a regulation race.

In addition to their finishing points, drivers gain one point for each car passed from their original starting position. For example, a driver who starts fourth and finishes second will receive two points. Drivers who finish where they started or ultimately lose spots on the grid get zero passing points. There are no deductions.

Only green-flag laps count. Free-pass and wave-around procedures operate as normal. NASCAR Overtime is not an option.

Once all four heat races are complete, point totals determine the field’s starting lineup for the main event, a max of 40 entries. Therefore, the driver with the most points wins the Busch Light Pole Award. All ties are broken by team owner points.


STARTING SPOT DRIVER, CAR HEAT POINTS 1 Cole Custer 16 2 Christopher Bell 14 3 Tyler Reddick 13 4 Chase Briscoe 12 5 Kyle Larson 11 6 Justin Haley 11 7 Ty Dillon 11 8 Alex Bowman 10 9 Chase Elliott 9 10 Joey Logano 9 11 Kyle Busch 9 12 Austin Dillon 9 13 Kurt Busch 9 14 Erik Jones 9 15 Chris Buescher 9 16 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 8 17 Michael McDowell 7 18 Brad Keselowski 7 19 William Byron 6 20 Austin Cindric 6 21 Daniel Suárez 6 22 Bubba Wallace 6 23 Todd Gilliland 6 24 Harrison Burton 6 25 Ryan Blaney 5 26 Corey LaJoie 5 27 Justin Allgaier 5 28 Noah Gragson 4 29 JJ Yeley 4 30 Martin Truex Jr. 3 31 Aric Almirola 3 32 Kevin Harvick 3 33 Ross Chastain 2 34 Denny Hamlin 2 35 Cody Ware 2 36 Josh Williams 2

SUNDAY

• 7 p.m. ET — Food City Dirt Race (FOX)

The Food City Dirt Race, obviously, is the main event. It’s a 125-mile race broken up into three stages, per usual. The first stage ends on Lap 75. The second stage concludes on Lap 150. And the checkered flag signifies the end on Lap 250, unless there is NASCAR Overtime.

Business as usual, except on pit road.

Outside of stage breaks, teams are not allowed to fuel their cars or change out tires (unless a tire is flat). They can work on their cars under caution but have to restart behind the non-pitting cars as a result.

During the stage breaks, teams are given the option to fully pit. No driver can gain or lose position on pit road at this time. Upon restart, however, cars that did not pit get to start ahead of those that did.

Free-pass and wave-around procedures remain in play, but the choose rule does not apply for restarts.

REWIND: Joey Logano wins inaugural Bristol Dirt Race in 2021

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In addition to the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will be in attendance this weekend. Its procedural format is the same but adapted to the truckers’ schedule.

FRIDAY

• 3:05 p.m. ET: First practice (FS1)
• 5:35 p.m. ET: Final practice (FS1)

SATURDAY

• 4:30 p.m. ET: Qualifying, four heat races (FS2)
• 8 p.m. ET: Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt (FS1)

 

Bristol confirms plans for dirt race to return next year

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | April 19, 2022 4:42 PM ET

Bristol Motor Speedway president Jerry Caldwell has released a statement saying the track will prepare to host a third year of NASCAR dirt racing in the spring of 2023.

“I’m so thankful for our owners, Bruton and Marcus Smith, allowing our Bristol Motor Speedway team to put on an amazing Easter celebration and NASCAR race weekend that exceeded our expectations with strong ticket sales and primetime viewership on FOX,” Caldwell said in a statement Tuesday. “Bristol Motor Speedway will prepare for a spring night race on dirt in 2023, giving the fans two great NASCAR shows on different surfaces.

“The dates for our NASCAR events will not be available until later this year. To guarantee the best seats for more amazing dirt racing next year, guests may contact the ticket office or visit our website at BristolMotorSpeedway.com to renew their tickets today.”

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TV ratings: Bristol dirt

CRANDALL: Do dirt right or stop doing it

Bristol put dirt on its half-mile surface for the first-time last year with the Camping World Truck Series and Cup Series holding races. The second edition, again with Trucks and Cup, was held over the weekend with the Cup Series racing in primetime on Fox on Easter night. It was the first Cup Series race held on Easter since 1989.

Caldwell’s statement followed positive comments about the event by NASCAR chief operating officer Steve O’Donnell on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio earlier in the day and the release of strong television numbers from Fox Sports.

O’Donnell admitted Tuesday morning officials are “definitely interested in continuing to look at dirt.” But O’Donnell didn’t commit to it being at Bristol, saying, “Still dissecting what took place this weekend, what we can do, where we could be, be all in all, I think the direction, as of today, would be certainly to remain on dirt.”

Fox Sports reported Tuesday the race was up 28% over last year’s rain-delayed Bristol dirt race, which was held in late March. At 4,007,000 viewers, it had the highest ratings for a spring race at Bristol since 2016, with the audience peaking at 4,518,000 viewers.

 

Reddick still cares about Bristol in spite of his demeanor

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | April 23, 2022 2:44 PM ET

Tyler Reddick doesn’t want his reaction to what happened on the last lap last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway to look like he doesn’t care.

Chase Briscoe spun Reddick from the lead in Turn 3 on the last lap. Briscoe said he wanted to pull a slider but spun on entry to the corner and slid up into Reddick’s left rear. Both drivers spun, and Kyle Busch overtook Reddick in the final yards to the checkered flag.

“No, no, it still sucks,” Reddick said Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway. “Just because I didn’t lose my mind that doesn’t mean I’m OK with what happened. It still sucked. I wasn’t OK with it, but I understood it wasn’t intentional, in my opinion.”

Afterward, Briscoe did walk down pit road to apologize and understood if Reddick were to punch him. But Reddick kept saying “It’s all good” to Briscoe and, although disappointed, was very calm. The Richard Childress Racing driver even took the blame for letting Briscoe chase him down and be in a position to make such a move.

“I don’t feel like he went in there and tried to wreck me on purpose,” Reddick said. “I think it’s pretty obvious he tried to do the opposite once he realized it wasn’t going to work. It just worked out the way it did. Yeah, it still sucks, but the crazy part in all of this is I still finished second.”

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Fighting wasn’t on Reddick’a mind. While he kept his head on his shoulders, he understood there were team members who were more outwardly upset. There are people he works with who have been racing at the Cup level, longer than he has, who haven’t won.

“And everybody’s path to how they got here and what their story is — we’re all a little different,” Reddick said. “So, I guess I can understand why they’re more outwardly frustrated than I was.”

Reddick has gone back and watched the video, mainly to see what he could have done differently.

Reddick’s reaction was also being colored by the move happening on dirt and not asphalt. As a driver with a dirt background, Reddick understood what Briscoe was trying to do.

“When you run on asphalt, you can kind of make slide jobs work at some racetracks that we have that are more wore out, but they’re pretty obvious,” Reddick said. “You can kind of see them coming. On dirt, you can be more aggressive with your moves just because you have a little bit less grip. You can be more aggressive with driving into the corner, sliding up the hill—that sort of thing.

“From my dirt racing background and his, I just feel like I look at that move differently than if it were on asphalt. If it would have been on concrete Bristol, yeah that move would have been a totally different story.”