This Sunday (4/9) is Easter Sunday and it is the Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt. For the third year in a row, Bristol Motor Speedway is being covered with dirt for the Cup Series to get back to the roots of racing.

This weekend’s race takes NASCAR back to the beginning of auto racing in America. However, it is unlike any other race on the circuit now. The short track already makes the race challenging to the NASCAR Cup Series. Add the dirt factor and the challenge is massively multiplied.

Here’s the data for the track and the race this weekend.

Bristol Motor Speedway Track Data
Track Size: 0.5-miles
Banking/Turns 1 & 2: 24-28 degrees
Banking/Turns 3 & 4: 24-28 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 5-9 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 4-8 degrees
Frontstretch Length: 650 feet
Backstretch Length: 650 feet

Food City Dirt Race Data
Season Race: 8 of 36 (04-09-23)
Race Length: 250 laps / 125 miles
Stages 1 & 2 Length: 75 laps (each)
Final Stage Length: 100 laps

You would think that this race would favor drivers who began their racing careers on the dirt tracks across the country. Drivers like Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Alex Bowman to name a few. Those drivers have looked good in the NASCAR dirt races the past two years.

However, the wins have gone to two drivers without that dirt track background on their racing résumés. Joey Logano won the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt in 2021. Kyle Busch won last year’s race.

It will be both interesting and potentially exciting to see if those dirt track races will be able to put a complete race together and close it out with a win this year.

The action begins at 6 p.m. central time (7 p.m. eastern time) Sunday, April 9th in the Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt.

By: Buck Stevens