This Sunday the NASCAR Cup Series is truly getting back to its roots in the Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway!
The race on Easter Sunday will be the second year in a row that the NASCAR Cup series has raced on dirt since 1970. Putting the drivers and cars on dirt makes this one of the biggest “Wild Card” races of the season. Factor in that there is very little data for the teams and drivers to rely on and who knows what will happen.
Here is what we do know for sure about the track and the race.
Bristol Motor Speedway Data
Track Size: 0.5-miles
Track Surface: Dirt
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: 9 of 36 (04-17-22)
Race Length: 250 laps / 125 miles
Stages 1 & 2 Length: 75 laps (each)
Final Stage Length: 100 laps
With just the one previous race on the dirt at Bristol the top 10 active drivers in overall driver rating owe their ranking to just last year’s race.
Joey Logano – 128.5
Martin Truex Jr. – 126.1
Denny Hamlin – 120.0
Daniel Suarez – 114.4
William Byron – 110.3
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 98.4
Ryan Blaney – 95.7
Chase Elliott – 90.6
Tyler Reddick – 89.8
Erik Jones – 84.6
*Based on one dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway (2001 – Present).
Since there has only been one dirt race at Bristol there has obviously only been one winner on dirt at Bristol. Joey Logano won the inaugural Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway last year.
Last week we finally got a repeat winner for 2022 in the NASCAR Cup Series. Will this weekend’s race see another repeat winner for 2022 or another driver with their first win of the season?
Seven of the eight winners this season have been under the age of 30. Will this week’s winner be like Denny Hamlin and eclipse that age milestone?
We will find out in what could be the most exciting race of the season when the green flag waives to start the Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway Sunday, April 17th at 6 p.m. central time (7 p.m. eastern time).
By: Buck Stevens
