Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol Motor Speedway… In 185 NASCAR Cup Series starts on the pavement configuration at Bristol Motor Speedway, RCR has scored nine wins, including Dale Earnhardt’s seven wins at the track (both races in 1985 and 1987, plus victories in 1988, 1994 and 1999). Kevin Harvick won in 2005, and Jeff Burton found Victory Lane for the organization in 2008. RCR has racked up 35 top-five and 71 top-10 finishes.
Successful Team Owner… Team owner Richard Childress made 19 starts at Bristol Motor Speedway as a driver. His best finish came in the 1978 Southeastern 500 (spring race) where he placed sixth after qualifying fourth. Childress racked up seven top-10 finishes at the 0.533-mile oval and completed 75.17 percent of the total possible laps in those races.
Catch the Action…The Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway will be televised live on Sunday, March 17 beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX. The race will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Austin Dillon and the No. 3 BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Bristol Motor Speedway… In 20 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, Dillon earned his career-best third-place finish in April 2023 on the track’s dirt configuration. He has three top-10 finishes in NASCAR Cup Series competition at the track. The 2013 NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion has nine Xfinity Series starts at the half-mile track with a win in 2016. He has also made three NASCAR Truck Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Winner, Winner… Dillon has won at Bristol Motor Speedway on both the paved and dirt configurations. In addition to winning a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Tennessee track in August 2016 (paved), Dillon was among the first drivers to compete on the track’s dirt surface in 2021. He won two features and a heat race in dominating fashion in a 604 Crate Late Model for Corey Hedgecock Racing.
BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) Team Up with Dillon… Dillon and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team will be supported by BREZTRI AEROSPHERE®, an AstraZeneca product, at Bristol Motor Speedway. This partnership is about more than just racing. You can learn more about Austin Dillon and his family’s personal connection to the brand at Breztri.com. AstraZeneca is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of prescription medicines in Oncology, Rare Diseases, and Biopharmaceuticals, including Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism, and Respiratory & Immunology. AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide.
Meet Austin Dillon… Fans traveling to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend have several chances to meet the driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet. Dillon is scheduled to make an appearance at the Food City Fan Stage on behalf of Coca-Cola for a Q&A session on Sunday at noon. Additionally, Dillon is scheduled to appear at 12:20 p.m. at the RCR Merchandise Hauler to greet race fans. Stop by and pick up new RCR gear.
AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:
What are your thoughts on Bristol Motor Speedway?
“A race at Bristol Motor Speedway is always a lot of fun, especially when you are battling it out for 500 laps. It helps to get your car better handling if you can move around and try different lanes on the Bristol concrete, which has helped drivers make long green flag runs. A good pit road setup is also very important, so not having any speeding penalties and getting on and off the pit road without any problems can help you have a smoother race.”
Kyle Busch and the No. 8 FICO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Bristol Motor Speedway… Kyle Busch will make his 35th Bristol Motor Speedway NASCAR Cup Series start this weekend (pavement races). The driver of the FICO Chevrolet leads all active drivers with eight Bristol victories: 2007 (spring), 2009 (both races), 2010 (fall), 2011 (spring), 2017 (fall), 2018 (spring) and 2019 (spring). Busch has the most top-five finishes at Bristol among active drivers (14) and leads all current drivers in laps led at Bristol (2,593). He has won two pole positions at Bristol in Cup Series competition, capturing the top starting position in the 2013 and 2018 spring races. Busch has nine NASCAR Xfinity Series wins and five victories in the NASCAR Truck Series, giving the Las Vegas, Nev., native 22 wins at Bristol across all three NASCAR national series.
The NASCAR Hat Trick, Twice… In 2010, Busch made history at Bristol Motor Speedway, becoming the first driver to win all three NASCAR national series races in the same weekend. Seven years later in 2017, Busch repeated the accomplishment – again at the Last Great Colosseum – when he secured victories in the Truck, Xfinity, and Cup Series races.
Welcome FICO… FICO, Richard Childress Racing and Kyle Busch are teaming up to raise awareness about the need for financial education. For the millions of NASCAR fans across the country, knowledge about money, financial planning, how credit works and the importance of building good financial habit are critical life skills. FICO, RCR and Kyle Busch want to share information and resources so that everyone in the NASCAR community can achieve their financial goals, such as paying for education, buying a home, or running a business.
FICO is a leading analytics software firm best known for its gold standard FICO® Score. Learn more about the FICO, RCR and Kyle Busch partnership, here: https://www.fico.com/en/newsroom/fico-and-richard-childress-racing-kick-financial-and-credit-education-partnership-nascar.
KYLE BUSCH QUOTES:
What makes Bristol Motor Speedway such a tough track to win on?
“I think the toughness at Bristol is the amount of banking and the load that you see throughout the entirety of the race. There’s no time to relax. You’re really on top of it for the entire race. That’s what wears on you the most, plus the repetitious nature of these short tracks of down the straightway into the corner, down the straightaway into the corner and it never seems to stop. It makes it fun for a lot of guys and challenging for others.”
Do you feel like the days of rubbing and racing at Bristol will ever return?
“I think so. We’ve gone through so many iterations of racetrack whether it’s been the old concrete, the new concrete, and then the ground concrete, the spray down on the bottom, and then dirt. There’s been so many different ways that they’ve tried to have races there. Obviously when it comes down to the end and a race win is on the line and there’s somebody in the way, you’ve got to make it happen.”
Do you think drivers will be more aggressive in the Bristol spring race versus the September Playoff race?
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t think you’ll really see much of a different race, actually. We’re all trying to go out there and get the best possible finish that we can. We want those stage points and we want those stage wins in order to get those Playoff points. I think you’ll see a lot of the same things that we typically see with different strategies playing out: guys taking two tires, some staying out trying to maximize track position and get out front. Those are all the keys of what’s going to make a race at Bristol.”
