BRISTOL NIGHT RACE
Thursday, September 19 — NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 8 p.m. ET (FS1)
Friday, September 20 — NASCAR Xfinity Series, 7:30 p.m. ET (CW)
Saturday, September 21 — NASCAR Cup Series, 7:30 p.m. ET (USA)
The NASCAR Cup Series will conduct its first elimination race of this year’s Playoffs when the annual Bristol Night Race takes place on Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway. The week will also feature the second postseason race for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on Thursday and the final regular season event for the NASCAR Xfinity Series on Friday.
FORD DRIVERS IN THE CUP PLAYOFFS
Joey Logano – Atlanta Winner (Clinched Round of 12)
Austin Cindric – 3rd (+43 above the cut line)
Ryan Blaney – 8th (+29)
Chase Briscoe – 11th (+6)
Brad Keselowski – 14th (-12 below the cut line)
Harrison Burton – 16th (-20)
Note: Top 12 advance after Bristol Night Race
FORD’S SECOND HALF HOT STREAK
Ever since Joey Logano won the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race in May, Ford has been on a roll. The Blue Oval has won nine times in the last 16 races, including the current four-race streak that has seen Harrison Burton (Daytona), Chase Briscoe (Darlington), Logano (Atlanta) and Chris Buescher (Watkins Glen) all find Victory Lane. The last time Ford won at least four in a row was in 2018 when Kevin Harvick (Michigan), Kurt Busch (Bristol) and Brad Keselowski (Darlington, Indianapolis and Las Vegas) combined to win five straight.
MOVING ON UP
This current four-race winning streak has also helped Ford move into second-place in the NASCAR Cup Series manufacturer standings, three points ahead of Toyota with eight races to go. In addition, the Blue Oval now has the second-most victories on the season with nine and trails Chevrolet by only two for the top spot.
FORD TIES MARK
WITH SEVENTH DIFFERENT WINNER
Chris Buescher’s win on Sunday at Watkins Glen International gave Ford its ninth points win of the season and the seventh different driver to reach Victory Lane. That ties the Ford season record for most different drivers to win a race in the modern era (1972-Present). The last time it happened came in 2018, and overall it’s happened four times.
FORD WINNERS IN 2024: Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton, Chase Briscoe and Chris Buescher.
FORD WINNERS IN 2018: Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Aric Almirola.
FORD WINNERS IN 1997: Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton, Mark Martin, Ricky Rudd, John Andretti, and Ernie Irvan.
FORD WINNERS IN 1994: Rusty Wallace, Ernie Irvan, Jimmy Spencer, Ricky Rudd, Geoff Bodine, Mark Martin and Bill Elliott.
THE LAST TIME
The last time Ford won the first two playoff races in the same season was in 2020 when Kevin Harvick (Darlington), Brad Keselowski (Richmond) and Harvick (Bristol) combined to win the first three postseason events. Ford went on to win four races during that season, but the most playoff wins by the Blue Oval came in 2018 with six.
FORD PLAYOFF DRIVERS AT BRISTOL
Joey Logano: 28 starts, 2 wins, 6 top-10, 10 top-10
Brad Keselowski: 26 starts, 3 wins, 7 top-5, 10 top-10
Ryan Blaney: 15 starts, 0 wins, 2 top-5, 5 top-10
Chase Briscoe: 4 starts, 0 wins, 0 top-5, 0 top-10
Austin Cindric: 3 starts, 0 wins, 0 top-5, 0 top-10
Harrison Burton: 3 starts, 0 wins, 0 top-5, 0 top-10
RYAN BLANEY: “I have no idea how it will be. I don’t know if it is going to be the same as the first race or not. I don’t think it will be the same even if we are in the same situation because teams are going to learn and take camber out and be smarter with tire wear. I don’t know what to expect really. I just hope I don’t blow a tire. It is going to be a little cooler, so I won’t sweat as much in the car, which I like. The race there in the spring, I am back and forth on. I thought it was really cool and great that you have these tires that wear out crazy, I just wish we would have known it ahead of time. As a driver and a part of the race team, that unknown of having no idea what is to be expected throws everybody for a loop. I would like a little bit more experience with that. Is that what NASCAR and people want? Probably not. The best moments are when it is unexpected. To some extent I would like to kind of half way know what is going on. I thought it was good and the tire fall-off was great but you’ve got to get more than 50 laps on it before you blow a tire. You have a fine line there. We will see what happens.”
HARRISON BURTON: “Bristol is super fun. It is a place you can drive the car super hard and now you don’t really know what Bristol you are going to get. Are you going to get the tire fall-off with the major tire failures almost or are you going to get to drive it as hard as you can every lap? Those are two very different mindsets. Preparing for that is tough because you have to kind of prepare for two different races, but Bristol is one of my favorite race tracks and I love going there.”
LOGANO WINS BACK-TO-BACK NIGHT RACES
Joey Logano held off a hard-charging Kevin Harvick over the final 25 laps to win the Bristol Night Race for the second consecutive year in 2015. Logano led four times for 176 laps, including all but four of the final 147 laps and that was because he pitted when the caution came out with 71 laps to go while Penske teammate Brad Keselowski opted to stay out for track position. Even though Keselowski had the lead on the ensuing restart, Logano’s four fresh tires enabled him to get the lead immediately and he held on over the final 64 circuits to post his 11th career victory.
A THREE SERIES SWEEP
One of the most memorable Ford weekends at Bristol came in August of 2014 when Ford swept all three NASCAR series races – Craftsman Truck, Xfinity and Cup. Brad Keselowski captured his first NCTS victory while Ryan Blaney took the Xfinity event. Joey Logano capped the weekend sweep when he passed Matt Kenseth with 45 laps to go and then had to hold off Keselowski to post his third win of the 2014 season. Logano was in control until caution came out with 69 laps to go. While he pitted for four tires, Kenseth and others stayed out which put Logano sixth on the ensuing restart with 63 to go. With fresh tires, however, he was able to move to the front in less than 20 laps and then hold off his Penske teammate down the stretch. It marked the first time Ford swept all three divisions in the same weekend since 2006 when Mark Martin (NCTS) and Kenseth (NXS and NCS) did it, ironically, at Bristol.
FINAL REGULAR SEASON RACE
The final regular season race for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is set for Friday night with two Ford drivers already assured of competing in the postseason. Cole Custer will get the opportunity to defend his championship from last year after winning earlier this year at Pocono Raceway while Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Riley Herbst owns a berth because of his victory in Indianapolis. Ryan Sieg goes into this weekend’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway 43 points below the cut line, but a win would automatically put him in the 12-driver field.
FORD GOING FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT WIN
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series has been on a three-week break, but will return to action on Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway for the second playoff race in the Round of 10. Ford goes into the event having won three straight after Ty Majeski captured victories at Indianapolis Raceway Park and Richmond Raceway while Layne Riggs took his first career win at the Milwaukee Mile. Majeski enters the race second in the standings, 44 points above the cut line while defending series champion Ben Rhodes is on the bubble, sitting two points below the final transfer position.
FORD’S NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS
AT BRISTOL
(DOES NOT INCLUDE DIRT)
1963 – Fireball Roberts and Fred Lorenzen
1964 – Fred Lorenzen (Sweep)
1965 – Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett
1966 – Dick Hutcherson (1)
1968 – David Pearson (Sweep)
1969 – David Pearson (2)
1970 – Donnie Allison (1)
1971 – David Pearson (1)
1988 – Bill Elliott (1)
1990 – Davey Allison (1)
1991 – Alan Kulwicki (2)
1992 – Alan Kulwicki (1)
1993 – Mark Martin (2)
1994 – Rusty Wallace (2)
1996 – Rusty Wallace (2)
1997 – Dale Jarrett (2)
1998 – Mark Martin (2)
1999 – Rusty Wallace (1)
2000 – Rusty Wallace (Sweep)
2001 – Elliott Sadler (1)
2002 – Kurt Busch (1)
2003 – Kurt Busch (Sweep)
2004 – Kurt Busch (1)
2005 – Matt Kenseth (2)
2006 – Matt Kenseth (2)
2007 – Carl Edwards (2)
2008 – Carl Edwards (2)
2014 – Carl Edwards and Joey Logano
2015 – Joey Logano (2)
2018 – Kurt Busch (2)
2020 – Brad Keselowski (1) and Kevin Harvick (2)
2022 – Chris Buescher
FORD’S NASCAR Xfinity Series WINNERS
AT BRISTOL
1989 – Mark Martin (2)
1994 – Kenny Wallace (2)
1996 – Mark Martin (1)
1997 – Jeff Burton (1)
2006 – Matt Kenseth (2)
2007 – Carl Edwards (1)
2009 – David Ragan (2)
2014 – Ryan Blaney (2)
2015 – Joey Logano (1)
2020 – Chase Briscoe (2)
FORD’S NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES WINNERS AT BRISTOL
(DOES NOT INCLUDE DIRT)
1995 – Joe Ruttman
2004 – Carl Edwards
2006 – Mark Martin
2014 – Brad Keselowski
2015 – Ryan Blaney
