SM Staff

With their intro songs, as well as the voices of their children singing the national anthem ringing in the drivers’ ears, here is what was surprising and not surprising from 52nd Annual Irwin Tools Night Race at the new, old Bristol.

The smell of race fumes. The roar of the cars going around the track. The fans cheering, booing and getting excited for a night race at Bristol. All of those things are what you can expect at Bristol on race weekend. The Bristol Motor Speedway is unlike any track on the NASCAR circuit.

Ryan Briscoe capitalized on a great opportunity Sunday afternoon at Infineon Raceway to earn his first win in over two years. Will Power dominated the first half of the race, but on lap 64, things went amiss.

We all saw it. Then we all saw it again and again and again. That, of course, would be Tony Stewart's helmet toss at Matt Kenseth's race car during the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the Bristol Motor Speedway.

With two races remaining before the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship begins, the first drivers have been locked in. It was Denny Hamlin in Victory Lane for the first time at Bristol but he has yet to earn his spot, even with three wins this year.

Kyle Busch and the Bristol Motor Speedway are synonymous. Busch and Victory Lane at Bristol even more so. But following the two races he competed in this weekend, Busch couldn’t get out of Tennessee quick enough.

To say that the 2012 NASCAR season has been a steep learning curve for Danica Patrick is an understatement. In her first full season in the Nationwide Series, Patrick has had her share of ups and down as well her share of obstacles in making the transition from open wheel racing to stock cars.

Denny Hamlin found the right groove, was in the right position, and drove a great race to get his third win of the season and his first at the famed Bristol Motor Speedway.

Joey Logano won the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway after a one hour delay due to rain. Logano led three times for 81 laps and captured first career Bristol win. This is Logano's sixth NNS win of 2012 and the 15th NNS victory of his career.

Not long after the checkered flag flew in the Food City 250 at Bristol, with Joey Logano in Victory Lane, the mood turned less celebratory. Shortly after eleven o'clock Eastern Time NASCAR confirmed reports that a Food City corporate helicopter had gone down in Washington County, Virginia.