With lots of discussion and questions about restarts in the drivers’ meeting prior to the race, here is what was surprising and not surprising after the checkered flag flew on the 55Th Annual Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
With Kevin Harvick hounding him mercilessly for 63 laps, Joey Logano kept his No. 22 Team Penske Ford out front after taking the lead on a Lap 438 restart and held on to win Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Helio Castroneves, driver of the No. 3 Shell V-Power Team Penske Chevrolet, scored the pole for the ABC Supply 500, with his two Penske teammates nipping at his heels.
Standing by his No. 60 Ford Mustang post-race, Chris Buescher was visibly upset and reasonably so. Scott Graves had made the perfect call to get Buescher out front, but just a hiccup on the last restart prevented Buescher from visiting victory lane. Instead, he crossed the line in 11th.
"This is home—this is where I’m supposed to be," Busch said, standing outside the car in Victory Lane. "I wish I was here Wednesday night (after the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race), so we could continue the sweep lookout for (Saturday), but that was a second place. Oh, well."
If it’s pole day in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Joe Gibbs Racing must be celebrating. Denny Hamlin powered his No. 11 Toyota around .533-mile Bristol Motor Speedway in 14.602 seconds (131.407 mph) on Friday to win the pole for Saturday's Irwin Tools Night Race (on NBCSN at 7:30 p.m. ET).
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series all head to Bristol Motor Speedway this week. Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series practices, qualifying sessions and races can be seen on NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra. Camping World Truck Series events will be televised on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2.
Before Wednesday night, Tyler Reddick had never raced at Bristol Motor Speedway. Despite the inexperience, he was able to come away with a solid top-10 finish and the points lead.
Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Menards/Knauf Ford Mustang Dark Horse team took advantage of a late-race caution to come away with a 10th-place finish Sunday at Texas