NASCAR Bristol race embraces tradition of over 60 years of history at storied racetrack
NASCAR is coming back to its "Last Great Colosseum," Bristol Motor Speedway.
Bristol Motor Speedway is a fan-favorite track on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit known for high banks and close racing. That close racing usually produces one or several exciting crashes that can end with drivers fighting or throwing stuff at each other (see Tony Stewart vs. Matt Kenseth in the 2012 night race or Rusty Wallace vs. Dale Earnhardt in 1995).
The short track is a staple of the NASCAR season, so let's take a brief look at some of the history the track has — starting from the beginning.
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Carl Moore, Larry Carrier and R.G. Pope opened what was called Bristol International Raceway in 1961, the location sat on a 100-acre dairy farm.
The racetrack was initially asphalt and had 22 degrees of banking in the turns. The track was repaved multiple times by 1969 and the banking was raised up to 36 degrees. Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway don't even have that much banking in those high-speed tracks.
Stadium lights went up around the speedway in 1978, providing the opportunity for the exciting and infamous night race. Cale Yarborough won that race.
Finally, 1992 brought the biggest change to the speedway when it went from asphalt to the concrete racing surface that we see now.
Bristol Motor Speedway now sits at 28 degrees maximum banking with 4-8 degrees in the back stretch and 5-9 in the front stretch.
NASCAR ran races on the concrete surface until the 2021 season when the spring race was put on dirt. The makeup of the "NextGen" cars allowed for races to be run on dirt.
Three races were run on the dirt surface, with Joey Logano winning the first. Kyle Busch won the second year's race with a last-corner pass of Chris Buescher in 2022 and Christopher Bell won the final dirt race in 2023. NASCAR elected to move the race back to concrete after fans around the sport clamored for it to be taken off dirt, starting with the 2024 race.
Bristol has hosted all kinds of events, with multiple sports making their way to the speedway.
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There have been three football games at Bristol Motor Speedway. The first was in 1961, when Washington battled Philadelphia in an NFL preseason game. The Eagles won, 17-10. The Tennessee Volunteers battled the Virginia Tech Hokies in 2016 with the Volunteers winning, 45-24.
There was a lesser-known college football game the week after the Tennessee-Virginia Tech game in 2016. East Tennessee State earned a 34-31 upset over Western Carolina on the Bristol Motor Speedway infield.
The Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds will be playing in the first Major League Baseball game at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 2, 2025. The "MLB Speedway Classic" will be the first MLB game in Tennessee.
The Food City 500 is set for 2 p.m. CT on Sunday, April 13 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. This is the first of two races at Bristol and three races in Tennessee for the 2025 season.
Friday, April 11: Weather Guard Truck Race NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, 6:30 p.m. CT on FS1
Saturday, April 12: SciAlps 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race, 4 p.m. CT on The CW
Sunday, April 13: Food City 500 NASCAR Cup Series race, 2 p.m. CT on FS1.
More: NASCAR Martinsville race winners and losers: Denny Hamlin dominates, Austin Cindric runs out of power
Denny Hamlin managed his tires well in a difficult race as the tire compound Goodyear used in the race chewed up tires on the concrete surface. However, Hamlin was able to lead 163 laps and earn the victory in last year's Bristol spring race.
Here is the top 10 from last year's Food City 500
Denny Hamlin
Martin Truex Jr.
Brad Keselowski
Alex Bowman
Kyle Larson
John Hunter Nemechek
Chris Buescher
Chase Elliott
Ty Gibbs
Christopher Bell
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Follow sports writer Austin Chastain on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @ChastainAJ or reach him via email at achastain@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Bristol race embraces tradition of over 60 years of history at storied racetrack
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