BRISTOL, TENNESSEE - APRIL 09: Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 DeWalt Power Stack Toyota, and crew chief Adam Stevens celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 09, 2023 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
The NASCAR Cup Series took on Bristol Motor Speedway for the annual dirt race.
For the third time in history, the NASCAR Cup Series took on Bristol Motor Speedway this past weekend with a twist. Instead of racing on the traditional short track, the place was covered in dirt, adding a whole new element to an already-exciting race.
Kyle Larson, last week’s winner, sat on the pole for the race. Austin Dillon, JJ Yeley, Christopher Bell and Kyle Busch (last year’s winner) rounded out the top five. Larson and Bell, with their extensive dirt racing backgrounds, began the day with an automatic advantage.
NASCAR Cup Series: Christopher Bell narrowly beats out Tyler Reddick for Bristol Dirt race victory.
Just as Saturday’s Truck Series race on the dirt was, the Cup Series race had an insane amount of action. The caution flags were flying what seemed like every few laps. Multiple championship contenders including Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson (the Stage 1 winner) all had wrecked out of the race by the time the closing laps approached.
Tyler Reddick dominated the second stage of the race but was narrowly beat out by Christopher Bell to end it. Multiple new faces rose to the top 10 as the race winded down, including Ricky Stenhouse Jr., this year’s Daytona 500 winner, finishing fourth; Justin Haley in sixth and Todd Gilliland in eighth.
NASCAR Cup Series: Food City Dirt Race results
- Christopher Bell
- Tyler Reddick
- Austin Dillon
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Chase Briscoe
- Justin Haley
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Todd Gilliland
- Kevin Harvick
- Ty Gibbs
- Michael McDowell
- Bubba Wallace
- William Byron
- Erik Jones
- Harrison Burton
- AJ Allmendinger
- Brad Keselowski
- Chris Buescher
- Austin Cindric
- JJ Yeley
- Ty Dillon
- Denny Hamlin
- Ryan Blaney
- Ryan Preece
- Daniel Suárez
- BJ McLeod
- Josh Berry
- Ross Chastain
- Alex Bowman
- Corey Lajoie
- Aric Almirola
- Kyle Busch (OUT – SUSPENSION)
- Noah Gragson
- Matt Crafton (OUT – ENGINE)
- Kyle Larson (OUT – ACCIDENT)
- Jonathan Davenport (OUT – ACCIDENT)
- Joey Logano (OUT – ACCIDENT)