NASCAR Food City Dirt Race: Kyle Busch steals win at Bristol
It was quite an eventful day at the racetrack Sunday, and FOX had you covered at Bristol Motor Speedway for Kyle Busch's come-from-behind win in the revamped Food City Dirt Race.
In a wild finish, Busch snuck past for the win after leaders Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe spun out.
It was the Cup Series' 12th race held on Easter (first since 1989) and NASCAR's second time on a dirt track. The race was run on asphalt (1961-92) and on concrete (1993-2020) before being moved to a dirt layout last year.
Here are the top moments from Tennessee:
Follow the leader
Briscoe muscled his way to the front of the field to lead after Lap 1.
First caution
Briscoe led after 14 laps, as the first yellow flag was waved to get all drivers on pit road.
NASCAR required each car to pit for grille and windshield cleaning to ensure no drivers got a competitive advantage when the cars started to get caked with dirt and mud.
Trouble in paradise
Briscoe led for the first 36 laps before bringing out the second caution of the day, as Kyle Larson, one of the dirt track aces in the race, moved into first place at Lap 51.
Stage 1: Check
Larson held on to the lead to finish in first place after the opening stage, followed by Ty Dillon, Christopher Bell, Austin Dillon, Busch, Alex Bowman, Joey Logano, Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounding out the top 10.
Justin Allgaier was out after hitting the wall on the final lap of Stage 1, as his car was too damaged to continue.
New leader
Daniel Suárez jumped out ahead of the rest of the field in the second stage, followed by Ross Chastain.
Bumpy ride
Reddick made a play to pass his competitors but got caught in the middle of a Team Penske sandwich.
Big impact
The yellow flag came out as multiple cars — Kevin Harvick, Noah Gragson, Corey Lajoie and Bowman, who'd just come back on track after spinning out a few laps prior — collided on the track.
Harvick was out of the race after substantial damage prevented him from continuing.
Meanwhile, unrelated to the pileup, engine trouble forced Denny Hamlin to have an early exit.
Suárez and Chastain continued to hold down the top two spots 103 laps into the race.
Another one bites the dust
Brad Keselowski ran into trouble with 36 laps left in Stage 2, bringing out the fourth caution for cause in the second stage after the only caution flag in Stage 1.
The top five at the caution were Suárez, Bell, Larson, Chastain and Busch.
Chaos on the dirt
The yellow flag came out again at Lap 126 for debris on the backstretch. Then, LaJoie went into the wall on the restart after the seventh caution. Harrison Burton and Bubba Wallace also made contact, but all three cars were able to stay on track.
Meanwhile, Briscoe took the lead to finish in the top spot after Stage 2 — his first career stage victory.
It was a big moment for Briscoe after having a tire go down earlier in the race.
Bell, Suárez, Chase Elliott, Busch, Larson, Logano, Michael McDowell, Blaney and Reddick rounded out the top 10 after the second stage, as rain moved into the area around Bristol.
Red flag
Cars were all sent to pit road and were covered, and drivers exited their cars in the second stage break due to rain.
Confusion ensued in the immediate aftermath in regard to whom the leader would be if the race were to be called early due to the weather.
Back in action!
Action resumed after the rain cleared out of the Bristol area with Busch as the leader.
Stage 3 underway
There were 100 laps to go after the rain delay, and Reddick quickly took the lead from Busch.
Cautions everywhere
Stenhouse Jr. brought out the first caution after the lengthy delay at Lap 162. Elliott, Cody Ware, Suárez and Martin Truex Jr. were also involved and all made contact but were able to stay on track.
Elsewhere, Erik Jones got into the wall, Chastain exited with an engine issue and Todd Gilliland caused another yellow flag — the 12th caution of the race — after losing his back end with 70 laps to go.
Then, Dillon's No. 3 car had an engine blow and lost power late in the race, ending his and Kurt Busch's day early, as the two cars collided.
Red flag out again
The reg flag came out once again, this time due to too much glaze on the track, but drivers were told to stay in their cars along pit road.
Reddick was in the lead at the second red flag, followed by Kyle Busch, Logano, Briscoe and Blaney rounding out the top five.
Back on track
Reddick got a great restart and kept the lead, with Briscoe and Kyle Busch side-by-side for second place.
Neck and neck
Only 0.467 seconds separated Reddick and Briscoe for first place with eight laps remaining.
Sneaky win!
But it was Kyle Busch who pulled out the win after Reddick and Briscoe got tangled up and spun out on the final lap.
Behind Kyle Busch was Reddick in second, Logano in third, Larson in fourth and Blaney in fifth.
Briscoe stopped by to apologize to Reddick live on air for causing the crash.
