Christopher Bell won the NASCAR Cup Series Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday night, becoming the first dirt-track racer to win the event in its three-year history.
Before the race, Bell spoke about how a dirt track driver hadn’t won the NASCAR Cup Series’ only race on dirt. Using his experience on dirt to negotiate the two different ends of The Last Great Colosseum and fighting off a hard charging Tyler Reddick in the last stages of the race, Bell collected his first victory at Bristol, the first win of the season and the fifth of his career.
“This place is so much fun, whether it’s dirt or concrete,” replied Bell after the race. “If you got your right front into it, you’d push a little bit. If you got your right rear into it, you’d slide. It was a lot of fun.”
The Bristol win was a major accomplishment as the 27-year-old driver has been one of the top dirt-track racers in the country for years winning three straight Chili Bowl Midget Nationals from 2017-2019.
“Man, let me tell you, those were some of the longest laps of my entire life,” Bell said of the late stages of the race. Three and four were the scary corners for me, because if you got into it too far, you lost all your momentum,” the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota explained.
“Turns One and two, I hit the wall a couple times but it seemed like there was a little bit more moisture up there—it would hold me better. I’m like, ‘OK, I can really attack 1 and 2.’ But 3 and 4, I had to be careful… Definitely the track tonight favored experience.”
While the track favored experience, one driver with a lot of dirt experience, Kyle Larson wasn’t so lucky. The 2021 Cup Series Champion angered Stewart-Haas Racing driver Ryan Preece in the race with a move that forced the #41 Ford into the outside wall.
On Lap 175, after Larson took a spin and dropped to the rear of the field, Preece returned the favor to Larson in Turn 4.
“Yeah, I’m guessing he was paying me back for whatever I did earlier,” commented Larson, who posted a DNF with suspension damage to his car. “He ran me straight into the fence, and my car broke and we crashed. It sucks, but I should just be mad at myself for spinning out earlier and putting myself back there. Just sucks.”
Austin Dillon ran third, followed by Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Briscoe and Justin Haley, as drivers with dirt-track backgrounds claimed the top six finishing positions. Martin Truex Jr.,Todd Gilliland, Kevin Harvick and Ty Gibbs completed the top 10.
Despite the third place finish, the Richard Childress Racing driver was praising the Bristol Dirt Race and the work that went into it.
“I just have to thank (Speedway Motorsports Inc.) for all of the hard work they’ve done with this dirt racing,” Dillon said. “I don’t care what anybody says, that was an amazing show throughout the field. I felt like it was some great racing.”
Notables who did not finish the race included Kyle Busch with a broken suspension at Lap 236.
Noah Gragson, Matt Crafton driving a Ford and lost an engine at Lap 185. Kyle Larson after his spin and run-in Ryan Preece at Lap 177. Dirt track star Jonathan Davenport got caught up in an accident at Lap 176, and 2022 Cup Series Champion Joey Logano, who was caught up in an accident at Lap 96.
The NASCAR Cup Series moves to Martinsville Speedway this week for the last race in the early season consecutive short track.
NASCAR Cup Series Race – Food City Dirt Race
Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt
Bristol, Tennessee
Sunday, April 9, 2023
(4) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 250.
(6) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 250.
(2) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 250.
(22) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 250.
(14) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 250.
(25) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 250.
(27) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 250.
(15) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 250.
(26) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 250.
(23) Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, 250.
(13) Michael McDowell, Ford, 250.
(11) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 250.
(10) William Byron, Chevrolet, 250.
(18) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 250.
(20) Harrison Burton, Ford, 250.
(29) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 250.
(33) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 250.
(28) Chris Buescher, Ford, 250.
(7) Austin Cindric, Ford, 250.
(3) JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 250.
(32) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 250.
(30) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 250.
(9) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 250.
(8) Ryan Preece, Ford, 250.
(34) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 250.
(37) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 250.
(31) Josh Berry(i), Chevrolet, 250.
(16) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 249.
(17) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 248.
(35) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 247.
(19) Aric Almirola, Ford, 240.
(5) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, Suspension, 236.
(36) Noah Gragson #, Chevrolet, 205.
(24) Matt Crafton(i), Ford, Engine, 185.
(1) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Accident, 177.
(21) Jonathan Davenport, Chevrolet, Accident, 176.
(12) Joey Logano, Ford, Accident, 96.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 46.68 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 40 Mins, 40 Secs. Margin of Victory: Under Caution
Caution Flags: 14 for 71 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 4 drivers.
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