Trevor Bayne with the pledge of allegiance, Billy Ray Cyrus with the National anthem. A good way to start short track racing at Bristol Tennessee.
Carl Edwards started off the race and pulled away from the field on the first lap like his car was a rocket. We have 499 more laps to go so it is a little early to say he has this race wrapped up.
Our first caution comes out as Jeff Burton slows down and causes a chain reaction crash that involved David Reutiman, Trevor Bayne and a few others. No serious damage just some tore up fenders.
Paul Menard in the lead as Carl Edwards car started to back up after his tire pressure built up. Jeff Gordon needed that caution to work on his car as he was not happy with any of it.
Restart on lap 36, Paul Menard is challenged by Jimmie Johnson but Menard pulls away. Michael McDowell drove his car to the garage with a blown engine. Kyle Busch up to 3rd place. He knows being in the front can keep you out of trouble.
Competition Caution coming out on lap 50. Some drivers took only two tires as they had changed some tires on the last caution. Lap 61 David Gilliand is in the lead but Ryan Newman has newer tires and takes the lead.
Jeff Burton had to pit under green for a loose wheel and is down two laps. Jeff is just having a horrible day, he can’t be a happy guy in the car.
Martin Truex takes the lead on lap 93 from Kyle Busch who basically let him have it. Plenty of race to go and there is no need to race hard at this point. Jeff Gordon is up to fifth but he still isn’t happy with his car.
Caution out as Robby Gordon had a tire go down and he hit the wall pretty bad. He ran a lot of laps on those tires and it looks like staying out wasn’t the right thing to do. Restart on lap 136 Martin Truex still in the lead. Brad Kesolowski spins and brings out another caution. He says over the radio that the car was out of control.
Kevin Harvick takes the lead from Martin Truex on lap 155. Kurt Busch has also moved up into the second spot. We have 39 cars running only cars off track are Joe Nemecheck, Landon Cassil and JJ Yelley. 24 cars are on the lead lap Jamie McMurray first car a lap down.
Jimmie Johnson takes the lead on lap 193, his car has been steady all day. Looks like we are into a long green run which is rare for Bristol. Guys on lap 213 complaining about handling. Not a surprise as tires are wearing down.
Another caution is out as Bobby Labonte is spun by Paul Menard who had been banging back and forth for a few laps. Tony Stewart has front end damage as he ran into his teammate Ryan Newman with limited visibility cause of smoke from the spin.
Lap 252 brought Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch on the restart and Johnson wins that battle. Kurt Busch is up to third. Juan Pablo Montoya had a loose wheel and had to pit under green at around lap 268. This will put Juan two laps down. Kyle Busch takes the lead.Trevor Bayne hits the wall on lap 272 but has no damage.
Pretty quiet until a wreck where it appeared Kevin Harvick had to slow and got hit from behind by Mark Martin. There was a spin behind that wreck that got Juan Pablo Montoya and Trevor Bayne.
Kyle Busch continued to show everyone that he owns Bristol. Kyle passed Carl Edwards with three laps to go. Kyle wins Carl Edwards is second and Jimmie Johnson is third. Kyle Busch sweeps at Bristol this weekend.
Jo Green says
Great race! I guess Kyle is the king of Bristol! Thanks for the report, and the highlights!