Once again NASCAR has another different winner on the season in the seventh race of the season. Joey Logano was able to fight through wrecks, a new track surface, and some top dirt racers to claim victory at Bristol in the dirt. This victory marked the seventh different winner on the season in the seventh different race which hasn’t happened since 2010. NASCAR’s dirt race was a whirlwind of controlled chaos with weather delays, keeping the track in good condition, and a couple of different wrecks as well. Here is a recap of the dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Due to historic rain and flooding both the Bristol Truck race and Cup series race were delayed two days. Monday brought a new beautiful day and finally some dirt racing for the first time in 50 years to NASCAR. The truck race was won by Martin Truex Jr. and some dirt favorites like Kyle Larson were in the race as well. Going into the cup race, NASCAR’s new format had Kyle Larson on the front row alongside Denny Hamlin. Larson and a couple of other cars went to the back of the field for the start due to engine changes. This race would be different as Pit Stops would all be equal and positions would not change. Kyle Busch and some other drivers experienced high water temperatures due to the dirt covering the air cover on the front of the car.
Martin Truex dominated the first stages of the race leading 126 laps but finished 19th after having a bad final restart. An early wreck took out Aric Almirola with a couple of others and then a few laps later two big contenders wrecked. Kyle Larson the heavy favorite car was heavily damaged after Christopher Bell spun around in front of the field. Bell eventually retired the car due to problems from the wreck and Larson struggled to recover from his damage as well. Larson was involved in another wreck that helped take out contenders like Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney. Blaney recovered to finish 8th on the day whilst Bowman finished 22nd. Daniel Suarez was the surprise of the day leading 58 laps and securing a season-best 4th place finish. Joey Logano began to take over winning the second stage and dominating the last 50 laps. With four laps Timmy Hill spinning out, which caused a late-race restart. Logano drove away from Hamlin and Truex Jr. to secure his first win on the season and led 61 laps. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished 2nd on the day and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five as two very good dirt drivers.
The NASCAR dirt race was a success and NASCAR has already announced that the race will be back in 2022. There were many challenges that faced NASCAR but they handled it in great fashion. It may have been the first dirt race in 50 years for NASCAR but it won’t be the last. NASCAR returns in two weeks at Martinsville Speedway on a Saturday night. I will bring you the recap as always. All Stats are from NASCAR.com.
-CM
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