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When it was first announced that the spring Bristol race was going to be a dirt race, I’ll admit that I was a little hesitant on it. I mean, Bristol is my home track. I live like 20-minutes away. It is and always will be a special place to me.
But I have to admit that it’s growing on me. It’s exciting, it’s something different…it certainly helps with the overall diversity of the NASCAR schedule. So, with Bristol Dirt, Year 3 now in the books, we at the Daily Downforce thought it would be fun to look at some of the wildest moment from what might be a candidate for race of the year. Check it out:
By the end of the first stage, Josh Berry got into a little scuffle with Denny Hamlin that sent the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota a’spinnin’.
The biggest storyline of the race all had to do with Ryan Preece in the No. 41 and Kyle Larson in the No. 5.
Preece was upset with how he was raced by Larson. This is the first of a series of incidents. Kyle Larson performs a slide job gone wrong and walls the No. 41 of Preece.
But you know, that’s Bristol, baby! Tempers tend to flare there, especially at night. Just because there’s a dusting of dirt spread across the surface doesn’t change much.
Under caution, Ryan Preece caught up to Larson and decided to show his displeasure…by giving him a little one-fingered gesture.
At the start of the third and final stage, Kyle Larson who was actually running pretty well spun out all on his own. This would prove to be a detriment to his night because it mired him back into the pack…around where Ryan Preece was restarting…
That led to this. Ryan Preece decided “game over” and took out Larson. There was some interesting chatter on the No. 41’s radio alluded to the Denny Hamlin situation. Interesting.
Here are the two onboard perspectives of the incident that would end Kyle Larson’s night at Bristol.
After being cleared from the in-field care center, Kyle Larson spoke with Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. He doesn’t really say much about the incident here nor does he throw shade. He mostly takes the blame on himself for spinning out. He is correct in saying that if he wouldn’t have been back there around Preece and the incident never would have happened. Who knows what kind of finish Larson could have had once it was all said and done?
Learning from Denny Hamlin’s mistakes, Ryan Preece just says he got loose and that was why he got into Larson. Right…and Matt Kenseth’s car just wouldn’t turn in 2015 at Martinsville. That seems legit…what a hack, ladies and gentlemen! 😉
With this impressive move, Michael McDowell goes for on one but two complete 360 turns and keeps on truckin’. How in the heck did he not crash the entire field here!?
Early in the race, Willie B. was racing pretty hard. He triggered this incident which sent Bubba Wallace around and ended Joey Logano’s day.
Joey Logano didn’t seem to have much fun last night at Bristol Dirt. Hate to tell ya, champ, but I’m pretty sure you’re in the minority. Fans loved it!
Rowdy with a rather aggressive slide job on Reddick! The No. 45 was able to come back, though. Reddick won the second stage.
As with the McDowell spin above, how did nobody crash into Blaney here?
The end of a race was a very contested one. Christopher Bell, a dirt racing ace, was able to pull away in the closing laps to win his first race of 2023 but…he sure as hell had to work for it. For a little while there, Reddick and Briscoe were right there with him!
CHRISTOPHER BELL WINS AT BRISTOL DIRT!
The race would not end under green, however. Suarez got out of shape and slammed into Josh Berry’s No. 9 Hooters machine. Berry would collect Ross Chastain in a hard impact. Officially, the race ended under caution.
Following the race, Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports took to Twitter. He had a blast and hopes to see this event return in the future. Many fans agree. We know Eric Estepp certainly does.
So, what do you all think, Daily Downforce readers? Would you like to see more of Bristol Dirt in 2024 and the years to come? Would you like to see the addition of one or more other dirt races to the NASCAR schedule so they can impact the points situation a little more? Let us know! And, of course, for all of your NASCAR news, keep it right here at DailyDownforce.com! We’ll hook you up!
