This Weekend in NASCAR – Bristol Motor Speedway

All three of NASCAR’s national series are racing this week at Bristol Motor Speedway, starting with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in a rare Wednesday night show won by Ryan Blaney. The NASCAR XFINITY Series are on the 1/2-mile bullring Friday night and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Saturday night.

Weekend storylines follow…

Straight Outta Michigan: Kenseth Shows He’s Championship Contender

Matt Kenseth is showing the speed of bona fide Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship contender.

The No. 20 Toyota driver notched his second win in the last three races after visiting Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway. On Kenseth’s way to the win – he led 146 of 200 laps – the most led on a track longer than a mile since Jimmie Johnson paced the field for 255 go-arounds at Texas on Nov. 3, 2013. Kenseth’s three victories are the third-most in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He has nine bonus points for the Challenger Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup (one for each win) and ranks third on the Chase Grid.

Kenseth will go for his second straight victory and a sweep of Bristol Motor Speedway – where he won in April – in Saturday’s IRWIN Tools Night Race (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN).

Also on a roll is Kenseth’s Joe Gibbs Racing team. JGR has won five of the last six races (Kyle Busch 3, Kenseth 2).

Super Busch Brothers Head To Bristol

The Busch brothers love Bristol Motor Speedway. Kyle and Kurt both claim five wins at “The World’s Fastest Half Mile” – tied with Jeff Gordon for the lead among active drivers at the track.

Kurt last won at Bristol in 2006. He also visited victory lane there in 2002 and 2004, and swept the track in 2003.

Kyle’s last Bristol win came in spring of 2011. He also took the checkered flag there in 2007 and 2010, and swept the track in 2009.

Both Kurt and Kyle are having strong seasons. Kyle ranks second on the Chase Grid with four wins and five top-five finishes in only 18 races since returning from a broken leg. Kurt sits seventh on the Chase Grid with two wins, eight top fives and 13 top 10s. Kurt also boasts the second-most laps led (721) and second-highest driver rating (106.2) in the series this season.

Rainbow Warrior: Gordon Rides With Throwback Paint Scheme At Bristol

It will definitely be #FlashbackFriday when Jeff Gordon takes the track for first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice on Friday.

Gordon will run his old rainbow paint scheme he immortalized from 1992-2000. While running the rainbow car, the No. 24 Chevrolet driver won three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships, made 52 trips to Victory Lane, took the checkered flag at 17 different tracks, captured a Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award and won a NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.

Currently 15th on the Chase Grid, Gordon would qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup on points if the season ended today. He sits 55 points ahead of Aric Almirola on the cutoff line, but could get in trouble with a poor showing. Gordon can assure himself a Chase berth with a victory.

At Bristol Motor Speedway, Gordon ranks tied for the active lead with five wins and claims the most Coors Light Pole Awards among active drivers (5). Gordon’s gaudy loop statistics at BMS include the second-highest average running position (9.954) and driver rating (100.3) at the track.

Newman, Stenhouse Set To Log Milestone Starts

It will be a milestone day at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday as Ryan Newman and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. log their 500th and 100th respective series starts.

For his career, Newman boasts 17 wins, 102 top fives, 211 top 10s and a high championship finish of second (2014). His first win came from the Coors Light Pole at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 15, 2002. Newman has never visited Victory Lane at Bristol.

Stenhouse, a two-time NASCAR XFINITY Series champion, has yet to win his first NSCS race, but this weekend could be his first. The 27-year-old Roush Fenway Racing driver has logged finishes of fourth, sixth and second in his last three starts at Bristol. For his career, Stenhouse claims three top fives and nine top 10s.

Wins In Demand With Three Races To Go Before Chase

The formula for making the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is simple – “Win and you’re in.”

Drivers only have three races left to make the formula work: Bristol, Darlington and Richmond.

As of now, 11 drivers are qualified for the Chase with wins as long as they start the next three races and remain in the top 30 in points: Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards.

The five remaining drivers on the Chase Grid have to either visit Victory Lane or stay high enough in the points standings where they don’t get bumped by a new winner outside the top 16.

These drivers are Jamie McMurray (70 points above the cutoff line), Paul Menard (+61), Ryan Newman (+56), Jeff Gordon (+55) and Clint Bowyer (+23).

The winless drivers who have won at Bristol in the past and have yet to earn Chase berths this season are Gordon, Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart.

A currently winless driver who wins at Bristol would clinch a spot if he/she is 97 points ahead of 31st place. No driver who remains winless after Bristol will clinch a spot.

Logano Readies For August Bristol Repeat

Joey Logano goes for his second straight August Bristol win in Saturday’s IRWIN Tools Night Race at the Tennessee short track. Last year, the 25-year-old Team Penske driver passed Matt Kenseth with 44 laps to go for his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory at a half-mile track. When Logano returned this April, he started sixth, but finished 42nd after colliding with teammate Brad Keselowski on Lap 19.

Logano placed seventh at Michigan last week following his win at Watkins Glen. Currently, Logano ranks second in overall points and is fifth on the Chase Grid.

Dash 4 Cash Round 3: Smith’s Million Dollar Chance

The third round of the NASCAR XFINITY Series Dash 4 Cash program rolls into Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 300 on August 21 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN). Regan Smith, Daniel Suarez, Elliott Sadler and Ryan Blaney will compete for a $100,000 cash bonus this weekend. Smith, the winner of the first two rounds of the 2015 Dash 4 Cash program, still has the chance to win the additional $600,000 bonus at the end of the season. Smith will need to win this third round at Bristol for $100,000 and then win the Darlington race outright to claim another $100,000, which will then award him an additional $600,000 – bringing his total cash bonus winnings to $1 million dollars.

Smith is the only driver to qualify for all three rounds this season, and has qualified for the Dash 4 Cash bonuses six times since 2013.

This will be Ryan Blaney’s first Dash 4 Cash appearance this season, but he is the defending winner of this race (August, 2014). Blaney will be in Team Penske No. 22 Ford, which won at Bristol early this season with driver Joey Logano and will be looking to make it three-in-a-row. Blaney has made three starts at Bristol, posting one win, two top fives, three top 10s and an average finish of 4.0 – his second-best series track average finish.

Suarez finished second at Bristol earlier this season, currently leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings, and is making his second Dash 4 Cash appearance this season.

Sadler, a former NXS winner at Bristol (2012), is making his first Dash 4 Cash appearance this season. He has qualified for Dash 4 Cash bonuses seven-times since 2012, and has won the bonus twice.

The highest finishing driver of the four for Round 3 will win the $100,000 bonus and qualify to compete in the fourth and final round at Darlington Raceway along with the three highest finishing NASCAR XFINITY Series championship contenders.

12 To Go: Chris Buescher Still The Man To Beat

With just 12 races left on the NASCAR XFINITY Series schedule this season, Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher’s consistent high-level performance has positioned him to hold the standings lead over second-place Ty Dillon (-24) and third-place Chase Elliott (-25).

Buescher’s unswerving season has seen zero DNFs and a series-leading 10 top-five finishes in 21 starts. His average finish is 8.1 and his Driver Rating is 99.2.

Buescher has made four starts at Bristol posting one top five, three top 10s and an average finish of 9.0. Buescher’s talents were on display earlier this season at Bristol; where he started 14th and drove up to a third-place finish.

Title Hunt: Dillon And Elliott Need To Keep Digging
This weekend at Bristol could be Richard Childress Racing driver Ty Dillon’s ticket to chop into Chris Buescher’s points lead. Dillon has made four starts at Bristol posting two top fives, four top 10s and an average finish of 5.5 – almost four positions better than Buescher.

In Dillon’s 21 starts this season he has posted six top fives, 15 top 10s and an average finish of 8.9 – second among championship contenders behind Buescher (8.1). Dillon’s season-to-date Driver Rating is 97.0.

Chase Elliott is just one point behind Dillon, and 25 points back from standings leader Chris Buescher.

Elliott’s 2015 season has seen eight top fives and a series leading 17 top 10s in 21 races.

Elliott has excelled at Bristol in his brief career; in three starts at the half-mile track, he has posted three top 10s and an average finish of 6.0.

Over the next four tracks (Bristol, Road America, Darlington and Richmond) both Elliott (3.5) and Dillon (11.8) have better average finishes than Chris Buescher (15.4).

Starting Upfront Puts The Odds In Your Favor To Win

When it comes to picking a winner this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Food City 300, your best bet would be to pick the drivers starting from the front row, because six of the last eight NASCAR XFINITY Series races at Bristol have been won from the first or second starting positions – a 75% winning percentage.

Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford has won the last two consecutive races at Bristol from the second starting position (August, 2014 and April, 2015), and are now looking to make it three wins in a row. The defending winner of this event, Ryan Blaney, will be back in the No. 22 Ford this weekend.

Prior to Team Penske’s last two wins, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch had dominated the NASCAR XFINITY Series races at Bristol winning six of the last 10 races (2010-2015) at Bristol – three of which were from front row starting positions.

Sunoco Rookie Update: Suarez Leads The Pack

Following the 21st race of the season, Daniel Suarez has opened up his Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings lead to 20 points over second-place Darrell Wallace Jr. as the series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend.

Suarez is having a solid rookie season, posting two Coors Light poles, four top fives, nine top 10s and an average finish of 13.0. He has finished on the lead lap 13 times this season and his 2015 Driver Rating is 92.1.

Suarez finished runner-up to Joey Logano earlier this season at Bristol in his series track debut.

“Bristol is a track that I had a good run at earlier this year,” said Suarez. “I think we’ve grown a lot since that race and I’m looking forward to getting another strong result on Friday.”

Sunoco Rookie Standings following Mid-Ohio: 1. Daniel Suarez (224); 2. Darrell Wallace Jr (204); 3. Ross Chastain (157); 4. Cale Conley (139); 5. Harrison Rhodes (123); 6. Peyton Sellers (97); 7. Josh Reaume (55).

NASCAR XFINITY Series Etc.:

Sprint Cup Drivers To Watch: Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, and Denny Hamlin will all compete in this weekend’s Food City 300 at Bristol. Both Busch (seven, series-most) and Harvick (five, second-most) are former NXS Bristol winners.

Hermie Returns: Long-time veteran Hermie Sadler III will attempt to qualify and compete in the Food City 300 this weekend, his first race since last season at Richmond. Hermie, the brother of NXS championship contender Elliott Sadler, will be the No. 26 with crew chief Ken Evans for car owner James Whitener.

Milestones: Kevin Harvick will attempt to make his 325th NASCAR XFINITY Series start this weekend at Bristol. Harvick is 15th on the all-time NXS starts list, six starts behind 14th-place Todd Bodine (330). … Joey Gase will attempt to make his 100th NASCAR XFINITY Series start this weekend at Bristol. Gase is 122nd on the all-time NXS starts list; four starts behind Martin Truex Jr. (103) in 121st. … Kevin Harvick can post his 175th NASCAR XFINITY Series top-five finish this weekend at Bristol. Harvick is ranked second on the all-time NXS top fives list; five top fives behind Kyle Busch (179) in first.