For the first time in 70 years, the Cup Series raced on dirt in 2021 when Bristol Motor Speedway was transformed into a half-mile dirt track. The ambitious project received mixed reactions.
Insight: Why the Bristol dirt race didn’t soil NASCAR’s reputation
Joey Logano won the inaugural event, which returned in 2022 on Easter Sunday. This time under the lights, Kyle Busch earned his final win as a Joe Gibbs Racing driver when Chase Briscoe’s last corner bid for victory spun himself and leader Tyler Reddick, leaving the path clear for Busch.
Earlier this year, Joe Gibbs Racing won again as Christopher Bell beat Reddick to the checkered flag.
NASCAR returns to Bristol this weekend, this time on the concrete, for its annual Round of 16 playoff cutoff race.
The track will retain its two races next year as NASCAR returns to the traditional surface, but those dates have yet to be finalised as the 2024 schedule hasn’t been released yet.
Speaking on the return of the Food City 500, Bristol Motor Speedway President and General Manager Jerry Caldwell said: “As the motorsports world focuses on America’s Night Race tomorrow, we are thrilled to announce Bristol Motor Speedway will host the return of the Food City 500 on the concrete high-banks of the World’s Fastest Half Mile in the spring of 2024.
Joey Logano, Team Penske, Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang
Photo by: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images
“We will revive a logo reminiscent of the first Food City 500s in the early ’90s and resurrect the track’s vintage trademark look and feel of the era. We’re looking forward to a great weekend of racing and what’s to come in 2024.”
Bristol has been on the Cup Series schedule since 1961, and has hosted two races every year since.
Victories in the first two rounds of the Playoffs at Darlington for Kyle Larson and at Kansas last weekend for Reddick means the duo are locked in for the Round of 12.
The four drivers lowest in points without a win and in danger of being eliminated from further title contention are regular series champion Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Michael McDowell.
