Race Results

NASCAR Cup Series

Food City Dirt Race

Bristol Motor Speedway (Dirt)

April 9th, 2023

Race #8 of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Season

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Laps Scheduled: 250
Miles Raced : 133.3
Time of Race : 02 Hours 40 minutes 40 seconds
Average Speed: 46.680 mph
Cautions: 14
Caution Laps: 71
Lead Changes: 4
Cars in Race : 37
Finished On Lead Lap: 27 (73%)

Christopher Bell celebrates with the checkered flag — Bristol, Tennessee - April 9th, 2023: Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 DeWalt Power Stack Toyota, celebrates with the checkered flag after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Photo by James Gilbert | Getty Images

FIN	ST	Car #	Driver	Make	TOT PTS	F PTS	B PTS	PO PTS	Laps	Led	x Led	S1	S2	STUS
1	4	20	Christopher Bell	Toyota	52	40	12	5	250	100	1	6	4	Running
2	6	45	Tyler Reddick	Toyota	48	35	13	1	250	69	2	8	1	Running
3	2	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	52	34	18	0	250	0	0	2	2	Running
4	22	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Chevrolet	33	33	0	0	250	0	0	0	0	Running
5	14	14	Chase Briscoe	Ford	41	32	9	0	250	0	0	7	6	Running
6	25	31	Justin Haley	Chevrolet	35	31	4	0	250	0	0	9	9	Running
7	27	19	Martin Truex Jr	Toyota	34	30	4	0	250	0	0	0	7	Running
8	15	38	Todd Gilliland	Ford	29	29	0	0	250	0	0	0	0	Running
9	26	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	28	28	0	0	250	0	0	0	0	Running
10	23	54	Ty Gibbs	Toyota	27	27	0	0	250	0	0	0	0	Running
11	13	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	26	26	0	0	250	0	0	0	0	Running
12	11	23	Bubba Wallace	Toyota	25	25	0	0	250	0	0	0	0	Running
13	10	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	25	24	1	0	250	0	0	10	0	Running
14	18	43	Erik Jones	Chevrolet	23	23	0	0	250	0	0	0	0	Running
15	20	21	Harrison Burton	Ford	22	22	0	0	250	0	0	0	0	Running
16	29	16	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	21	21	0	0	250	0	0	0	0	Running
17	33	6	Brad Keselowski	Ford	20	20	0	0	250	0	0	0	0	Running
18	28	17	Chris Buescher	Ford	19	19	0	0	250	0	0	0	0	Running
19	7	2	Austin Cindric	Ford	18	18	0	0	250	0	0	0	0	Running
20	3	15	JJ Yeley	Ford	0	0	0	0	250	0	0	0	0	Running
21	32	77	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	16	16	0	0	250	0	0	0	0	Running
22	30	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	15	15	0	0	250	0	0	0	0	Running
23	9	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	23	14	9	0	250	0	0	5	8	Running
24	8	41	Ryan Preece	Ford	20	13	7	0	250	0	0	4	0	Running
25	34	99	Daniel Suarez	Chevrolet	12	12	0	0	250	0	0	0	0	Running
26	37	78	BJ McLeod	Chevrolet	11	11	0	0	250	0	0	0	0	Running
27	31	9	Josh Berry	Chevrolet	0	0	0	0	250	0	0	0	0	Running
28	16	1	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	9	9	0	0	249	0	0	0	0	Running
29	17	48	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	8	8	0	0	248	0	0	0	0	Running
30	35	7	Corey Lajoie	Chevrolet	7	7	0	0	247	0	0	0	0	Running
31	19	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	7	6	1	0	240	0	0	0	10	Running
32	5	8	Kyle Busch	Chevrolet	19	5	14	0	236	6	1	3	5	Suspension
33	36	42	Noah Gragson	Chevrolet	4	4	0	0	205	0	0	0	0	Running
34	24	51	Matt Crafton	Ford	0	0	0	0	185	0	0	0	0	Engine
35	1	5	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	20	2	18	1	177	75	1	1	3	Accident
36	21	13	Jonathan Davenport	Chevrolet	1	1	0	0	176	0	0	0	0	Accident
37	12	22	Joey Logano	Ford	1	1	0	0	96	0	0	0	0	Accident

Race Infractions

Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway (Dirt)

Driver	Infraction	Penalty	Lap	Lap Assessed	Flag
Todd Gilliland	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	15	20	Yellow
Todd Gilliland	Too many crewmember(s) in contact with pit service area	Tail End	15	20	Yellow
Joey Logano	Speeding on pit road	Tail End	16	20	Yellow
BJ McLeod	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	39	45	Yellow
Corey Lajoie	Speeding on pit road	Pass Thru	52	56	Green
Josh Berry	Unspecified Working after time expired	Tail End	75	76	Yellow
Ryan Preece	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	103	111	Yellow
Kyle Larson	Pitting before pit road is open Garage	Tail End	176	0	Yellow
Jonathan Davenport	Pitting before pit road is open Garage	Tail End	176	0	Yellow
Noah Gragson	Too many crewmember(s) in contact with pit service area	Tail End	203	207	Yellow
Kyle Busch	Pitting before pit road is open Garage	Tail End	236	0	Yellow

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Race Fast Facts

Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt
Food City Dirt Race
Race Winner: Christopher Bell
Age: 28
Team : No. 20 - DeWalt Power Stack Toyota
Owner: Joe Gibbs
Crew Chief: Adam Stevens
Christopher Bell won the Food City Dirt Race, his fifth victory in 116 Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and sixth top-10 finish in 2023.
This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in three races at Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt.
Tyler Reddick (second) posted his third top-10 finish in three races at Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt. It is his fourth top-10 finish in 2023.
Austin Dillon (third) posted his first top-10 finish in three races at Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt.
Ty Gibbs (10th) was the highest finishing rookie.
Christopher Bell leads the point standings by 13 points over Ross Chastain.

Race Recap

"Dirt guy" Christopher Bell wins intense NASCAR Cup race on Bristol dirt

April 9th, 2023

By Reid Spencer - NASCAR Wire Service

Before Sunday night's Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell lamented that a "dirt guy" hadn't won the NASCAR Cup Series' only race on the red clay in Thunder Valley.

Bell fixed the problem—in a race that also saw hard feelings between pole winner Kyle Larson and Ryan Preece boil over.

Holding off charging Tyler Reddick in the final stage of the 250-lap race, Bell held a slim lead over Reddick when NASCAR called the 14^thcaution with 200 yards left in the final circuit.

A dirt-track aficionado who won three straight Chili Bowl Midget Nationals from 2017-2019, Bell collected his first victory of the season and the fifth of his career.

"Man, let me tell you, these are some of the longest laps of my entire life," Bell said of the lates stages of the race. "This place is so much fun, whether it's dirt or concrete. Whenever the cushion got up there on the top, it was very tough, because you couldn't drive it super hard. Otherwise, you'd get sucked in.

"If you got your right front into it, you'd push a little bit. If you got your right rear into it, you'd slide. It was a lot of fun."

Bell used his experience on dirt to negotiate the two ends of the half-mile track, which featured markedly different racing characteristics.

"(Turns) 3 and 4, that was the scary corner for me, because if you got into it too far, you lost all your momentum," the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota explained. (Turns) 1 and 2, I think I kept hitting the wall a couple times.

"Seems like there was a little bit more moisture up there—it would hold me better. I'm like, ‘OK, I can really attack 1 and 2.' But 3 and 4, I had to be careful… Definitely the track tonight favored experience."

Staying out on old tires after the end of Stage 2, Bell led the last 100 laps. Reddick, on the other hand, forewent a pit stop after Stage 1 and won Stage 2, but paid the price with a pit stop at the second break and rested 12^thon Lap 151.

It wasn't until Lap 223 that Reddick passed eventual fifth-place finisher Chase Briscoe for the second position, as Briscoe scraped the outside wall in Turn 4. Reddick began his pursuit of Bell, but the final caution foiled any opportunity he might have had.

"Yeah, towards the end there definitely feel like I had a little bit more," Reddick said. "I thought I had the edge, but I wasn't quite there in the last couple laps. Definitely found it.

"Just hate it for everybody on this (No. 45 23XI Racing) Toyota. Just needed to be a little bit closer than I was. I think with two (laps) to go, it would have been really bold to try to make that move work.Obviously, on the white flag coming into (Turns) 3 and 4, I was going to see. We'll never know if it (would have) worked."

Larson won 75-lap Stage 1 wire-to-wire, but he angered Preece with a move that forced the Stewart-Haas Racing driver into the outside wall. On Lap 175, 20 circuits after Larson spun and fell to the rear of the field, Preece returned the favor in Turn 4. Larson's No. 5 Chevrolet then shot to the inside into the door of Preece's No. 41 Ford before spinning into the outside wall.

"Yeah, I'm guessing he was paying me back for whatever I did earlier," said Larson, who exited the race with suspension damage to his car. "He ran me straight into the fence, and my car was broke and we crashed.

"It sucks, but I should just be mad at myself for spinning out earlier and putting myself back there. Just sucks."

Austin Dillon ran third, followed by Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Briscoe and Justin Haley, as drivers with dirt-track backgrounds claimed the top six finishing positions. Martin Truex Jr., Todd Gilliland, Kevin Harvick and Ty Gibbs completed the top 10.

"I just have to thank (Speedway Motorsports Inc.) for all of the hard work they've done with this dirt racing," Dillon said. "I don't care what anybody says, that was an amazing show throughout the field. I felt like it was some great racing."