As NASCAR heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the tenth race of the season, drivers prepare for a weekend of practice and qualifying, leading up to the main events Friday through Sunday. The Craftsman Truck Series returns this week after a Darlington hiatus and will head the weekend with the Weather Guard Truck Race. However, drivers are up against a new set of challenges at Bristol due to its steeper-than-average banking and narrowness.
Like Darlington, Bristol is considered one of the more difficult tracks in the circuit, but there are also notable differences. For instance, Darlington is an egg-shaped oval stretching 1.366 miles and is classified as a Superspeedway. Conversely, Bristol stretches a mere 0.533 miles and is one of ten short tracks in the NASCAR circuit. Will drivers be able to overcome the adversity of the high-intensity short track this weekend?
Recap of Martinsville and Darlington
Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson is preparing for a triple-header in Craftsman, Xfinity, and the Cup Series this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Larson hopes to sweep the track after falling short in Martinsville and Darlington the past two weekends. Yet, his work is cut out for him if he plans to squash Denny Hamlin’s consecutive wins.
Hamlin, who sat at a 30-race winless streak, tasted a long-awaited victory in Martinsville. The No. 11 Joe Gibbs driver held off teammate Christopher Bell by 4.617 seconds, relegating him to P2. Similarly, to cap off Darlington Throwback Weekend at the Goodyear 400, Hamlin beat Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron by 0.597 seconds. He currently ranks P2 in playoff standings ahead of teammate Bell (P3) and trails Byron (P1).
Last week’s Xfinity Race, on the other hand, was a stark contrast from Martinsville’s, where Austin Hill soared to a late race victory in overtime. He captured the checkered flag, earning Richard Childress Racing’s 100th Xfinity victory and the 12th of his career. Hill held off Haas Factory Team driver of the No. 00, Sheldon Creed, by a mere 0.190 seconds.
The next week, Darlington crowned Brandon Jones winner of the Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200, ending his 98-race winless drought. The win marked Jones’ first of 2025 and the sixth of his career with Joe Gibbs Racing. Jones beat Hendrick Motorsports Chase Elliott by 1.105 seconds. The Craftsman Truck Series took a break last week but returns with Daniel Hemric as the victor of Martinsville by 0.544 seconds. Who will be crowned the winners this week at the world’s fastest half-mile? Stay tuned.
Weather Guard Truck Race at Bristol
Craftsman Truck Series Entries:
• 1. Brandon Jones, No. 1 Toyota
• 2. Stephen Mallozzi, No. 2 Ford
• 3. Nathan Byrd, No. 02 Ford
• 4. Toni Breidinger, No. 5 Toyota
• 5. Norm Benning, No. 6 Chevrolet
• 6. Corey Day, No. 7 Chevrolet
• 7. Kyle Larson, No. 07 Chevrolet
• 8. Grant Enfinger, No. 9 Chevrolet
• 9. Corey Heim, No. 11 Toyota
• 10. Jake Garcia, No. 13 Ford
• 11. Tanner Gray, No. 15 Toyota
• 12. Giovanni Ruggiero, No.17 Toyota
• 13. Tyler Ankrum, No. 18 Chevrolet
• 14. Daniel Hemric, No. 19 Chevrolet
• 15. Tyler Tomassi, No. 22 Ford
• 16. Dawson Sutton, No. 26 Chevrolet
• 17. Frankie Muniz, No. 33 Ford
• 18. Layne Riggs, No. 34 Ford
• 19. Chandler Smith, No. 38 Ford
• 20. Matt Mills, No. 42 Chevrolet
• 21. Bayley Currey, No. 44 Chevrolet
• 22. Kaden Honeycutt, No. 45 Chevrolet
• 23. Stewart Friesen, No. 52 Totota
• 24. Luke Fehnaus, No. 66 Ford
• 25. Rajah Caruth, No. 71 Chevrolet
• 26. Parker Kligerman, No. 75 Chevrolet
• 27. Spencer Boyd, No. 76 Chevrolet
• 28. Andres Perez De Lara, No. 77 Chevrolet
• 29. Connor Mosack, No. 81 Chevrolet
• 30. Patrick Staropoli, No. 84 Toyota
• 31. Matt Crafton, No. 88 Ford
• 32. Justin Carroll, No. 90 Chevrolet
• 33. Jack Wood, No. 91 Chevrolet
• 34. Ty Majeski, No. 98 Ford
• 35. Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Ford
SciAps 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway
Xfinity Series Entries:
• 1. Sheldon Creed, No. 00 Ford
• 2. Carson Kvapil, No. 1 Chevrolet
• 3. Jesse Love, No. 2 Chevrolet
• 4. Parker Retzlaff, No. 4 Chevrolet
• 5. Kris Wright, No. 5 Chevrolet
• 6. Justin Allgaier, 7 Chevrolet
• 7. Alex Labbe, No.07 Chevrolet
• 8. Sammy Smith, No. 8 Chevrolet
• 9. Daniel Dye, No. 10 Chevrolet
• 10. Josh Williams, No. 11 Chevrolet
• 11. Garrett Smithley, No. 14 Chevrolet
• 12. Christian Eckes, No. 16 Chevrolet
• 13. Kyle Larson, No. 17 Chevrolet
• 14. William Sawalich, No. 18 Toyota
• 15. Justin Bonsignore, No. 19 Toyota
• 16. Brandon Jones, No. 20 Toyota
• 17. Austin Hill, No. 21 Chevrolet
• 18. Corey Heim, No. 24 Toyota
• 19. Harrison Burton, No. 25 Ford
• 20. Dean Thompson, No. 26 Toyota
• 21. Jeb Burton, No. 27 Chevrolet
• 22. Kyle Sieg, No. 28 Ford
• 23. Blaine Perkins, No. 27 Chevrolet
• 24. Greg Van Alst, No. 35 Chevrolet
• 25. Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Ford
• 26. Sam Mayer, No. 41 Ford
• 27. Anthony Alfredo, No. 42 Chevrolet
• 28. Brennan Poole, No. 44 Chevrolet
• 29. Mason Massey, No. 45 Chevrolet
• 30. Nicholas Sanchez, No. 48 Chevrolet
• 31. Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Chevrolet
• 32. Mason Maggio, No. 53 Chevrolet
• 33. Taylor Gray, No. 54 Toyota
• 34. Leland Honeyman, No. 70 Chevrolet
• 35. Ryan Ellis, No. 71 Chevrolet
• 36. Dawson Cram, No. 74 Chevrolet
• 37. Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Chevrolet
• 38. CJ McLaughlin, No. 91 Chevrolet
• 39. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 99 Chevrolet
Food City 500 at Bristol
Cup Series Entries:
• 1. Corey LaJoie, No. 01 Ford
• 2. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Chevrolet
• 3. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Ford
• 4. Austin Dillon, N0. 3 Chevrolet
• 5. Noah Gragson, No. 4 Ford
• 6. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet
• 7. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Ford
• 8. Justin Haley, No. 7 Chevrolet
• 9. Kyle Busch, No.8 Chevrolet
• 10. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet
• 11. Ty Dillon, No. 10 Chevrolet
• 12. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota
• 13. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Ford
• 14. A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Chevrolet
• 15. Chris Buescher, No. 17 Ford
• 16. Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Toyota
• 17. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota
• 18. Josh Berry No. 21, Ford
• 19. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford
• 20. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Toyota
• 21. William Byron, No. 24 Chevrolet
• 22. Austin Hill, No.33 Chevrolet
• 23. Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Ford
• 24. Riley Herbst, No. 35 Toyota
• 25. Zane Smith, No. 38 Ford
• 26. Cole Custer, No. 41 Ford
• 27. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Toyota
• 28. Erik Jones, No. 43 Toyota
• 29. JJ Yeley, No. 44 Chevrolet
• 30. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Toyota
• 31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Chevrolet
• 32. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Chevrolet
• 33. Cody Ware, No. 51 Ford
• 34. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Toyota
• 35. Ryan Preece, No. 60 Ford
• 36. Michael McDowell, No. 71 Chevrolet
• 37. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Chevrolet
• 38. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Chevrolet
• 39. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Chevrolet
Bristol Motor Speedway Weekend Schedule
Friday, April 11, 2025
(Bristol Schedule)
- Craftsman Truck Series (Practice and Qualifying)—2:30 p.m. EST
- Weather Guard Truck Race at Bristol (Craftsman Truck Series)—6:30 p.m. EST
Saturday, April 12, 2025
(Bristol Schedule)
- Xfinity Series (Qualifying and Practice)—10:30 a.m. EST
- Cup Series (Qualifying and Practice)—1:00 p.m. EST
- SciAps 300 at Bristol (Xfinity Series Race)—4:00 p.m. EST
Sunday, April 13, 2025
(Bristol Schedule)
- Food City 500 at Bristol (Cup Series Race)—2:00 p.m. EST
Where to Watch
- Craftsman Truck Practice and Qualifying—FS2
- Weather Guard Truck Race—FS1, Fubo TV
- Xfinity Practice and Qualifying—CW App, Fubo TV
- SciAps 300—CW Network, Fubo TV
- Cup Practice and Qualifying—Prime Video
- Food City 500 at Bristol—FS1, HBO Max, MRN, SiriusXM, NASCAR Radio
Final Thoughts
This week’s races at Bristol Motor Speedway, also known as NASCAR’s premiere short track, will be action-packed and full of surprises. The truck series returns to Bristol with Daniel Hemric as the preceding race winner after clinching his first career win at Martinsville. Over the past couple of weeks, there seems to have been a trend in drivers with winless streaks clawing their way back to the top.
Ironically, the two drivers seeing the most consecutive success are part of Joe Gibbs Racing, Denny Hamlin and Brandon Jones. Is it a coincidence that both drivers claimed victories after a 31 and 98-race winless drought? JGR was once considered a NASCAR powerhouse, but that sharply declined over the last decade. Is a change on the horizon? You do the math.
