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| Kyle Busch has eight Cup wins at Bristol. |
The first coming on Wednesday under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway’s high-banked half-mile bullring for the non-points All-Star Race where the winner will get a $1 million check.
Race 1: All-Star Open
Race 2: All-Star Race
Date: Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Race 1: FS1, 7:00 p.m. ET
Race 2: FS1, 8:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Bristol Motor Speedway
Location: Bristol, Tennessee
Race 2: All-Star Race
Date: Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Race 1: FS1, 7:00 p.m. ET
Race 2: FS1, 8:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Bristol Motor Speedway
Location: Bristol, Tennessee
Welcome back Fans!
It’s the first time the All-Star Race will not race on a 1.5-mile track and the first time since 1986 that the mid-season race will not race in Charlotte. It’s a fantastic idea and Speedway Motorsports Inc. should have alternated the race around several of its tracks long ago, but fans were part of the reason.
NASCAR and Tennessee are expected to allow up to 30,000 fans in the Thunder Valley track, the most allowed in any race since the pandemic shutdown. The drivers and teams all appear to be for the race at Bristol even though the Charlotte event kept them near home and their own pillows.
“Bristol is one of my favorite tracks, so I’m really happy that the All-Star Race will be there this week,” said eight-time Bristol winner Kyle Busch. “It’s been a good place for us over the years. We had a good run there in the first race, and I think we can take some notes from that first race and apply them for this week. It’s probably the best we’ve been at a track since we’ve come back racing.
“Hoping we can have a good run with our M&M’S Camry. They are trying out a few things like the choose cone and the lights underneath and the numbers back on the door. I think they did a great job with our M&M'S scheme. It’s a good opportunity to try some new things, but we’ll still want to bring home that million (dollars, first price) and try to win that thing if we can.”
It’s the first time the All-Star Race will not race on a 1.5-mile track and the first time since 1986 that the mid-season race will not race in Charlotte. It’s a fantastic idea and Speedway Motorsports Inc. should have alternated the race around several of its tracks long ago, but fans were part of the reason.
NASCAR and Tennessee are expected to allow up to 30,000 fans in the Thunder Valley track, the most allowed in any race since the pandemic shutdown. The drivers and teams all appear to be for the race at Bristol even though the Charlotte event kept them near home and their own pillows.
“Bristol is one of my favorite tracks, so I’m really happy that the All-Star Race will be there this week,” said eight-time Bristol winner Kyle Busch. “It’s been a good place for us over the years. We had a good run there in the first race, and I think we can take some notes from that first race and apply them for this week. It’s probably the best we’ve been at a track since we’ve come back racing.
“Hoping we can have a good run with our M&M’S Camry. They are trying out a few things like the choose cone and the lights underneath and the numbers back on the door. I think they did a great job with our M&M'S scheme. It’s a good opportunity to try some new things, but we’ll still want to bring home that million (dollars, first price) and try to win that thing if we can.”
Handicapping the Exhibition
Just like the other All-Star Races, this one will have a qualifying race called "The Open" that is 85 laps split up into three stages (35 / 35 /15 laps) with the winner of each stage advancing to the All-Star Race and then one other driver will be invited by winning the fan vote which is likely to be Bubba Wallace.
The All-Star Race itself has the same eligibility to start in by either winning a race in the past two seasons, winning a past All-Star Race, or winning a Cup Championship.
It’s 140 laps split into four stages (55 / 35 / 35 / 15 laps). But the big difference this season is that this race is going to go be fast and the drivers will use all ability to move up fast without fear of losing points or punting a driver out of the way.
Charlotte speeds are fast and a driver is always worried about safety more there than Bristol where the speeds are slower.
Bumping a driver out of the way at Bristol is less worrisome and I expect plenty of tempers to flare as all are going for the same $1 million check with the clock ticking faster Wednesday night than a normal Bristol race that runs 500 laps.
The other thing I like about Bristol on Wednesday night instead of Charlotte is that we get to see a race package hardly used, the one with engines producing 750 horsepower and smaller spoilers that has raced only three times this season, the last at Martinsville Speedway on June 10.
In the small sample size we have with Wednesday’s race package, a few drivers have stood out collectively and they’ll be the ones I key on.
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