NASCAR: Manufacturer News and the Word at Bristol

By Roy J. Akers — www.skyviewsports.net

It’s Bristol Baby, and the final race of the Round of 16 has Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin in, and four drivers below the cutline. Two of them, Josh Berry, and Alex Bowman, have to win or start working on 2026.

The NASCAR and manufacturers are preparing for Round 3 this weekend.

NASCAR Cup Series

Bristol Storylines and Insights:

·       This weekend marks the 127th running of a NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, not including the three races held on the track’s dirt surface from 2021-2023.

·       This is the sixth time Bristol hosted a Playoff race, each race being the elimination race for the Round of 16.

·       Denny Hamlin (3) and Kyle Larson (3) combined have won six of the last nine Bristol races including each of the last four races with each winning twice.

·       Denny Hamlin won four times at Bristol; three of his four wins came in the last nine races.

·       Kyle Larson led 462 of the 500 laps led at Bristol last September, the most ever led by a Hendrick Motorsports driver in a Cup race.

·       Kyle Larson won the last two races at Bristol after sweeping both stages in each and leading 87% of the laps (873 of 1000).

·       Kyle Larson led 873 laps in the last two Bristol races, the most over a two-race spread on a short track since 1972 (Bobby Allison: Bristol – 903).

·       Alex Bowman won the pole for each of the last two Bristol races, the last driver two win three straight poles there was Rusty Wallace between 1997 and 1998.

·       The spring Bristol race this year had just four lead changes, the fewest for a Bristol race since August 2008.

·       Last April’s Bristol race featured only three cautions, the fewest at Bristol since August 1982 (81 races between).

·       No driver failed to finish due to an accident in two of the last three Bristol races, all of the previous 78 races at Bristol dating to August 1983 had at least one accident DNF.

·       Last September’s Bristol race had 36 laps of caution, the fewest for a race here since April 1984 (19).

·       None of the last 17 races at Bristol ended in overtime; the last Bristol overtime race was in April 2015.

·       A driver swept the stages in each of the last four Bristol races; Kyle Larson was the only driver ever at Bristol to sweep both stages and win, doing so in each of the last two races.

·       There were only two caution free stages in the stage era of racing at Bristol, one coming last April.

·       The driver leading the most laps won six of the last seven Bristol races.

·       The final green flag stretch was at least 121 laps in each of the last four Bristol races and at least 57 laps in each of the last seven.

·       The final stage at Bristol in April was caution free with final green flag stretch going 235 laps, the 2nd longest in track history (291 laps – March 1980).

·       Each of the last 23 races at Bristol was won by a driver with at least 200 Cup Series starts.

·       Kyle Larson finished top-10 in 11 of his last 12 Bristol starts including top-fives in all six races there with Hendrick Motorsports.

·       Three drivers finished top-10 in the five Bristol races in the Next Gen car: Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell.

·       Hendrick Motorsports drivers led 1,027 of the 2,500 laps raced at Bristol in the Next Gen car (41%).

·       873 of Hendrick Motorsports’ 1,027 laps led at Bristol in the Next Gen car came in the last two races with Kyle Larson.

·       Kyle Busch’s eight Bristol wins rank fifth all-time but he finished 14th or worse in each of the last six races there.

·       Ty Gibbs’ 239 laps led at Bristol are his most led at a track, he led over 100 laps in two of the last four races there.

·       Six drivers ended winless streaks of 50+ races at Bristol, more than any other short track in Cup Series history.

·       Ryan Blaney finished 11th or better in the last nine short-track races including two wins.

·       Five drivers combined won the last 13 short-track races: Denny Hamlin-4, Ryan Blaney-3, William Byron-2, Kyle Larson-2, Austin Dillon-2.

·       Christopher Bell doesn’t have a top-10 finish in a night race in 2025 (seven races) after a streak of nine straight night races with a finish of sixth or better prior.

·       Four of Erik Jones’ five top-10 finishes in 2025 came in night races.

·       Legacy Motor Club had the best finishing non-Playoff driver in both Playoff races.

·       St. Louis was Toyota’s 200th Cup Series win. Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch are tied for the most wins with Toyota (56 each).

·       Joe Gibbs Racing has won the opening two races of the Playoffs five times.

·       Denny Hamlin became the fifth oldest driver to win from pole in Cup Series history, behind Mark Martin, Bill Elliott, Lee Petty, Geoff Bodine and Cale Yarborough.

A NASCAR Cup Series elimination race headlines this week’s NASCAR action at Bristol Motor Speedway as all three major circuits conduct playoff events for the first time this season. While Saturday night will see four Cup drivers eliminated, Bristol marks the second race in the opening round for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the playoff opener for the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

BLANEY STARTS NEW STREAK. After having his six-race streak of top-10 finishes end in Darlington, Ryan Blaney started a new one last weekend as he finished fourth at World Wide Technology Raceway. That marks the 15th time this season he has finished 10th or better, which ties him with three other drivers for the second-most in the series. One of those three is fellow Ford driver Chris Buescher, who did not make the playoffs but goes into Saturday night’s race with three straight top 10s after finishing ninth last weekend.

FORD DRIVERS IN THE CUP SERIES PLAYOFFSDRIVER – POINTS POSITIONRyan Blaney – 5th (+42 above the cut line)Joey Logano – 10th (+21)Austin Cindric – 12th (+11)Josh Berry – 16th (-45 below the cut line)Note: Top 12 advance after Bristol Night RaceFORD PLAYOFF DRIVERS AT BRISTOLJoey Logano: 30 starts, 2 wins, 6 top-10, 10 top-10Ryan Blaney: 17 starts, 0 wins, 3 top-5, 7 top-10Austin Cindric: 5 starts, 0 wins, 0 top-5, 0 top-10Josh Berry: 3 starts, 0 wins, 0 top-5, 0 top-10

JOSH BERRY: “It’s always a lot of fun going to Bristol. I felt like we had a pretty solid day, quiet day, there in the spring. I think we ended up 12th with the Wood Brothers Ford Mustang but still felt like we had a solid car and a solid day. Hopefully we can build off that going back.” AUSTIN CINDRIC: “What makes Bristol scary is the five degree temperature swing that it takes to make zero tire wear to tires turning into string cheese. If we have beautiful weather at Bristol, God knows what the race is going to look like. And we have a new red set of tires. So, your guess is as good as mine to what will happen. It’s a difficult racetrack for the cars mechanically. That and just the fact that, if one car wrecks 20 cars ahead of you, it could block the track, and your race can be over too. So, yeah, a nice race to go into to have a points buffer for sure.”

JOEY LOGANO: “Your guess is as good as mine about Bristol. The tire is different, right? And the tire has never been on a racetrack from what I understand. So, I think we’re all like, what’s that going to look like? And we know from history, at least on the old tire, that if it’s cool out, it’s going to wear out really quick. It’s just you don’t know. And it’s a really tricky place for the teams to be because you’re in the playoffs. You don’t know if the tires are going to wear out a lot or a little, and it could change throughout the weekend. And you don’t know, and there’s a lot on the line. Which is fine, right? I mean, it’s part of racing, so I’m not complaining about it, but it is definitely a massive, variable that you would want to adjust to. You would want to adjust your car setup to either way, but you won’t have that opportunity. It’s tough. It could go one of two different ways and they are polar opposites of each other. It’s not like ‘oh, the track tightens up a little bit, we lost balance.’ No, it’s like, you can run 100 laps on your tires versus running 40 laps on your tires. It’s like a whole new racetrack, right? You’ve got a race a car that’s completely different. What you need out of your car is completely different. All those things change quickly. Yeah, there’s a lot of things that can happen, right? We’ve talked about it three years, right? Whether it’s the car side, or we’ve seen the crashes. There are pile ups that you want to restart, the car gets loose, and everyone’s right there, right? You pile in. There’s a lot of moving pieces at Bristol.”

NASCAR National Series – NCS/NXS/NCTS

Toyota drivers remain in strong position entering cutoff race … After last weekend in St. Louis, Toyota drivers remain above the cutline entering the final race of the Cup Series Round of 16 this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin have both advanced with wins at Darlington and Gateway the last two weekends, while Bubba Wallace sits fourth (+50 points to the cutline), Tyler Reddick (+37 points to the cutline) ranks seventh, and Christopher Bell (+32 points to the cutline) is in the eighth position in the points standings entering this weekend.

Hamlin one shy of milestone victory … After taking the checkered flag last weekend at Gateway, which was Toyota’s 200th Cup Series win and his fifth win of the 2025 season, Hamlin now sits one victory away from additional milestones. Another trip to victory lane would be the 60th of Hamlin’s successful Cup Series career, which would tie him for 10th all-time on the Cup Series wins list with Kevin Harvick. It would also give the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) driver 57 career victories with Toyota, which would make him the manufacturer’s all-time winningest Cup Series driver. Luckily for Hamlin, Bristol Motor Speedway has historically been one of his most successful tracks, where he’s captured four victories, along with 13 top-fives, 20 top-10s and four pole positions.

Heim returns to No. 67 Camry XSE … Corey Heim will pilot the No. 67 Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing, pulling double duty this weekend at Bristol, along with competing in the Truck Series. The Toyota Development Driver will make his Cup debut at the 0.533-mile concrete oval, where he has found success in his Truck Series career, capturing victory in 2023 and finishing no worse than 10th in five previous starts.

Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol: Kyle Larson’s victory in the NASCAR Cup Series’ most recent visit to Bristol Motor Speedway (Apr. 2025) extended the Bowtie brand’s already record-setting win count at the track to 48 all-time triumphs. Among those wins includes Chevrolet’s milestone 600th all-time triumph in NASCAR’s top division – delivered by Kyle Busch behind the wheel of a Hendrick Motorsports-prepared Chevrolet. The 40-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada, native is the track’s winningest driver in the division with eight victories – a record that’s double the next leading competitor, Denny Hamlin, with four wins. Larson’s trip to victory lane in the series’ spring race marked his third Cup Series win at Bristol – moving the 33-year-old Elk Grove, California, native to third on track’s all-time wins list for active drivers.

LARSON LEADS INTO FIRST ELIMINATION RACEThe NASCAR Cup Series is on the brink of its first elimination race of the 2025 playoffs, with Saturday’s 500-lap event determining the 12 drivers that will continue on in their championship title chase. Among those looking for a guaranteed ticket into the Round of 12 includes the track’s defending winner, Kyle Larson, who will head into the weekend with the biggest points cushion of 60-points over the cutline. Larson is among the four Team Chevy playoff contenders that will enter the elimination race ranked in the top-12 of the standings – all of which hold a double-digit points advantage over the bubble (William Byron +39; Chase Elliott +28; and Ross Chastain +19). The series’ last appearance at the high-banked half-mile saw four Team Chevy playoff contenders collect top-10 finishes with Larson’s win accompanied by a sixth-place finish by William Byron; a seventh-place finish by Ross Chastain; and a 10th-place finish by Austin Dillon.

Larson Looking for a Three-Peat:Among the NASCAR Cup Series’ active past winners at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Larson ranks third with his three wins tying Brad Keselowski. Larson first conquered the concrete half-mile in the 2021 night race – a triumph that ultimately led to his championship title. The 33-year-old Elk Grove, California, native returns to Bristol as the winner in the series’ past two events at the track – both  masterful performances that saw the Team Chevy driver tally the most laps led (Sept. 2024 – 462 laps led; Apr. 2025 – 411 laps led) and a sweep of the stage wins en route to the victory. A win in Saturday’s event would make Larson just the fifth driver in series’ history to earn three-straight victories at Bristol.

Dillon Remains in Striking Distance: Despite a dismal day at World Wide Technology Raceway, Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team capitalized on strategy to score crucial stage points and salvage an 18th-place finish to keep the team in striking distance to advance to the Round of 12. The Richard Boswell-led team will enter the weekend in the first position below the cutline with just an 11-point deficit. Short-tracks have been Dillon’s strong suit this season, with the 35-year-old Welcome, North Carolina, native earning top-10 results in three of the four events held at tracks measuring less than one-mile. Among those includes a 10th-place finish in the Bristol spring event, as well as his win at Richmond Raceway just one month ago.

SEVEN TEAM CHEVY DRIVERS SET TO COMPETE FOR NXS CHAMPIONSHIP TITLEChevrolet’s momentum heading into the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs is unmatched, with the manufacturer sitting at a record-setting 23 wins in 26 races heading into the final stretch towards the championship. With a second-consecutive driver championship in focus, Team Chevy will see a series-leading seven drivers representing three different Chevrolet organizations compete in the title chase including JR Motorsports’ Connor Zilisch, Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith and Carson Kvapil; Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love and Austin Hill; and Big Machine Racing’s Nick Sanchez.