Hamlin manages tires and prevails at Bristol
Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
BRISTOL, Tenn. — How appropriate.
On a day where tire management was the essential element in a NASCAR Cup Series race, three veterans swept the podium positions, with Denny Hamlin winning Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
In a race that produced 54 lead changes—a record for Cup Series short tracks—Hamlin lost the lead briefly to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. in the closing laps but regained it in traffic and beat Truex to the finish line by 1.083 seconds.
In a return to concrete after three straight spring races on dirt, Hamlin won his second straight race at the 0.533-mile speedway and his fourth overall, second most among active drivers to Kyle Busch’s eight.
The victory was the 52nd of Hamlin’s career, 13thall-time, and his first this season.
But the story was the tires and the mysterious way they behaved in a race that saw the track start to eat through to the cords 45 laps into a green-flag run.
Goodyear brought the same tire that ran without issues in last fall’s Night Race, but on Sunday, the concrete surface did not take rubber. Instead, marbles (small balls of rubber from degraded tires) accumulated high in the corners, making the top of the track untenable.
There were two variables that might have helped to account for the tire issues. The temperature was roughly 10-15 degrees cooler than it was for last year’s Night Race, which was run on Sept. 16.
NASCAR also opted for a different resin the bottom lane from the PJ1 traction compound previously in use.
Whatever the cause, with his short-track background, Hamlin was best equipped to deal with the surprising situation.
“That’s what I grew up here doing in the short tracks in the Mid Atlantic, South Boston (Va.), Martinsville,” said Hamlin, who grew up in Chesterfield, Va. “Once it became a tire-management race, I really liked our chances.
“Obviously, the veteran in Martin, he knew how to do it as well. We just had a great car, great team. The pit crew just did a phenomenal job all day. Can’t say enough about them… Man, it feels so good to win in Bristol.”
Truex passed Hamlin for the lead in traffic on Lap 483 but surrendered the top spot to the race winner one lap later, as the teammates worked around slower cars. Truex’s tires gave up the ghost on the last few circuits, as Hamlin pulled away.
“Apparently, that’s what I needed to have happen here at Bristol to have a shot at winning—I guess this tire management thing fit into my wheelhouse here at Bristol,” Truex said.
“Man, the difference was just coming out of the pits so far behind Denny (after green-flag pit stops during the final run). I had to use mine up more on the last run. The last four, five laps of the race, was cord.”
Hamlin led a race-high 163 laps, as the four JGR drivers spent a combined 383 of 500 laps at the front field, with Ty Gibbs leading 137, Truex 54 and Christopher Bell 29.
Brad Keselowski, a three-time winner at the track, finished third, 7.284 seconds behind Hamlin.
Hendrick Motorsports drivers Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson were fourth and fifth, respectively, as only five drivers finished on the lead lap.
The last time five or fewer drivers finished on the lead lap was the June 6, 2004 race at Dover.
John Hunter Nemechek, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, Gibbs and Bell came home sixth through 10th, respectively.
Larson and Truex leave Bristol tied for the series lead, passing defending series champion Ryan Blaney, who finished 16th.
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 5
Race Results for the Food City 500 - Sunday, March 17, 2024
Bristol Motor Speedway - Bristol, TN - 0.533 - Mile Concrete
Total Race Length - 500 Laps - 266.5 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 3/17/2024 @ 07:24 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 3 11 Denny Hamlin Express Oil Change Toyota 500 7 44 Running 13 163 5
2 11 19 Martin Truex Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 500 7 6 44 Running 8 54
3 17 6 Brad Keselowski King's Hawaiian Ford 500 4 2 50 Running 1 1
4 29 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 500 33 Running 1 3
5 10 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 500 2 8 44 Running 4 19
6 26 42 John Hunter Nemechek Dollar Tree Toyota 499 5 4 44 Running
7 34 17 Chris Buescher BuildSubmarines.com Ford 499 3 38 Running 1 17
8 5 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 499 29 Running 2 5
9 19 54 Ty Gibbs SiriusXM Toyota 499 1 1 48 Running 9 137 2
10 12 20 Christopher Bell DEWALT Toyota 499 8 5 36 Running 3 29
11 7 34 Michael McDowell Love's Travel Stops Ford 499 26 Running
12 2 4 Josh Berry # SunnyD Ford 499 10 26 Running 2 25
13 6 14 Chase Briscoe Mahindra Tractors Ford 498 24 Running
14 25 41 Ryan Preece HaasTooling.com Ford 498 9 10 26 Running
15 36 1 Ross Chastain Busch Light Fishing Chevrolet 498 22 Running
16 1 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Dutch Boy Ford 498 6 26 Running 5 14
17 32 51 Justin Haley Ohanafy Ford 498 20 Running
18 28 99 Daniel Suarez Jockey Outdoors by Luke Bryan Chevrolet 498 19 Running
19 33 15 Kaz Grala # N29 Capital Partners Ford 498 18 Running
20 15 43 Erik Jones AdventHealth Toyota 498 17 Running
21 18 7 Corey LaJoie Gainbridge Chevrolet 498 16 Running 1 4
22 4 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 498 3 23 Running 1 5
23 30 16 AJ Allmendinger(i) Mountain Dew/Doritos Chevrolet 498 0 Running
24 31 3 Austin Dillon BREZTRI Chevrolet 498 13 Running
25 14 8 Kyle Busch FICO Chevrolet 498 12 Running 1 5
26 24 38 Todd Gilliland CITGARD Ford 497 11 Running
27 35 77 Carson Hocevar # Gainbridge Cal Ripken Sr. Fdn. Chevrolet 497 10 Running
28 20 31 Daniel Hemric Cirkul Chevrolet 496 9 Running
29 9 23 Bubba Wallace Leidos Toyota 496 9 10 Running 2 15
30 23 45 Tyler Reddick Monster Energy Toyota 495 7 Running 1 4
31 21 2 Austin Cindric Discount Tire Ford 495 6 Running
32 13 21 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging Ford 495 5 Running
33 27 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ball Park Buns & Rolls Chevrolet 495 4 Running
34 22 10 Noah Gragson Black Rifle Coffee/Ranger Boats Ford 494 3 Running
35 8 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 492 2 Running
36 16 71 Zane Smith # Focused Health Chevrolet 192 1 Engine
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 20 Mins, 41 Secs. Average Speed: 79.678 MPH Margin of Victory: 1.083 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 54, 5, 17, 6, 42, 12, 19, 20, 41, 4
Stage 2 Top 10: 54, 6, 22, 42, 20, 19, 11, 5, 23, 41
Caution Flags: 9 for 98 laps; Laps: 24-30 (Debris Turns 3 and 4 [None]); 33-38 (No. 45, 16, 15, 77, 38, 47, 4, 22, 23, 7, 31, 2, Incident Frontstretch [24]); 71-79 (Debris Frontstretch [16]); 125-140 (No. 8 Spin Turn 2 / Stage 1 Conclusion [23]); 177-189 (No. 47, 71, 31 Incident Turn 4 [21]); 229-239 (No. 8 Spin Turn 2 [2]); 252-264 (Stage 2 Conclusion [3]); 311-322 (No. 4 Spin Backstretch [10]); 369-379 (No. 2, 47 Incident Turn 4 [38]).
Lead Changes: 54 among 16 drivers; R. Blaney 0; R. Blaney 1-2; J. Berry # 3-20; D. Hamlin 21-25; C. Elliott 26; T. Reddick 27-30; B. Wallace 31-40; J. Berry # 41-47; B. Wallace 48-52; D. Hamlin 53-60; C. Elliott 61-64; R. Blaney 65-68; K. Busch 69-73; R. Blaney 74; D. Hamlin 75-82; R. Blaney 83-88; D. Hamlin 89-119; T. Gibbs 120-130; R. Blaney 131; K. Larson 132-140; T. Gibbs 141-145; M. Truex Jr. 146-149; T. Gibbs 150-153; K. Larson 154-156; T. Gibbs 157-158; D. Hamlin 159-162; K. Larson 163-165; D. Hamlin 166; K. Larson 167-170; T. Gibbs 171-181; M. Truex Jr. 182; C. Buescher 183-199; C. Bell 200-223; M. Truex Jr. 224-235; C. LaJoie 236-239; C. Bell 240-243; J. Logano 244-248; T. Gibbs 249-256; M. Truex Jr. 257; T. Gibbs 258-284; M. Truex Jr. 285-317; D. Hamlin 318-322; T. Gibbs 323-364; D. Hamlin 365-372; M. Truex Jr. 373; D. Hamlin 374-379; C. Bell 380; D. Hamlin 381-398; T. Gibbs 399-425; D. Hamlin 426-447; M. Truex Jr. 448; B. Keselowski 449; A. Bowman 450-452; D. Hamlin 453-482; M. Truex Jr. 483; D. Hamlin 484-500.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: March 24, 2024 - Circuit of The Americas
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