2011 Jeff Byrd 500 Explained

The 2011 Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on March 20, 2011, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Contested over 500 laps, it was the fourth race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The race was won by Kyle Busch, for the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Carl Edwards finished second, and Jimmie Johnson clinched third.

There were ten cautions and 17 lead changes among eight different drivers throughout the course of the race. It was Busch's first win of the 2011 season, and the 20th of his career.

Report

Background

As a tribute to the late president of the Speedway who died in 2010, longtime race title sponsor K-VA-T Food City, which celebrated the 20th year of race sponsorship in 2011 (as of 2013, the longest continuous sponsorship deal in NASCAR for a race), named the race in his memory, henceforth the Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City.[1]

The track, Bristol Motor Speedway, is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races, the others being Richmond International Raceway, Dover International Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, and Phoenix International Raceway.[2] The standard track at Bristol Motor Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is 0.533miles long.[3] The track's turns are banked from twenty-four to thirty degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked from six to ten degrees. The back stretch also has banking from six to ten degrees.Before the race, Tony Stewart was leading the Drivers' Championship with 113 points, tied with Kyle Busch in second. Carl Edwards and Juan Pablo Montoya followed in third and fourth with 106 points, three ahead of Ryan Newman and ten ahead of Paul Menard in fifth and sixth. Martin Truex Jr. in seventh had 95, the same number of points as Denny Hamlin in eighth. They were one point ahead of A. J. Allmendinger in ninth, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. was tenth with 91.[4] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Ford was leading with 21 points, three ahead of Toyota in second. Chevrolet was placed in third with 16 points, while Dodge followed with 11.[5] Jimmie Johnson was the race's defending winner from 2010.[6]

Practice and qualifying

Three practice sessions were held before the race; the first on Friday, which lasted 90 minutes. The second and third were both on Saturday afternoon, and lasted 45 minutes each.[7] Edwards was quickest with a time of 14.912 seconds in the first session, 0.076 seconds faster than Johnson.[8] Greg Biffle was just off Johnson's pace, followed by Kasey Kahne, Menard, and David Ragan. Kyle Busch was seventh, still within a second of Edwards' time.

Forty-four cars were entered for qualifying,[9] but only forty-three could qualify for the race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Edwards clinched the 9th pole position of his career, with a time of 14.989 seconds.[10] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Biffle. Regan Smith qualified third, Menard took fourth, and Ragan started fifth. Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Truex, Mark Martin and Kahne rounded out the top ten. The driver that failed to qualify for the race was Ken Schrader. Once the qualifying session concluded, Edwards stated, "I'm enjoying this. I'm having fun. I'm hoping it lasts, and I'm going to keep driving the way I'm driving until we win a championship, or this car won't go as fast."[11]

In the second practice session, Stewart was fastest with a time of 15.364 seconds, more than six hundredths of a second quicker than second-placed Reutimann. Martin took third place, ahead of Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch and Jeff Burton.[12] In the third and final practice, Martin was quickest with a time of 15.472 seconds. Brian Vickers followed in second, ahead of Hamlin and Joey Logano. Stewart, who was first in the second practice, was fifth quickest, with a time of 15.570 seconds. Montoya, Gordon, Truex, Menard, and Kurt Busch rounded out the first ten positions.[13]

Race

The race, the fourth of the season, began at 1:00 p.m. EDT and was televised live in the United States on Fox. The conditions on the grid were dry before the race, the air temperature at 60°F; mostly cloudy skies were expected.[14] Mike Rife, reverend of the Vansant Church of Christ, began pre-race ceremonies with the invocation. Actor and country music singer Billy Ray Cyrus performed the national anthem, while Claudia Byrd, Christian Byrd and Belton Caldwell gave the command for drivers to start their engines.[14]

Results

Qualifying

DriverTeamManufacturerGrid
99 14.989 128.014 1
16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford 15.035 127.622 2
78 15.040 127.580 3
27 Chevrolet 15.045 127.537 4
6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford 15.055 127.453 5
48 Chevrolet 15.059 127.419 6
24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 15.076 127.275 7
56 15.104 127.039 8
5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 15.108 127.006 9
4 Toyota 15.115 126.947 10
17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford 15.121 126.896 11
18 Toyota 15.123 126.880 12
14 Chevrolet 15.129 126.829 13
9 Ford 15.131 126.812 14
29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 15.150 126.654 15
47 Toyota 15.152 126.637 16
31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 15.171 126.478 17
20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 15.171 126.478 18
21 Ford 15.174 126.453 19
22 15.181 126.395 20
39 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 15.181 126.395 21
88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 15.191 126.312 22
2 Penske Racing Dodge 15.215 126.112 23
1 Chevrolet 15.216 126.104 24
11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 15.219 126.079 25
00 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 15.228 126.005 26
33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 15.233 125.963 27
43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 15.257 125.765 28
34 Ford 15.258 125.757 29
83 Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 15.276 125.609 30
09 Chevrolet 15.325 125.207 31
60 Toyota 15.336 125.117 32
7 Toyota 15.371 124.832 33
87 Toyota 15.414 124.484 34
38 Front Row Motorsports Ford 15.436 124.307 35
42 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 15.437 124.299 36
36 Chevrolet 15.462 124.098 37
46 Chevrolet 15.473 124.010 38
66 Toyota 15.475 123.993 39
92 Dodge 15.565 123.277 40
37 Front Row Motorsports Ford 15.616 15.616 41
71 Chevrolet 15.869 120.915 42
13 Germain Racing Toyota 15.610 122.921 43
Failed to Qualify
32 Ford 15.660 122.529

Race results

PosGridCarDriverTeamManufacturerLaps RunPoints
112 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 500 47
21 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 500 43
36 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 43
411 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 500 40
54 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 500 40
615 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 500 39
720 22 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 500 37
82 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 500 36
910 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 500 35
1021 39 Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 500 35
1122 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 33
129 5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 32
1316 47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 500 31
147 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 30
1514 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 500 29
165 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 500 28
178 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 500 28
1823 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 500 26
1913 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 500 25
2017 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 498 24
2124 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 498 23
223 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 498 22
2318 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 497 21
2436 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 497 20
2537 36 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 497 19
2635 38 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 496 0
2729 34 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 495 18
2841 37 Tony Raines Front Row Motorsports Ford 494 16
2931 09 Bill Elliott Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 493 15
3026 00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 493 14
3128 43 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 493 13
3242 71 Andy Lally TRG Motorsports Ford 491 12
3325 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 488 11
3419 21 Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Racing Ford 482 0
3527 33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 456 9
3630 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 441 8
3743 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 427 7
3840 92 Dennis Setzer K-Automotive Motorsports Chevrolet 336 0
3933 7 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge 127 5
4038 46 J. J. Yeley Whitney Motorsports Ford 97 4
4134 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 72 0
4232 60 Landon Cassill Germain Racing Toyota 36 0
4339 66 Michael McDowell HP Racing Toyota 35 1

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings[15]
PosDriverPoints
1Kurt Busch150
2Carl Edwards149
3Tony Stewart138
4Ryan Newman138
5Paul Menard136
Manufacturers' Championship standings[16]
PosManufacturerPoints
1Ford27
2Toyota25
3Chevrolet22
4Dodge14

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hinton. Ed. Jeff Byrd 500 a fitting tribute to the man. ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. March 19, 2011. June 26, 2014.
  2. Web site: NASCAR Race Tracks . March 12, 2011 . NASCAR . NASCAR Media Group . https://web.archive.org/web/20110402110221/http://www.nascar.com/races/tracks/ . April 2, 2011 . dead .
  3. Web site: NASCAR Tracks—The Bristol Motor Speedway. Bristol Motor Speedway. March 12, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110308115618/http://www.bristolmotorspeedway.com/track_info/track_facts/. March 8, 2011.
  4. Web site: 2011 Official Drivers' Standings: Kobalt Tools 400 . NASCAR . NASCAR Media Group. March 15, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110311085118/http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2011/3/data/standings_official.html. March 11, 2011.
  5. Web site: Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site – 2011 Manufacturers Championship Standings . . ESPN Internet Ventures . March 15, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110517161436/http://www.jayski.com/stats/2011/manu2011.htm . May 17, 2011 . dead .
  6. Web site: 2010 Food City 500. Racing-reference. Yardbarker. March 15, 2011.
  7. Web site: Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site – Sprint Cup Race Info / Rundown Page . Jayski's Silly Season Site . ESPN Internet Ventures . March 17, 2011.
  8. Web site: Practice One Speeds . NASCAR. NASCAR Media Group. March 18, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110321100632/http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2011/4/data/practice1_speeds.html. March 21, 2011.
  9. Web site: Qualifying Entry List . NASCAR. NASCAR Media Group. March 18, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20121013035210/http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2011/4/data/qual_order.html. October 13, 2012.
  10. Web site: Race Lineup: Jeff Byrd 500 . NASCAR. NASCAR Media Group. March 18, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20121013035242/http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2011/4/data/lineup.html. October 13, 2012 .
  11. Web site: Edwards lights up Bristol with sub-15-second pole. NASCAR. NASCAR Media Group. https://web.archive.org/web/20121013035255/http://www.nascar.com/news/110318/cedwards-bristol-pole/index.html. October 13, 2012.
  12. Web site: Practice Two Speeds. NASCAR. NASCAR Media Group. March 19, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20121013035300/http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2011/4/data/practice2_speeds.html. October 13, 2012.
  13. Web site: Practice Three Speeds . NASCAR. NASCAR Media Group . March 19, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20121013035317/http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2011/4/data/practice3_speeds.html. October 13, 2012.
  14. Web site: Lap-by-Lap: Bristol . NASCAR. March 20, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111228054351/http://www.nascar.com/lap-by-lap/110320/lblbristol/index.html. December 28, 2011.
  15. Web site: 2011 Official Driver Standings: Jeff Byrd 500. NASCAR. https://web.archive.org/web/20121013035453/http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2011/4/data/standings_official.html. October 13, 2012.
  16. Web site: Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site – 2011 Manufacturers Championship Standings . Jayski's Silly Season Site . ESPN Internet Ventures . September 21, 2014.

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