2024 Food City 500 Explained

Type:	CUST
Description:	Race 5 of 36 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series
Race Name:	Food City 500
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8]
Year:	2024
Location:	Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee
Course Mi:	0.533
Course Km:	0.858
Distance Laps:	500
Distance Mi:	266.5
Distance Km:	428.890
Avg:	79.678mph
Pole Driver:	Ryan Blaney
Pole Team:	Team Penske
Pole Time:	15.356
Most Driver:	Denny Hamlin
Most Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Most Laps:	163
Car:	11
First Driver:	Denny Hamlin
First Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Network:	Fox
Announcers:	Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer, and Kevin Harvick
Radio:	PRN
Booth Ann:	Doug Rice and Mark Garrow
Turn Ann:	Rob Albright (Backstretch)

The 2024 Food City 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on March 17, 2024, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Contested over 500 laps on the 0.533miles short track, it was the fifth race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. Denny Hamlin won the race. Martin Truex Jr. finished 2nd, and Brad Keselowski finished 3rd. Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson rounded out the top five, and John Hunter Nemechek, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, and Christopher Bell rounded out the top ten.

The race achieved prominent attention because of the combination of very serious tire wear to where drivers slowed their pace up to three seconds a lap and rampant passing to where the lead changed a NASCAR short track record 54 times.

Later, Hamlin was fined and the team stripped of all points from the race, and 31 additional points (75 points overall lost) when Toyota admitted they had broken NASCAR's sealed engine policy by rebuilding the race-winning engine from this race before it could be inspected.^[9]

Report

Background

Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking combined with short length, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating.

In 2021, the race shifted to a dirt surface version of the track and was renamed the Food City Dirt Race.^[10]

On September 15, 2023, Bristol Motor Speedway announced that the race would return to being run on concrete.^[11]

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1			Chevrolet
2			Ford
3		nowrap		Chevrolet
4	Josh Berry (R)		Ford
5			Chevrolet
6			Ford
7			Chevrolet
8			Chevrolet
9			Chevrolet
10			Ford
11			Toyota
12			Ford
14			Ford
15	Kaz Grala (R)		Ford
16	A. J. Allmendinger (i)		Chevrolet
17			Ford
19			Toyota
20			Toyota
21			Ford
22			Ford
23			Toyota
24			Chevrolet
31			Chevrolet
34			Ford
38			Ford
41			Ford
42			Toyota
43			Toyota
45			Toyota
47	nowrap			Chevrolet
48			Chevrolet
51			Ford
54			Toyota
71	Zane Smith (R)		Chevrolet
77	Carson Hocevar (R)		Chevrolet
99			Chevrolet
Official entry list

Practice

Ryan Blaney was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 15.028 seconds and a speed of 127.682mph.^[12]

Practice results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	12				15.028	127.682
2	8				15.110	126.989
3	23				15.118	126.922
Official practice results

Qualifying

Ryan Blaney scored the pole for the race with a time of 15.356 and a speed of 124.954mph.^[13]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	12			Ford	15.134	15.356
2	4	Josh Berry (R)		Ford	15.297	15.376
3	11			Toyota	15.165	15.452
4	22			Ford	15.387	15.506
5	9			Chevrolet	15.213	15.615
6	14			Ford	15.165	15.618
7	34			Ford	15.384	15.714
8	24			Chevrolet	15.405	15.771
9	23			Toyota	15.260	15.778
10	5			Chevrolet	15.209	16.743
11	19			Toyota	15.335	—
12	20			Toyota	15.414	—
13	21			Ford	15.353	—
14	8			Chevrolet	15.437	—
15	43			Toyota	15.359	—
16	71	Zane Smith (R)		Chevrolet	15.490	—
17	6			Ford	15.382	—
18	7			Chevrolet	15.496	—
19	54			Toyota	15.399	—
20	31			Chevrolet	15.575	—
21	2			Ford	15.422	—
22	10			Ford	15.586	—
23	45			Toyota	15.468	—
24	38			Ford	15.645	—
25	41			Ford	15.474	—
26	42			Toyota	15.663	—
27	47			Chevrolet	15.488	—
28	99			Chevrolet	15.756	—
29	48			Chevrolet	15.505	—
30	16	A. J. Allmendinger (i)		Chevrolet	15.848	—
31	3			Chevrolet	15.534	—
32	51			Ford	15.916	—
33	15	Kaz Grala (R)		Ford	15.694	—
34	17			Ford	16.078	—
35	77	Carson Hocevar (R)		Chevrolet	15.846	—
36	1			Chevrolet	16.096	—
Official qualifying results

Race

Race results

Stage Results

Stage OneLaps: 125

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	54	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	10
2	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	9
3	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	8
4	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	7
5	42	John Hunter Nemechek	Legacy Motor Club	Toyota	6
6	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	4
7	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5
8	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	3
9	41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	2
10	4	Josh Berry (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 125

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	54	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	10
2	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	9
3	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	42	John Hunter Nemechek	Legacy Motor Club	Toyota	7
5	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	6
6	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5
7	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	4
8	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	3
9	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	2
10	41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage ThreeLaps: 250

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	3	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	500	-31
2	11	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	500	44
3	17	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	500	50
4	29	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	500	33
5	10	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	500	44
6	26	42	John Hunter Nemechek	Legacy Motor Club	Toyota	499	44
7	34	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	499	38
8	5	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	499	29
9	19	54	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	499	48
10	12	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	499	36
11	7	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	499	26
12	2	4	Josh Berry (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	499	26
13	6	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	498	24
14	25	41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	498	26
15	36	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	498	22
16	1	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	498	26
17	32	51	Justin Haley	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	498	20
18	28	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	498	19
19	33	15	Kaz Grala (R)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	498	18
20	15	43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Toyota	498	17
21	18	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	498	16
22	4	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	498	23
23	30	16	A. J. Allmendinger (i)	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	498	0
24	31	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	498	13
25	14	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	498	12
26	24	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	497	11
27	35	77	Carson Hocevar (R)	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	497	10
28	20	31	Daniel Hemric	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	496	9
29	9	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	496	10
30	23	45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota	495	7
31	21	2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford	495	6
32	13	21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	495	5
33	27	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	495	4
34	22	10	Noah Gragson	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	494	3
35	8	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	492	2
36	16	71	Zane Smith (R)	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	192	1
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 54 among 16 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 9 for 98 laps
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 3 hours, 20 minutes and 41 seconds
• Average speed: 79.678mph

Media

Television

The Food City 500 was carried by Fox in the United States. Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer, and three-time Bristol winner Kevin Harvick called the race from the broadcast booth. Jamie Little and Regan Smith handled pit road for the television side, and Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race which was simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race in the booth when the field raced down the frontstretch. Rob Albright called the race from atop the turn 3 suites when the field raced down the backstretch. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan and Wendy Venturini covered the action on pit lane for PRN.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
1	1	Kyle Larson	185
1	2	Martin Truex Jr.	185 (–0)
3	3	Ty Gibbs	178 (–7)
3	4	Ryan Blaney	177 (–8)
3	5	Denny Hamlin	173 (–12)
3	6	Chase Elliott	152 (–33)
	7	Ross Chastain	151 (–34)
4	8	Christopher Bell	138 (–47)
4	9	Tyler Reddick	137 (–48)
6	10	William Byron	136 (–49)
1	11	Daniel Suárez	133 (–52)
1	12	Alex Bowman	132 (–53)
9	13	Brad Keselowski	125 (–60)
2	14	Chris Buescher	124 (–61)
6	15	John Hunter Nemechek	124 (–61)
5	16	Kyle Busch	122 (–63)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1	Chevrolet	184
	2	Toyota	181 (–3)
	3	Ford	166 (–18)

• Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2024 schedule . Jayski.com. . January 17, 2024.
2. Web site: Bristol Motor Speedway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. March 15, 2023. January 3, 2013. April 28, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170428170112/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/bristol-motor-speedway.html. dead.
3. Web site: NASCAR reveals 2024 Cup schedule as Atlanta, Watkins Glen move to playoffs . Zach . Sturniolo . . October 4, 2023 . October 4, 2023.
4. Web site: Entry List. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. March 11, 2024. March 11, 2024.
5. Web site: Practice Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. March 16, 2024. March 16, 2024.
6. Web site: Qualifying Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. March 16, 2024. March 16, 2024.
7. Web site: Food City 500 Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. March 17, 2024. March 17, 2024.
8. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. March 17, 2024. March 17, 2024.
9. Web site: No. 11 team, Denny Hamlin issued penalty for violating engine inspection requirements . August 22, 2024 . October 4, 2024 .
10. Web site: 2020-09-30. NASCAR Cup Series to go dirt trackin' at Bristol in 2021 - NBC Sports. 2020-09-30. NASCAR Talk NBC Sports. en-US.
11. Web site: Concrete to replace dirt for Bristol's springtime schedule in 2024 . . September 15, 2023.
12. Web site: Utter. Jim. Ryan Blaney leads NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. March 16, 2024. Bristol, Tennessee. March 16, 2024.
13. Web site: Utter. Jim. Ryan Blaney beats Josh Berry to NASCAR Cup pole at Bristol. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. March 16, 2024. Bristol, Tennessee. March 16, 2024.