BRISTOL, Tenn. — Cup cars are back on the concrete at Bristol Motor Speedway after having raced the past three spring events on the dirt — and the drivers couldn’t be happier.
Here’s a look at three things to watch for in today’s race (3:30 p.m. ET on Fox):
1. Which lane to choose?
Some drivers were befuddled Saturday by how the resin — applied to the bottom groove in the corners to help traction — worked during practice and qualifying.
Pole-sitter Ryan Blaney admitted it was “pretty, pretty challenging.”
Michael McDowell, who qualified seventh, said the loss of grip where the resin had been applied “caught us off guard, for sure. You’d never expect that. The first few laps of Bristol, you’re just trying to build the courage up to go as fast as the car will take you.”
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Martin Truex Jr., who qualified 11th, said the track “was obviously in terrible shape for our practice and really slick and really hard to get a read on. It was just really difficult. It kind of made it hard … to know what to do for qualifying. Still a decent starting position for us. We really didn’t learn anything in practice at all, which is difficult. We don’t get much as it is and to not learn anything is kind of tough for (Sunday).”
William Byron said he didn’t think the bottom groove would be “super effective” for the Sunday’s race if it was like it was for Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions.
That’s the thing, no one is quite sure what to expect after qualifying. Truex admitted that crew chiefs and engineers were going to have “computers smoking” trying to figure out what will be best for Sunday’s race.
2. Tale of two drivers
Ryan Blaney will start on the pole and seeks his fourth consecutive top-five finish.
His teammate at Team Penske, Joey Logano, starts fourth but is trying to turn around a season that has seen him place 28th or worse three times this year.
Blaney leads the points and Logano is 30th entering Sunday’s race.
“I have a great group around me,” Blaney said Saturday about the start of his season “Everyone who works on this 12 car is awesome and I love every single one of them because they’re really committed every single weekend to put in all the effort that I’m putting in.”
Logano said this week that this is “definitely the toughest start of a season I’ve ever had.”
Logano has failed to score a top-10 finish in his last six starts at Bristol on the concrete.
3. Another new winner?
There have been six different winners in the past six Cup races, dating back to last season. Will the streak continue?
Here’s a look at the last six winners in Cup:
2024 Phoenix — Christopher Bell
2024 Las Vegas — Kyle Larson
2024 Atlanta — Daniel Suarez
2024 Daytona 500 — William Byron
2023 Phoenix — Ross Chastain
2023 Martinsville — Ryan Blaney
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