Denny Hamlin was able to use his experience to protect his tires to be there at the end of the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
NASCAR fans got to witness what many might call “old school” Bristol in the St. Patrick’s Day race. The tires wore out quickly on the concrete racing surface. That put surviving the race in the hands of the drivers to protect their tires to be able to compete. The preferred racing groove was down around the inside as has been in the past. Teams had to strategize to ensure they would have enough tires to make it to the end of the race with a chance to win.
There were nine cautions during the race including the ending of the first two stages. Ty Gibbs was able to win both of those first stages. He looked as though he might have a chance to challenge for the win along with Denny Hamlin. However, late in the race Ty’s inexperience put him back in the field and out of contention.
Denny Hamlin was the driver who led the most laps, 163 of the 500-lap race. He was one of 16 drivers that exchanged the lead of the race a record setting 54 times. The record number of lead changes at a short track race previously was 40 set April 14, 1991 at Bristol as well.
What was the most important was that Denny protected his tires to be able to lead the final 17 laps of the race to claim his first win of the 2024 Cup Series season, his fourth Cup career win at Bristol Motor Speedway (second in a row) and his 52nd career Cup Series win overall.
Martin Truex Jr. took home second-place with Brad Keselowski in third. See the complete race results for the 2024 Food City 500 here.
Kyle Larson moved back up a spot to re-take the lead in the point standings after Bristol. Martin Truex Jr. also moved up a spot to second-place. Ty Gibbs was not able to challenge for the win of the race at Bristol. However, his early success gave him enough points to move up three spots to third in points. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series point standings here.
After racing on super speedways, intermediate tracks and short tracks to start the year, NASCAR is heading to road course racing next. Sunday, March 24th is the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX.
By: Buck Stevens
