Kyle Busch “backs” into Bristol Dirt win after Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe collide on the final lap in a dramatic finish. (Photo: Chris Graythen | Getty Images)
Contact between Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe on the final lap allowed Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry to slide by and steal the Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Briscoe tried to pull off a slide job, entering Turns 3 and 4 coming to the checkered flag. The No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang got sideways, clipped Reddick as both drivers went spinning.
Then, in a very opportunistic manner, Busch was in the right place at the right time to take the win in Thunder Valley.
Wow. Retweet to congratulate Kyle Busch on his win at Bristol! pic.twitter.com/1P4CkhNkYR
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 18, 2022
“There’s not a lot of rewards in the sport except winning,” Busch said.
“You could come home with a second-place day and not get everything that you wanted from the day and from what you put into it. It’s always good when you win. I appreciate M&M’s and this Crunchy Cookie Camry TRD. It was awesome to keep pace with those two.”
While most people likely expected a post-race confrontation between Reddick and Briscoe, they surprised everyone by showing mutual respect.
Tyler Reddick reacts to the final lap … and Chase Briscoe apologizes. pic.twitter.com/8s9xMzrIY3
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 18, 2022
Briscoe hated that his mistake cost Reddick his first Cup win and wanted to see a driver with a dirt racing background get the victory if he couldn’t win himself.
“I was running Tyler down and I just tried throwing a slider,” Briscoe said.
“I didn’t expect him to drive in there on me and I was spinning out, I think, either way, and I hit him. I feel terrible. I was wanting to race him clean. I wasn’t gonna wreck him for the win. That’s why I tried to slide him and I was trying to leave him enough if I didn’t get there and that was my fault 100 percent.”
Despite rain causing two pauses in the action and uncertainty about the weather forecast, Mother Nature behaved long enough to get all 250 laps in at Bristol Dirt on Easter Sunday. (Photo: Logan Riely | Getty Images)
Stage 2
After multiple cautions and the threat of rain becoming a great concern, Chase Briscoe recovered from hitting the wall earlier in the first stage, bouncing back to win Stage 2.
Trackhouse Racing tried to gamble with only a handful of laps remaining until the race reached halfway at Lap 125, leaving Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain on the track. The team hoped that it would rain with one of their Chevrolets in prime position to get their second Cup win as an organization.
While Suarez led at halfway, caution after caution and several restart attempts allowed Briscoe and Christopher Bell to get by the No. 99 Chevrolet. Unfortunately, Chastain had an engine problem that put him out of the race before the final stage.
Denny Hamlin retired from the race after 91 laps, due to an engine failure. Kevin Harvick joined Hamlin in the garage out of the race, following a wreck on Lap 99 that caused damage to his right-front suspension.
Stage 2 Top-10 Results: Briscoe, Bell, Suarez, Elliott, Ky. Busch, Larson, Logano, McDowell, Blaney, Reddick.
Stage 1
The first stage of the evening in Thunder Valley ended under yellow with dirt master Kyle Larson winning Stage 1 after Justin Allgaier got up into the wall.
During the first 15 laps, three Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustangs experienced trouble, with Kevin Harvick getting lapped while Cole Custer and Aric Almirola had to make unscheduled pit stops because mud clogged the grille.
On Lap 51, the fourth and final SHR car had issues. Chase Briscoe was leading and slapped the wall with the right-rear, allowing Kyle Larson to get the lead.
Shortly after the fact, Briscoe went for a spin and the caution flag came out.
Stage 1 Top-10 Results: Larson, T. Dillon, Bell, A. Dillon, Ky. Busch, Bowman, Logano, Reddick, Blaney, Stenhouse Jr.
Unhappy Harvick
Kevin Harvick had a weekend to forget at Bristol Dirt. (Photo: Molly Gastineau | The Podium Finish)
Kevin Harvick struggled at Bristol Dirt this weekend and those frustrations boiled over after a Lap 99 wreck ended an underwhelming performance by the No. 4 team.
People usually refer to him as “Happy Harvick.” To say the least, he was “Unhappy Harvick” to be racing on dirt at Bristol.
“The first thing I can tell you is we did a terrible job prepping the track and full of mud and there was nobody here to pack the track, so we all look like a bunch of bozos coming in to pit because we don’t know how to prep the track,” Harvick said.
“I had a great car. The racetrack was fine. They just did a terrible job to start with. They’ve done this before, but, obviously, it doesn’t look like it.”
Harvick finished 34th.
Next Race
A year after his last Cup win, Brad Keselowski hopes to turn his season around and recover from the significant L2-level penalty at a place that’s been very kind to him. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
The NASCAR Cup Series leaves the dirt behind at Bristol Motor Speedway for the high banks of Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 24 (3 p.m. ET on FOX). Brad Keselowski is the defending winner of this race, which ended up being his final career win for Team Penske.
Now, as an owner-driver in the Cup Series, Keselowski will try to find victory lane with RFK Racing for the first time at a track he’s won at six times.
Food City Dirt Race Top-10 Results: Ky. Busch, Reddick, Logano, Larson, Blaney, Bowman, Bell, Elliott, McDowell, T. Dillon.
