Tyler Reddick, driver of the No. 8 Nascar Camaro, almost nailed down his first Cup Series win at the Bristol dirt race on Easter Sunday, but a last-lap incident dashed his chance at victory and handed the race win to Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Toyota TRD Camry.
Reddick’s No. 8 Camaro was scored as leader as a rainstorm paused the race in Tennessee. After a lengthy red flag, the field was finally allowed back out on the temporary dirt track to complete the third and final stage. Busch’s No. 18 Camry started in second place beside him, but he was overtaken by the No. 14 Ford Mustang of Chase Briscoe. Briscoe then set his sights on Reddick’s No. 8 Camaro.
Briscoe’s No. 14 Mustang started to cut down on the lead Reddick’s No. 8 Camaro held over the field. Meanwhile, in third place, Busch’s No. 18 Camry fended off last year’s Bristol dirt race winner, Joey Logano in the No. 22 Mustang.
When the white flag flew, Briscoe attempted to make the pass for the lead, throwing his No. 14 Mustang underneath Reddick’s No. 8 Camaro. Briscoe slid into Reddick’s side, and both of the frontrunners spun out in front of the field. Reddick gathered up his No. 8 Nascar Camaro and sent it after the checkered flag, but it was too late – Busch’s No. 18 Camry charged past him, beating him to the finish line by just .330 seconds.
Reddick was relegated to finishing second, and Briscoe was scored 22nd at the line.
“I mean, you’re racing on dirt, going for the move on the final corner,” Reddick said after the race. “It’s everything that, as a driver, you hope to battle for in his situation. Made it really exciting for the fans, so… It does suck, but we were able to finish second still. I’m being honest. I should have done a better job and pulled away so he wasn’t in range to try to make that move. That’s how I look at it.”
After the race, Briscoe tracked down Reddick and took responsibility for the incident. “I was running Tyler [Reddick] down and tried throwing a slider and didn’t expect him to drive in there on me, and I got loose,” Briscoe explained. “I was spinning either way. I feel terrible. I didn’t want to wreck him. That was my fault 100 percent. I hate it for Tyler. He’s a good friend of mine.”
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Mars Crunchy Cookie Toyota | 250 | 1 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 2 | 3 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | 3CHI Chevrolet | 250 | 99 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 3 | 10 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 250 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 4 | 5 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 250 | 27 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 5 | 25 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Dutch Boy Ford | 250 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 6 | 8 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 250 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 7 | 2 | 20 | Christopher Bell | DeWalt Toyota | 250 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 8 | 9 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet | 250 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 17 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 250 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 10 | 7 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Food City/Gain Chevrolet | 250 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 11 | 18 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Solomon Plumbing Ford | 250 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 12 | 21 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet | 250 | 64 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 13 | 1 | 41 | Cole Custer | Jacob Construction/HaasTooling Ford | 250 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 14 | 6 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 250 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 15 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 250 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 20 | 2 | Austin Cindric # | Discount Tire Ford | 250 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 17 | 23 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | First Phase Credit Card Ford | 250 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 18 | 19 | 24 | William Byron | Liberty University Chevrolet | 250 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 19 | 26 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Nations Guard Chevrolet | 250 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 24 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | Dex Imaging Ford | 250 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 21 | 30 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota | 250 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 22 | 4 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | HighPoint.com Ford | 250 | 59 | Ford Mustang |
| 23 | 31 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Cummins/Rush Truck Centers Ford | 250 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 24 | 14 | 43 | Erik Jones | Food City/Tide Chevrolet | 250 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 25 | 36 | 78 | Josh Williams(i) | Alloy Employer Services Ford | 250 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 35 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT Ford | 250 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 27 | 28 | 16 | Noah Gragson(i) | Chevy Truck Month Chevrolet | 248 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 22 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota | 245 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 29 | 16 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/Irish Spring Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 29 | 15 | JJ Yeley(i) | Georgia Strong/JAG Metals LLC Ford | 221 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 12 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Chevrolet | 211 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 32 | 13 | 45 | Kurt Busch | Monster Energy Toyota | 211 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 33 | 33 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Advent Health Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 34 | 32 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Busch Latte Ford | 100 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 35 | 34 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Ground Toyota | 91 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 36 | 27 | 77 | Justin Allgaier(i) | BRANDT Chevrolet | 74 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
- # – Rookie
- i – Points ineligible
- * – Part-time driver
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Comments
Wow! I see NASCAR attendance is making a come back.
Actually, attendance has been excellent so far this year. Poor weather and scheduling on Easter were not kind to Bristol this spring.
What a joke Bristol is with dirt way to go nascar
I like the dirt track. Couldn’t have been a worse finish though.
What a bad finish though the worst driver in history backed into that win
Wouldn’t it be easier/cheaper to go to an established dirt track? Giving up a pavement race at Bristol is a loss, too. Seems like a iffy idea to run Easter Sunday night? Didn’t see what actual track attendance was. To each his own.
That track pretending to be a ‘dirt’ track is a joke.
It was interesting seeing the cars slip and slide, but calling it a ‘dirt track”, with or without
the rain, I don’t think so.