By Aaron Bearden

Takeaways from NASCAR’s first 2024 trip to Bristol Motor Speedway. 

Main Takeaway

The NASCAR Cup Series’ spring return to the concrete at Bristol Motor Speedway’s was a race for the ages—one unlikely to be replicated anytime soon. 

All eyes were on the new resin laid in place of the former PJ1 on the short track’s inside lane heading into the weekend. But on Sunday the variable of the race was the tires. 

Despite using the same tire combination and rules package (Bristol isn’t among the tracks utilizing NASCAR’s short track package changes) from last September’s Night Race, a shocking increase in tire wear turned Sunday’s 500-lap showdown into an arduous race of tire conservation. 

In the opening laps the field fired off like usual. But by the midway point of the first stage it was clear that drivers would have to dramatically slow the race’s pace to make their tires last long enough to stretch their sets to race’s end, even with NASCAR allowing team an extra set to give themselves a total of 10. 

Even at the slower pace, anything nearing 40 laps or more put drivers at risk of corded tires and significant falloff. By that stage of a run everyone would be holding on for dear life, praying for a caution that they weren’t the cause of. 

The circumstances led to a tricky test of aggression and patience. Drivers would come and go throughout the leaderboard, either risking the wear to make fast gains or slowing down the pace and sacrificing spots. The frontrunners would try to control the race’s speed, causing lead changes as different drivers decided to jump to the front and establish the pace. 

Those games at the front led to insane, record-breaking stats, The 54 lead changes among 16 drivers were easily the most on a short track in NASCAR history. They also allowed drivers like stage winner Ty Gibbs to come from the back of the field to the front quickly if they were willing to take risks. 

It was a race unlike any other. There wasn’t traditional tire falloff – the track didn’t take rubber like it did easily in last fall’s race. Whether due to the cooler ambient temperature, resin or other circumstances, the tires reacted drastically different than anyone anticipated. 

“It’s the same package,” Goodyear director of racing Greg Stucker told the media Sunday. “It’s the same tire combination. Obviously, the difference is resin was placed on the lower groove instead of the PJ1. Yet I still think the racetrack should be taking rubber as it did last year. It took rubber immediately during that race.

“It’s still a bit of an unknown as far as why it’s not behaving the same — that being the racetrack. But that’s what we know now. Obviously, everybody is kind of in the same boat but some guys are able to manage through it a little bit better than others. It’s still a tough situation, and we’re going to have to try and understand exactly what’s happening, what’s different, and adjust from there.”

In the end, the drivers that managed their wear best emerged with a significant pace advantage on the rest of the field – particularly in the final stage, when the stretch run of the race rolled to the finish without a caution. 

Joe Gibbs Racing veterans Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. battled for the win while consistently lapping other drivers. Only Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson joined them on the lead lap – the fewest lead-lap cars since the summer Dover race in 2004. 

The end result was an instant classic race, albeit one that was met with mixed opinions from drivers, teams and fans alike. While the tires didn’t ‘wear’ in the traditional sense without rubber being laid, the emphasis of preserving rubber caused the race to play out like an old-fashioned short track event – something you’d expect in a late model stock race on a highly-abrasive surface like the now-defunct Myrtle Beach Speedway. 

NASCAR chief racing development officer John Prost called it “probably one of the best short track races I’ve ever seen.” 

“There were times in the race, obviously, when there was anxiety around (teams having) enough tires to finish it,” he said. “But man, coming out the end and watching all that, I would not want to change much at all, honestly. Just maybe give them more tires (next time).”

After suffering a right-front flat early in the final green flag run, Josh Berry had to stretch his tires over 70 laps at the end. It wasn’t quite like the short track races he’s used to, but Berry admitted to enjoying the event afterward. 

“I think I finished with like three flat tires, and the car was on fire in (12th),” Berry said. “I kind of had fun, though. I’m not going to lie. That might be the biggest s— show I’ve ever been a part of, but it was kind of fun.”

Larson called for NASCAR to throw a red flag and put PJ1 on the track at one point in the second stage, believing it would help with the tire wear. He “took advantage of unfortunate circumstances” to salvage a top-five, but struggled to come to terms with a race unlike any other he’s ran. 

“That was weird,” he said. “It wasn’t fun to ride around like that. You never really knew how to manage your stuff. Then there at the end we were all dying, and everybody is afraid to pit because you didn’t want to get caught on pit road with somebody spinning and, then you’re laps down. … That was odd, that rubber wouldn’t lay down.” 

“To have to run a race like that every week would be not good,” he later added. “And it’s honestly probably a black eye to Goodyear with all the rubber that couldn’t get laid down, wearing through tires and all that.” 

Pole sitter Ryan Blaney was among the most vocally frustrated afterwards.

“I didn’t have fun,” Blaney said. “What’s fun about riding around, grouping around there? You can’t run 50 laps unless you blow a tire, and you’ve got guys blowing stuff, creeping around the racetrack. I can’t believe there wasn’t an accident.” 

“You know what it reminded me of, the first half of the race? It reminded me of the Daytona fuel saving. That’s what it was, literally. We were two-by-two, creeping around there at quarter-throttle, saving your tires, and you just don’t know whether you want to go or not. They say they brought the same tire, but that is absolute B.S.”

Chase Elliott enjoyed the experience overall, telling reporters the race was “more in (drivers) hands than probably ever has been.” 

“I don’t know if you want that every week, but it was really fun and refreshing. It was kind of cool that you could kill your tires if you weren’t smart about it. You could make them last … I thought that was really neat.” 

Justin Haley felt similar, having ran in the top-10 at one stage and finished top-20 for the underdog Rick Ware Racing. 

“I loved it,” Haley said. “I don’t know what social media says, but as a driver, I thought it was fun because you had to manage it. You weren’t all-out the whole time, so it was fun to have a major part in how the car ran.”

Short track ace Ryan Preece didn’t get the end result he wanted in 14th, but said “I’d rather things go the way they did today than get beat by somebody with a faster car that day.” 

Nemechek shared similar sentiment, saying “I definitely think it takes you back to short track racing around the country.” 

Keselowski was proud of another unique week on the NASCAR schedule. “You go to any of these local short tracks, that’s how you have to race,” he said. “Have to take care of your stuff. It’s refreshing. It’s different. 

“I like that it takes something different every week. That’s what makes Cup so hard. You go in every week, some weeks you drive ‘em till you burn ‘em down, this week you got to take care of ‘em.”

Hamlin’s crew chief, Chris Gabehart, raved about the race and its unique challenges after its completion. 

“It was fantastic,” he said. “The whole weekend was nothing what any of us expected, the driver, the crew chiefs, the engineers, the pit crew, the team, the spotter. I mean, from the minute practice was over, we suspected something was going to be different. I think a lot of us thought maybe 80, 100 in, this place would rubber in and get a little more familiar. But it did not.

“It was a blast. I’m not just saying that because we won. I’m saying that because it was fun to have to do something so unrefined. Everything about our business gets to be 16th of a round and 10th of an air pressure. If you just maneuver this three inches, you’ll be perfect.

“It was not going to be perfect this weekend ever. I think that made for a fantastic show.” 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was active on social media detailing his enjoyment of the race as it happened. Former Cup driver Kasey Kahne also chimed in to share his joy after watching. Xfinity Series driver Chandler Smith called for “#MoreTireWear” afterward. 

 

Goodyear and NASCAR will be faced with difficult questions heading into September’s Bristol Night Race. 

Should they change the resin or tire compound? Give teams more sets of tires? Will it even matter with the differing conditions and lessons learned from this weekend? 

“I think if you change nothing, if you change absolutely nothing with the tire, nothing with the resin, we came back next week, many teams would make big adjustments for their cars to help with tire wear, and drivers would make adjustments,” Hamlin said. “It would automatically get better no matter what.

“Do we want them wearing out in 40, 50 laps? No. That’s probably a little bit on the low end, for sure. But certainly this is what happens when you get tire wear. There’s comers and goers.” 

NASCAR plans to research and learn after an unexpected gem of a weekend.

“We put as much science to it as we can possibly put to it,” Probst said of predicting tire wear. “But at the end of the day, you got so many factors and variables that go into it. 

“We’ll just have to look at it.”

Good, Bad and Ugly

Good: NASCAR gets a good short-track race

In a fun twist, the best short track race of the NASCAR season probably just occurred in a race without the new rules package. 

NASCAR didn’t bring the changes ran at Phoenix Raceway and expected at other, flat short tracks to Bristol. There wasn’t more horsepower or any other proposed changes, either. Drivers didn’t complain about struggles passing. 

Sunday’s race didn’t need them. With the unique tire-centric race, NASCAR got a reprieve from its usual slate of short track talking points and fans got a good show at Bristol after pedestrian night races in both 2022 and 2023. 

Good: Veterans duel it out for the win

Through the chaos of Sunday’s final stage emerged an intense battle for the win between teammates. 

Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. pulled over six seconds clear of the field prior to the race’s final pit stops. They emerged from pit road within reach of each other and spent the final run engaged in a high-speed chess match, hoping to find the winning balance between timely aggression and conservation. 

In Joe Gibbs Racing’s version of the late 2000s Jeff Gordon-Jimmie Johnson battle at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hamlin and Truex went to war over the lead while navigating heavy traffic. Truex briefly shot to the lead on Lap 483, but Hamlin quickly resumed the point and managed to hold the 2017 champion off over the final 17 laps to secure the win by 1.083 seconds. 

Truex gave Hamlin a friendly nudge on the cooldown lap, having fallen just short of his first Bristol win in a classic battle. The New Jersey native felt the battle was lost on pit road. He had to overcome a gap to Hamlin after stops and felt he used up his tires to do it. 

“I was right on his bumper when he pitted and when I came out, he was a straightaway ahead of us and just used my stuff up too much to try to get there,” Truex said. “The last five laps, my right rear was corded.” 

Hamlin managed the pace throughout the final run. He kept his focus on maintaining a certain lap time in what proved to be a chess match of a race.

“Mainly it was when I was controlling the race and leading,” Hamlin said. “I just had a certain pace. Looking at the dash, here is the lap time. (Gabehart) would keep me updated, You’re running a little quicker this time. He did a good job of kind of reeling me back in.

“It was a chess match. There was a time where me and (Larson) were up front. I was on the outside. He was leading. I could tell he was just really going slow. I told the spotter, Hey, if we want to run side by side, I’m good like that, block up both lanes, block the whole field. I didn’t realize till later the line I was running was just killing my tires.

“You learned on the fly. You just made adjustments. Each run we made, we just got a little better.” 

Bad: Early Exits

The downside of a race with unexpected tire wear like Sunday’s is that some drivers usually fall victim to it before they know to adjust. 

In Sunday’s case, most drivers hampered by early issues were able to fight back through the field and content. But there were a few drivers hindered by early damage, including Tyler Reddick, William Byron and Zane Smith. 

Which reminds me…

Ugly: That wreck ‘avoidance’

Look, it’s hard to know where to go if you’re avoiding a crash at Bristol. Things happen so quickly, a driver’s day can be undone in an instant based on small decisions. 

That’s exactly what happened to Smith and Reddick on Sunday. Reddick went for a spin early in the race and Smith reacted to the stack-up it caused by diving to the apron. 

Unfortunately for Smith, that’s exactly where Reddick had spun—and now that his tires were full of marbles, he had no way to slow down. Smith slammed into Reddick and kicked off a day that saw the pair finish 30th (Reddick) and 36th (Smith). 

Notes

  • Ty Gibbs won his first Cup stages on Sunday, sweeping the opening stages before falling to ninth with tire woes in the final stage. Gibbs led a career-best 137 laps along the way. 
  • Sunday’s runner-up run was only the third top-five for Martin Truex Jr. in 34 Bristol starts. It was his first since the 2012 spring race, when he was competing for Michael Waltrip Racing. 
  • Josh Berry also set a new career mark in laps led, topping his former career total (14) by leading 25 laps in the early stages of the event. 
  • Rick Ware Racing placed both its cars in the top-20 on Sunday, with Justin Haley finishing 17th and Kaz Grala following in 19th. It’s the second time the organization has managed the feat this year, having done so at Atlanta in February. The last time it has done so beforehand was the 2023 spring race at Talladega. 

Race Results

  1. Denny Hamlin
  2. Martin Truex Jr.
  3. Brad Keselowski
  4. Alex Bowman
  5. Kyle Larson
  6. John Hunter Nemechek
  7. Chris Buescher
  8. Chase Elliott
  9. Ty Gibbs
  10. Christopher Bell
  11. Michael McDowell
  12. Josh Berry
  13. Chase Briscoe
  14. Ryan Preece
  15. Ross Chastain
  16. Ryan Blaney
  17. Justin Haley
  18. Daniel Suarez
  19. Kaz Grala
  20. Erik Jones
  21. Corey LaJoie
  22. Joey Logano
  23. AJ Allmendinger
  24. Austin Dillon
  25. Kyle Busch
  26. Todd Gilliland
  27. Carson Hocevar
  28. Daniel Hemric
  29. Bubba Wallace
  30. Tyler Reddick
  31. Austin Cindric
  32. Harrison Burton
  33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  34. Noah Gragson
  35. William Byron
  36. Zane Smith

Stage 1

  1. Ty Gibbs
  2. Kyle Larson
  3. Chris Buescher
  4. Brad Keselowski
  5. John Hunter Nemechek
  6. Ryan Blaney
  7. Martin Truex Jr.
  8. Christopher Bell
  9. Ryan Preece
  10. Josh Berry

Stage 2

  1. Ty Gibbs
  2. Brad Keselowski
  3. Joey Logano
  4. John Hunter Nemechek
  5. Christopher Bell
  6. Martin Truex Jr.
  7. Denny Hamlin
  8. Kyle Larson
  9. Bubba Wallace
  10. Ryan Preece

For analysis of the results and playoff standings, check out our weekly Playoff Points update. 

Next Up: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (March 24, 3:30 p.m. ET)

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