Not every Food City 500 winner makes the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, but a victory in Bristol Motor Speedway’s spring race certainly improves a driver’s chances. Each winner since 2007 #31-Jeff Burton, #18-Kyle Busch and #48-Jimmie Johnson has qualified for the postseason. Two Food City 500 winners during the Chase era have gone on to become champions: Johnson in 2010 and Kurt Busch in 2004. Jeff Gordon is the last competitor to win Bristol’s spring race and the championship in back-to-back seasons. The four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup titleholder accomplished that feat in 1997-98. Gordon and the Busch brothers are Bristol’s active win leaders with five apiece. None is likely to challenge Bristol’s all-time resident of Victory Circle, Darrell Waltrip, who won 12 times, including seven in a row between 1981-84 behind the wheel of NASCAR Hall of Famer Junior Johnson’s Chevrolets. Defending Food City 500 winner Kyle Busch has won the race three times, including 2007 in the debut of the NASCAR Sprint Cup’s new car.(NASCAR)(3-14-2012)
