Late-race strategy at Bristol propels Ty Gibbs to first NASCAR Cup win: When Chase Elliott spun to cause the eighth caution in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, driver Ty Gibbs had an emphatic message for crew chief Tyler Allen. “I don’t want to give up track position—at all,” Gibbs asserted over the team radio. Allen acquiesced, and Gibbs restarted in the lead on Lap 486. He held that track position through a ninth caution that sent the race to overtime and beat Ryan Blaney to the finish line by 0.055 seconds to claim his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory. [Read more]
#54-Ty Gibbs won the Food City 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The win is the first of his career.
Pole sitter #12-Ryan Blaney finished 2nd followed by #5-Kyle Larson, #45-Tyler Reddick, #19-Chase Briscoe, #34-Todd Gilliland, #22-Joey Logano, #60-Ryan Preece, #11-Denny Hamlin, and #77-Carson Hocevar.
Blaney and Larson dominated most of the race, leading all but 31 laps among them. Blaney was leading late when a caution came out. Gibbs was among five drivers that stayed on track under caution and took the lead. He held the lead for the remainder of the race, including another late caution that forced an overtime finish.
Stages 1 & 2 were both won by #5-Kyle Larson.
The fastest lap bonus a earned by #12-Ryan Blaney
There were 12 lead changes among 4 drivers and 9 cautions for 72 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 88.817mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Infraction Report.
Race Fast Facts – Bristol:
Ty Gibbs won the Food City 500, his first victory in 131 Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and sixth top-10 finish in 2026.
This is his first victory and fifth top-10 finish in seven races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Ryan Blaney (second) posted his ninth top-10 finish in 19 races at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is his\ sixth top-10 finish in 2026.
Kyle Larson (third) posted his 14th top-10 finish in 20 races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Connor Zilisch (33rd) was the highest finishing rookie.
Tyler Reddick leads the point standings by 62 points over Ryan Blaney.
(NASCAR)
Driver Points /Chase Standings after Bristol:
Race 8 of 26 in the regular season:
1) #45-Tyler Reddick, 386, +210
2) #12-Ryan Blaney, 324, +148
3) #11-Denny Hamlin, 300, +124
4) #54-Ty Gibbs, 281, +105
5) #9-Chase Elliott, 264, +88
6) #5-Kyle Larson, 260, +84
7) #24-William Byron, 245, +69
8) #23-Bubba Wallace, 236, +60
9) #20-Christopher Bell, 231, +55
10) #17-Chris Buescher, 230, +54
11) #6-Brad Keselowski, 229, +53
12) #22-Joey Logano, 218, +42
13) #77-Carson Hocevar, 209, +33
14) #60-Ryan Preece, 209, +33
15) #7-Daniel Suarez, 192, +16
16) #97-Shane Van Gisbergen, 177, +1
Outside the top 16:
17) #19-Chase Briscoe, 176, -1
18) #2-Austin Cindric, 172, -5
19) #71-Michael McDowell, 171, -6
20) #16-AJ Allmendinger, 156, -21
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.
Race updates:
Checkered flag for Ty Gibbs. His first career victory.
White flag for Gibbs.
Lap 504 – Green flag for the first Overtime attempt.
Lap 499 – Keselowski Hamlin and Suarez pit for tires. Everyone else stays out.
Lap 497 – CAUTION for a wreck by Herbst in turn 1. Gibbs leads Blaney Larson Reddick Briscoe.
Lap 496 – Gibbs still leads.
Lap 494 – Blaney to second, .25 second back.
Lap 492 – Blaney to third.
Lap 491 – Larson to second.
Lap 490 – Gibbs Reddick Larson and Blaney out front.
Lap 487 – Reddick moves up to second behind Gibbs. Larson to fifth, Blaney sixth.
Lap 486 – Green flag with 15 laps remaining. Gibbs Hocevar Briscoe Hamlin Reddick Larson Blaney Gilliland Buescher Preece Logano Wallace Allmendinger Keselowski Suarez are the lead lap cars.
Lap 480 – Pit road opens. Gibbs Hocevar Briscoe Hamlin Reddick stay out. The rest pit. Larson off pit road first with two tires. Then Blaney Gilliland Buescher Preece.
Lap 478 – CAUTION for a spin by Elliott. There are 13 drivers on the lead lap. Keselowski will get the free pass.
Lap 471 – Thirty to go. Blaney by 1 second over Gibbs.
Lap 461 – Blaney back to a 1.5 second lead over Gibbs. Then Larson Hocevar and Briscoe.
Lap 456 – As he works through traffic, Blaney gets loose and his lead is just 1.1 second.
Lap 455 – Gibbs gets around Larson for second.
Lap 451 – With 50 laps remaining Blaney’s lead is back down to 2 seconds.
Lap 440 – Blaney is extending his lead, now up on Larson by 3 seconds. Third place Gibbs is 2.9 seconds back.
Lap 421 – 80 laps to go. Blaney ahead of Larson by 2 seconds.
Lap 401 – One hundred laps to go. Blaney leads Larson Gibbs Gilliland Logano Hocevar Hamlin Briscoe Reddick and Preece.
Lap 391 – Green flag with 110 laps to go.
Lap 385 – Leaders are back on pit road for service. Off pit road: Blaney Larson Gibbs Gilliland Hamlin.
Lap 383 – CAUTION for a spin by Zilisch.
Lap 366 – Blaney has now pulled out to a 2 second lead over Larson.
Lap 351 – One hundred fifty laps remain. Blaney is the leader over Larson Gibbs Logano Hamlin Reddick Briscoe Hocevar Preece and Berry.
Lap 339 – Blaney takes the lead from Larson.
Lap 324 – Blaney has moved to second.
Lap 321 – Green flag back out.
Lap 315 – Pit road open and leaders are back in. Off pit road: Larson Gibbs Hamlin Blaney Hocevar Briscoe Logano Reddick Berry.
Lap 312- CAUTION for Busch Jones and McDowell on the frontstretch. Busch spun after contact from Herbst. Jones and McDowell checked up and made some contact.
Lap 290 – Larson continue to lead. Hamlin is 2 seconds back. Blaney is just behind him.
Lap 261 – Green flag for the start of the final stage.
Lap 255 – Pit road is open. Leaders are in. Off pit road: Larson Hamlin Briscoe Logano Hocevar Gibbs Blaney Berry Wallace. Blaney again with a slow stop.
Lap 251 – CAUTION out for the end of the second stage. Larson wins it. Blaney is second, then Hamlin Hocevar Briscoe Berry Gibbs Logano Wallace Cindric.
Lap 235 – Larson now leads Blaney by .5 seconds. Hamlin has moved to third, 4.2 seconds back.
Lap 221 – Blaney has closed the lead to .26 second.
Lap 201 – Two hundred laps complete in 1 hour, 15 minutes, 19 seconds. Larson leads. Blaney now second.
Lap 193 – Bowman is done for the day after the accident.
Lap 186 – Larson leads Briscoe by 1.2 second. Then Blaney Berry and Hocevar.
Lap 174 – Briscoe to second.
Lap 168 – Back to green. Larson leads Berry.
Lap 160 – CAUTION for SVG Nemechek and Bowman.
Lap 152 – Back to green. Bell had to change the toe link and is now 4 laps down. Larson continues to lead.
Lap 145 – CAUTION is out for a Bell getting into the outside wall.
Lap 137 – Green flag for the start of the second stage. Larson leads Briscoe Hamlin Berry Hocevar Blaney Herbst Cindric Wallace and Gibbs.
Lap 131 – Pit road is open. Leaders are in. Off pit road: Larson Bell Briscoe Hamlin Berry Hocevar. Bell and McDowell were too fast on pit road. Smith had equipment interference.
Lap 126 – CAUTION out for the end of the first stage. Larson wins it over Bell Blaney Briscoe Berry Hamlin Hocevar Herbst Wallace and Cindric.
Lap 121 – Larson ahead of Bell by 2.3 seconds with five laps left in the first stage.
Lap 111 – William Byron is two laps down, in 36th. The lowest of any driver on track. Finchum is behind the wall.
Lap 101 – One hundred laps completed in 32 minutes, 24 seconds. Larson still leads. 2.5 seconds head of now second place Bell.
Lap 83 – Larson continues to lead with Berry holding second. Then Bell Blaney and Elliott.
Lap 72 – Larson back to the lead.
Lap 71 – Back to green flag.
Lap 64 – Pit stops for much of the field. Elliott and Berry stayed out. Off pit road: Larson Blaney Bell Herbst Chastain Reddick Briscoe Cindric. Reddick was too fast on pit road.
Lap 61 – CAUTION for a spin by Keselowski after some contact from Stenhouse Jr.
Lap 45 – Larson takes the lead from Blaney. Chastain is third.
Lap 25 – Finchum has lost a lap.
Lap 16 – It’s Blaney Chastain Larson Herbst and Reddick out front.
Lap 2 – Blaney leads the first lap.
• 3:11pm/et – Green flag at Bristol.
• 3:02pm/et – Engines are fired.
• 2:54pm/et – Pre-race ceremonies are underway.
• 2:00pm/et – FS1 now has RaceDay coverage.
• 12:35pm/et – Byron will have to fall to the rear today. The team had to fix the steering system.
• About three hours until the race, still no cars reported to the rear for the start.
• The weather looks good today. The National Weather Service says: Sunny, with a high near 84. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.
Race details:
Broadcast: FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 500 laps / 266.5 miles
Stages: 125 / 250 / 500
Average time of race: 2:59:42
Pit road speed: 30 mph
Caution car speed: 35 mph
Fuel Window: 200 laps
Timing (all times local & subject to change)
Invocation: 2:54:20 p.m.
National Anthem: 2:55:00 p.m.
Command: 3:02:00 p.m.
Green Flag: 3:11:00 p.m.
Paint Schemes
Cars to the rear: #24-William Byron (unapproved adjustments)
Pre-race inspection in the NASCAR Cup Series garage is complete. The Nos. 1, 5, 41, 66 failed twice (loss of pit selection; car chief ejection). The No. 71 failed twice (loss of pit selection; engineer ejection).
Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Food City 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway have been made.
Pole winner #12-Ryan Blaney chose pit stall 1.
Outside pole sitter #45-Tyler Reddick took the 23rd stall, the first pit stall off the backstretch pit road.
See all pit choices on the Bristol Pit Stall page.
#12-Ryan Blaney won the Busch pole for the Food City 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway with a speed of 127.064 mph for his first pole of the year, second at Bristol and 13th of his career.
Four-time winner in 2026 #45-Tyler Reddick will start alongside on the front row (126.871 mph). #19-Chase Briscoe led the way for Joe Gibbs Racing in third (126.779 mph), with #35-Riley Herbst scoring a career-best starting spot in fourth (126.679 mph) and #54-Ty Gibbs rounding out the top five (126.537 mph).
#1-Ross Chastain, #17-Chris Buescher, #5-Kyle Larson, #2-Austin Cindric and #77-Carson Hocevar complete the top 10.
See the complete qualifying results and the Food City 500 Starting Lineup.
Qualifying Order
Practice for the Food City 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway is over. The results:
#47-Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 124.573 mph
#4-Noah Gragson 124.282 mph
#2-Austin Cindric 124.186 mph
#43-Erik Jones 124.170 mph
#23-Bubba Wallace 124.121 mph
Slowest: #66-Chad Finchum 121.859 mph
Most laps run: #12-Ryan Blaney, 77
Best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 36 drivers): #4-Gragson 123.519 mph
Notes: In the opening minutes of Group 1, #35-Riley Herbst smacked the outside wall multiple times. #12-Blaney had the quickest car over 15-, 20-, 25- and 30-lap averages.
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the Food City 500 Practice speeds page.
Crew Rosters
The entry list for the Food City 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway is posted, 37 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
The only open team entered: #66-Chad Finchum.
See the full entry list on the Food City 500 Entry List page.
Goodyear Fast Facts — Bristol: Goodyear will bring new left- and right-side tires for this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race on the concrete at Bristol Motor Speedway. This new Goodyear Racing Eagle tire setup is designed to minimize the day-to-day temperature swings we have seen recently, as well as withstand the track’s high speeds and heavy loads.
Statistical Advance: Analyzing the Food City 500: A look at some of the top statistical performers at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee going into the Food City 500.
Race rules and information:
