Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series - Full Race - Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race

please join is the Green Beret of 5/5 group leads us in the pledge of allegiance the pledged allegiance for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty justice for all please remain standing as Billy Malden with motor racing outreach offers our invocation let's bring gracious God and Heavenly Father as we rise up once again we do so grateful for the freedoms that we enjoy tonight and grateful for the men and women of our armed forces both at home and abroad who are defending them and protecting them for us watch over and protect them be with these drivers the team's officials tonight watch over them give them a safe night of racing and may your peace and your presence be with the Sall and your Holy Name we pray amen [Applause] here to perform our national anthem please welcome the motor racing outreach kids [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] and now about that the drivers with their cellphones recording their kids singing the national anthem before the night race here at Bristol when we come back we'll fire the engines [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] the Sun beat down [Music] hours traffic and our singing [Music] [Music] running down the drain [Music] never would come to me down the drain [Music] [Applause] Monster Energy Cup Series racing from Bristol the Bass Pro Shops NR a night race for some of the storylines before the engines get fired up let's go to pit road we start with Kelly stablished Jimmie Johnson is still riding a 46 race winless took the longest of his career but Bristol could be just the place to end that streak after all Jimmy has a pair of wins here and has the best average finish here for the last several years third here in the spring the last time he went to Victory Lane Marty he started 11th if he's gonna do it tonight you'll have to do it starting 13th Kelly Kyle Busch has seven Bristol wins I asked his crew chief Adam Stevens earlier today what makes him so exceptional at this racetrack he said his ability to move his line around the racetrack he said I'm not talking about big moves I'm talking eight to 10 inches that means momentum and speed it's fast here at Bristol it's high bank but it's also a game of inches Kyle Busch will play that game and try and get his eighth Bristol win tonight Parker Marty Denny Hamlin's crew chief Mike wheeler told me a couple weeks ago we have the speed we just haven't executed I didn't quite believe him then they went in one to pole positions in a row and I said all right they do have the speed so what is it going to take tonight to win at Bristol he said we've got the speed we just need to find a way to execute on this race team he'll do it from seventh place here named hard to believe Kyle Larson hasn't won yet in 2018 in fact he's run so well that he has a 201 point cushion over the cut line to the playoffs but tonight it's all about winning at Bristol something he wants to do so desperately back to that points thing well is it over for some is it still good for some for that discussion let's go upstairs to our drivers booth and Jeff and junior hey guys Jeff let's take a quick look at the playoff battle at the bubbl we're just and it's right here Ricky Stenhouse needs to gain 21 points per race old Bowman in the next three weeks to make the playoffs but he only averages 21 points per race total so it's gonna be tough for him to point his way in it's gonna have to have a terrific race tonight even make it in I firstly think he's gonna have to win I just don't think he can pull himself and they just haven't been able to do it this year I got my eyes on Daniel Suarez though down there in 19th I think you can get it done but let's go trackside for the command ladies and gentlemen the track is ready the drivers are ready it's Bristol baby are you for the thousands in attendance and the millions watching around the world ladies and gentlemen let's get ready to run and here to give the command of the five most famous words in Motorsports please welcome our grand marshals noted commerce conservationist and founder of Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morris legendary angler build dance and a CEO of Ducks Unlimited Dale hall along with 200 Bass Pro Shop store managers on behalf of all the great folks at Bass Pro Shops and on behalf of all those who love the great outdoors and especially tonight on behalf of those who serve in conservation our friends at ducks in Lebanon and NRA all anglers and all those serving in our armed forces across the country and to all the great hunter conservationists across this great land [Applause] engines fired up fans fired up we're ready for racing under the lights at the world's fastest half-mile [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] NASCAR on NBCSN is brought to you by Chevrolet the most awarded car company four years in a row Monster Energy unleash the beast and by credit one bank the official credit card of NASCAR the Bristol night race was always a race that everybody had on their bucket list you just can't miss it the adrenaline of that race and being in a night race and when cars crash the sparks that fly the tempers a flare but I think the action is great [Music] and this used to be one of those coveted tickets in all of sports coming to the Bristol night race it is an events it is something that it's a must see your race fan you've got to experience want to take a look at the starting grid for tonight's race up front Kyle Larson won the pole chase Elliott will start on his inside and a lot of guys are thinking it's the Kyle and Kyle party tonight well Kyle Busch is gonna start in Row 2 I think he has to be the favored but other names come to mind how about Row 3 William Byron kept the 20 year old upset the racing world in his first win the last great Coliseum aric almirola I think impressed a lot of people he'll start in Row 4 throughout these practices run it very strong and Ryan Blaney another wood that is so strong at this racetrack likes to run right up high up against the wall he's gonna be we're gonna keep our eye on tonight we're also crazy with all this find out but early happy to have it Fleetwood back with it well how long do you think it's gonna take for that stuff on the bottom to wear it out and work the groove to the top that's a good question I'm not really sure to be honest with you watching the other races you don't last night never truck races this kind of hard to tell where output and you know they sprayed it or reapplied it this morning it last night so closely we'll definitely search around though but I think don't happen here but the first stage well man the fans thank you for taking some time good luck tonight have fun all right think about enjoying some of the greatest views of Bristol are when you're riding with these cars with these drivers take us through the in cars all right we got the 22 car Joe the Gunners got that Ford performance camera the front bumper it's gonna be awesome all night long my tricks jr. with the Bass Pro Cabela's camera that's a side painter that's on the right side of the car Kevin Harvick with the Jimmy John's cam he's got a 360 camera in the interior the car there chase Elliott with the mountain dew cam the reverse face we're looking at that all night long seeing him when they're working hard and then Kyle Larson our pole sitter with Chevrolet cam he's also got a right side side painter camera all right Steve the night race it's long it'll be under the lights 500 laps around this bowling well 500 chaotic laps so much can happen it Bristol's it's not just crazy on the racetrack it's gonna be crazy on pit road you mentioned it 500 laps a little over 266 miles but the crew chiefs gonna have to break it down in stages the first and second stage both 125 laps in length that final stage 250 laps and we expect the cars to be able to go about 170 to 175 laps on fuels and a competition caution lap 60 heavy rains get through the area last night washed a lot of rubber off the racetrack so NASCAR's decided lap 60 they'll throw a yellow give these teams a chance to work on their cars let's check in with Rutledge wood at the pecan pit box yeah trick you know what I was feeling and being assignment tonight nailed to here once we define best parties here on the end but I gotta be honest it's gonna be hard to leave this view because you can see so much of pit road and of course coming out of for going into the start-finish here on top of the PIPA peacock pit box this is gonna be a lot of fun you guys ready up there absolutely we're ready it's Bristol Rutledge come on that's gonna be a great vantage point for those guys to enjoy this race right there's they come out of turn number four all right Steve so we hurt our drivers mentioned it'll be Kyle or Kyle but you think there might be maybe the possibility of the youth coming in and spoiling that 40 I've just seen too many things happen under the lights here at Bristol it's too hard to predict the fastest car doesn't always end up in victory lane I think William Byron in 2nd or in the third row there in that 24 seen the 24 do great things here can he replicate it we'll see how fast the upper groove comes in at Bristol again up front it is Kyle Larson chase Elliott making up row one the Bass Pro Shops in our eighth night race is underway [Music] it already Paul Bernard putting a bumper to the back of chase Elliott almost up into the wall Paul Menards going to take second Paul Menard real aggressive right off the bat and that's kind of mentality it tastes at this racetrack we haven't talked much about Paul Menard but he's also in that position if he win tonight he's in the playoffs he's really closed all Kyle Larson in three and four in the middle the 18 of Kyle Busch is around contact they're rolling in there great golden hits late and Steve you said it discussed you have a great car doesn't mean you're going to avoid these kind of things it's lat - partying friend you see the 18 pull away the tail panel damage very heavily the left front tire took a very hard shot we'll have to see what the suspension looks like Bob Wallace with heavy damage on the 43 smoking I assume the radiators knocked out of that car Steve there's mandatory parts that have to be on these cars that's your gross drops what do they have to do especially to the 18 with the back flying off of that so the tail panel is required at some racetracks NASCAR's gonna have to make the decision whether they feel the speed here is high enough that that's going to be required they'll be NASCAR's decision but remember the biggest difficulty here is you only have six minutes to make all of your repairs a pit road can be so long here you spend so much time let's take a look guys on what happened this was coming out of turn four see Kyle Busch on the bottom of the racetrack gets up the racetrack sticky stuff into Ryan Blaney then he just spins in front of the field and when he does that a roadblock right there on the front stretch look for the contact for the 78 see right there is up the racetrack a little bit of contact spin it's just so hard to get slowed down that's real pretty pretty significant contact for the 78 there watch this impact right in the door fortunately Jessie little in that 96 had gotten slowed down pretty good contact the one thing you're concerned about with the 18 is how much was that contact with that left front wheel gonna damage the suspension the toe I think you can compete with the rear damaged they got to replace that tail piece refasten in some way how much damage did Truex get with the right front contact there was area suspension damage toe damage there and they will have to get them all in line before they'll be allowed on to pit road it's still closed Bubba Wallace out to the car already [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] in the dictionary under domination there's a picture of Kyle Busch at Bristol five truck wins nine Xfinity wins seven Cup wins he has been incredible swept here two years 2010 2017 domination is what it is all about for Kyle Busch but on lap 2 he's involved in an incident Marty and Rick he's on pit road Adam Stevens just said the splitter is okay that was one of his concerns because Martin Truex Jr ran over there splitter on the left side that does look fine they do have a left front rub that's one concern Kyle Busch that the steering is ok a little bit to the left they're going to cut that tail piece off which they have done they do not have to have that tonight here at Bristol so they're gonna make several stops here and again pitted while pit road was closed for that 18 car remember the clock is always going to continue to go every time he goes on to pit road so that's gonna be difficult for him but last night he was dominating the Xfinity Series race was out front by three and a half seconds got out of the groove on the high side of the racetrack got into the wall but looked minor but he cut the tire down that put him up into the wall and in the end he couldn't get back out on the racetrack he was out of the race of Kyle Busch not able to continue in the Xfinity Series race not happy at all after the fact and now and only lap two this happens and he's inside the 12 there's no contact that forces the 18 up the racetrack he just loses controls race car slides up maybe touches the 12 11 spins around and now he's just at the mercy of everybody behind them the track gets clogged there's contact this hit right here from the 96 you heard Dale jr. talk about it that's a heavy heavy shots of that left front tire I know they're starting to work on the body as Marty reported nascar's let us know they don't need the tail panel at this short track that's not required so now it's about getting clearance for the tires but guys I'm not sure that left front tire I mean that suspension would take hours to survey at the shop here they're gonna have mere seconds on a pit stop yes I said I'm sorry he said the wheel was to the left a little bit meaning the toe is off at least a little bit so that's something they're gonna have to address for sure they're gonna get plenty of time tonight to work on that another car they saw in that crash replay the 19 of David over Daniel Suarez he's gonna have to have a great night tonight if he can't win into the playoffs I mean he's gonna have to have some this was a chance I think he had great speed in practice so we saw him have contact with the left rear quarter panel from a 43 car it's pretty severe contact so that hurts his chances to win down to Dave and Judy he's going to come down pit road right now work on that quarter panel damage you talked about in fact sawed up part of the bumper cover there Daniel said also I got into the wall a very very little amount so a little front end but mostly that quarter panel you can see they're going working hard on that because jr. even at this track getting a whole race car could be really helpful you say I'm tearing that crush panel out right there throwing it over the wall that that's gonna unseal the interior that car he's got to run all night long with carbon dioxide and all kinds of gases coming into the car coming up into that left rear there's Truex working on his car down to Kelly yeah Jr don't know exactly how much damage trying to see was done to that right front at the very minimum Martin Truex Jr felt like he had a flat tire they had some bear bond ready you see they're making sure they have good clearance now that they've replaced that tire and the other thing I can tell you is true it's just saying it was so slick down low he said he would head sideways through three and four before that wreck Parker right Kelli and Danny Hammond actually have similar comments before the green he said it looked like there was puddles of that pj1 put down on the bottom before they got going and you can see there were they fixed the damage on the 11 car they've been down pit road twice trying to keep that hood down a pole all the fenders on the 11 not a good start for a guy that qualified in the top 10 yeah this track is gonna be slick in parts because of the rain washing off some of that rubber from the night before but we saw cars like Paul Menard he was running really good right around the bottom before this wreck happened looked like he was flying around three or four with a lot of grip so a lot of these guys cars reacted differently gonna work on this left front fender try to remove that tire rub bending the tire the fenders rolled up at the top it's 12 o'clock mark and here Adam Stevens we're gonna lose a lap if we don't get this fixed quick so they're gonna put the left-side tires here on for a Kyle Busch again they put on left side tires only right here trying to stay ahead of the pace car they're barely going to do that and Adam said on the radio this might be our only shot to fix it before we go back green so there's a couple things the first thing Adam Stevens needs to make sure they do is do not exceed the crash clock I don't think that we'll have been down maybe three times about a minute a half a time there are about four and a half minutes total you're allowed six so they should be fine there and how the crash clock works is what all of these cars that were involved reach minimum speed which is a time set by NASCAR it's usually about a second and a half off the pole your normal race pace once all of these cars make just one lap break they're cleared and cleared for the rest of the night unless they get another accident so after that then all of these cars can really make all the corrections and all the repairs they need these minimum speeds just barely out of 18 seconds should be not an issue but look at the yellow tire up on the 18 I'm not sure that's just sheetmetal guys I wonder if the suspensions not damaged making the car travel awkwardly it looked like they had hammered it out pretty good guess see they're going to come back down right now and they know they're going green but they're going to come back down they said they we just can't take a chance here so they're gonna try and figure out where this rub is and see if they can diagnose this a little bit more in the and Marty to have they've already used about three and a half minutes of the crash clock so we're gonna have to really pay attention not just the lamp they don't want to be eliminated Rick absolutely now about ready to go back to racing as the 42 of Kyle Larson has Paul Menard on his inside as the green flag comes back out so now think about these guys they just saw a big wreck by guys being on the bottom how you would confidence ride that car as hard as you won't do in the bottom of the racetrack we see some are confident some art look at Kevin Harvick oh there's contact Harvick takes the lead away from Kyle Larson Larson slides up the racetrack and there was contact made between Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney he concern with that left frontal Blaney now Larson coming back on the inside and Harvick's having a little trouble hooking up on the outside line here it's really hard to tell when these cars are what these cars are you know how these guys are feeling about the grip where the grip is it's all one way to find out though is let's just drive the car drive it hard and find the limit of course you've seen already two cars that are front lose the bottom and lose grip Blaney looking at the lead yeah Larson come off the bottom there look at that run in the middle by Blaney looked like Larson was going to run right around the bottom there slipped up off the bottom off of turn four and Blaney gets that run the whole field now wrestling for the bottom of the racetrack so we just heard the drivers talking about the bottom being very slick well now they're all on the bottom so that's what's confusing about this chemical they lay down is when does it fire off how long does it take before you can make grip on the bottom of the racetrack in that killer Kevin Harvick who was leading the race has already fell back to fifth place just in front of this pack here papa dart who was running in second Paul jr. he's fallen way back since the restart he just radioed in to his crew something's wrong remember at the start of the race he had super drift down the bottom and nearly got to leader Kyle Larson but now he's in trouble so we're just getting report Michael went down a 34 car he did not get out before he before the time ran out on his damaged vehicle policy so he's out of the race everybody else has made it to minimum sole defense their heart into the wall as he is struggling with the 21 now after the restore he is holding up William Byron here Williams trying to find a way around him Paul's going to the bottom hold him in the bottle trying to move Matt away but Paul's finding grip down there trying to settle in it's almost what you have to do it in junior you don't want to put yourself in jeopardy he they don't block you can't get past all night now Bernard vocals hard I'm uploading great this couldn't pull down he radioed in left front is shaking like crazy left front what it almost sounds like a wheel loose doesn't Steve a bit shaken yeah it does a wheel or perhaps damage to the tire but you hate to have a loose feel before you even a pit stop but we've seen it happen and you see how much the 21 is struggling up the racetrack William buyer trying to get by Jamie McMurray looking low on the bottom a little bit of contact for sure out of 21 and this trouble has it drugged William Byron I mean William lost so many spots just because he could not get back to the bottom of the racetrack Parker and Jeff his spotter was screaming on the radio moves or 21 trying to encourage William just use that buffer to get by he finally gets 5 on the bottom listen it's hard to move a guy when he's in the top and he's on the bottom you can move him and drive underneath him but he's on the top and he moving where are you gonna go when there's guys underneath you so it's so time to move somebody but on the top of the racetrack that's a dangerous time to do it got Ryan Blaney up here leading the race look who he's about to come up and lap Kyle Busch just right in front of him there I'll struggle in to keep the speed in the car well here's 20 here's the 21 trying to get down Blaney has to check on the right front of the 21 car he's got a bite from flat he won't be able to get down they're all there's circled all the way around for the others impossible to find a clear space to get him down he has some broken suspension at the right front he's hit been caught he's made hard contact with the right side this is going to knock him out of the race I don't know if you'll be able to repair that it's just it's almost impossible to get down and get the pit road he can't ease it down because he can't when he turns the wheel it doesn't turn left it's gonna be NASCAR's messengers debris coming off of that right front tire and let's take a look at what happened you see the right wheel almost completely on I get hard to hit into the wall there well that's that vibration he was talking about he was speed on it in the left front but the problem was in the right front that is a that is a bad angle but it's broken the right front suspension so that's the end of the race for this gap see they're lower and upper both broken Corey Lajoie Bubba Wallace gray Golding and AJ Allmendinger already all off of the track this for the crew to diagnose because the damage they're seeing there but such a disappointment for Paul he had a top five car in speed in the spring before the rains came he was a gentleman top three racer so they were really optimistic about tonight until all this from second on the restart into the wall and now his night might be over at Bristol Blaney still out front [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the two four five dollar mix-and-match deal at McDonald's choose two of your favorites like the Big Mac in 10-piece chicken McNuggets for just five bucks last great policy and welcome back to Monster Energy Cup Series racing from Bristol Motor Speedway NASCAR Drive that is your live race day companion you can ride along with in-car video of your favorite drivers you can even watch multiple angles at once never miss a lap with NASCAR drive a NASCAR calm drive riding along with Martin Truex Jr he got caught up in that incident on lap 2 he has rebounded back and currently running in the 19th position Jimmie Johnson a by Clint Boyer down low through the four team Jimmie Johnson in the 48 Ryan Blaney has a 1.1 second lead over Kyle Larson those two trying to separate themselves but chase Elliott holding on to third right now about half a second back from Larson then it's Ricky Stenhouse jr. and Kevin Harvick all in the top five seeing a lot of these guys running the bottom running the top see Jimmie Johnson up high cars behind him running high Stenhouse hard they've been running up top and they've been running some of the fastest laps over the last several laps and we've got 15 14 laps to competition caution and that Stenhouse jr. he just went around chase Elliott for third place we talked about Stenhouse jr. needing to win to move himself into playoffs and right now early of this race he is doing great burned in third spot and Jeff he knows they have to win tonight always comfortable here at Bristol he said it reminds him of an old dirt track talking about Ricky Stenhouse jr. now in the third position moving forward he said you know what we probably had the best practices we've ever had here at Bristol qualifying I messed up but I'll fix that for the racing so far he has he's been his way into the top three I threat to win and put themselves in the playoffs tonight here you go we're gonna talk about the playoffs and you see right there in 17th position is as soon as you hear in 36 points behind that doesn't look like it to too much you were thinking earlier at the shows maybe he couldn't point his way in but well Alex Bowman run 30 feet right now that's 30 I don't know that that's gonna be enough he tapped the game he's got three races to do it and he misses his very best racetrack so the tracks coming up or traps he doesn't run well on so he's got to get it done tonight he got a great night tonight and they give it all back up so I think he still has to be in must win both guys it's got to be important though that he's running in the top ten because stage points are so important that's exactly right and I'm a you know I will say this the last time we saw him in must win situation at Daytona there were a lot of things happening around Ricky Stenhouse jr. so he's gonna have to maintain calmness in the midst of chaos and Chevrolet on the move as we look at Austin Dillon started all the way back into 40th and has moved up twenty six spots currently running in the top 15 and 14th now it's that big wreck and has been very patient he's passing cars picking it using his moments definitely being wise through traffic Parker night Steve and the reason he was in the back is because they failed three race Tech three times his party Greg Ebert was a they're going to lose 30 minutes of practice at dawn it doesn't even bother me we're starting it back we know we can pass you seen that now we've seen glimmers of greatness out of RCR Richard Childress Racing over the past couple weeks we thought Austin Dillon had a great shot of finishing second a week ago at Michigan you see it the other RCR car Ryan Newman going a lap down right here Jamie McMurray going a lap down that traffic is allowed Kyle Larson to gain old lady and we mentioned it's about three laps until that competition yellow and the last time we saw this 18 of Kyle Busch he was coming to pit road as this field was coming to green to work on that left front tire rub well he is two laps down which is very difficult to make up but this early the race is definitely possible and the laps right now faster than the leader consistently so even with all that damage I wouldn't quite count the 18 out quite yet it looks like a Bristol race car as you mentioned a competition caution coming up at lap 60 because of rains that came through through the night as well as this morning and afternoon and so the teams will then have an opportunity to work on the cars once again everybody can come to pit road and get fuel if they choose [Music] chase Elliott currently running in the fourth position 1.8 seconds behind race leader Ryan Blaney and chase Elliott Ryan Blaney a very close group of friends matter of fact Ryan Blaney went back with chase Elliott to celebrate his first win that he got it watching his win and there's the competition pop in his cup somebody caught a huge break for that competition caution Jamie McMurray he the junior driving over here watching him something was clear to happen he has a tire down or something and he got a lap down but he called a huge break by that caution coming in leaving the car back and forth like he may had a loose wheel he's trying to figure it out itself self diagnose the issue it's very close to going to laps down there which would have been a difficult thing to overcome the rest of the night so everyone will get in line before they come to pit road looking forward to tomorrow points leader Scott Dixon in the Verizon IndyCar Series they're going to return to action as weekend at Pocono Raceway again that's tomorrow 2:00 p.m. Eastern on NBC SN will power actually pull the pull earlier today the Indy 500 winner has won the last two Pocono races so should be a great race for the Verizon IndyCar Series now Rick one thing about Bristol it's cramped on the racetrack well it's cramped on pit road these pit boxes are small and with over 22 cars on the lead lap that's a lot of cars to hit pit road at once hopefully everybody will be able to get in and out 30 miles an hour they have to crawl around this place party they coming down pit road the leader Ryan Blaney Ricky Stenhouse jr. and also on this into pit road chase Elliott is he all three of those guys top of the screen is Ricky Stenhouse he said it was really good early we got tighter the longer he ran he said for some reason my brakes feel like they're going long or a little bit softer Ricky Stenhouse jr. we'll watch that for Ryan Blaney he settled a little bit loose longer than random for chase Elliott at the very front and these backstretch pit stalls tight early improving though as he runs these guys all with four fresh Goodyear tires and Sunoco fuel name on the front stretch you'll see 10th place Brad Keselowski seventh place aric almirola and second place Kyle Larson's most of the drivers reporting that their cars are tight I don't think anybody will pull a strategy move here with a green racetrack they'll take four Goodyear tires and Sunoco fuel Larson's car was tight enough that he wanted a chassis adjustment so the early leader of the race the pole sitter will get a little bit more adjustment see Ricky Stenhouse jr. looks like he'll win the race off pit road and that race off print pit road brought to you by Kroger click lists do you see Stenhouse jr. gaining a couple spots Clint Boyer as well Blaney Larson dropped one each [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you speeding penalties for the 19 of Suarez of the 17 of Ricky Stenhouse jr. and so those two got hit going faster than the 35 miles-per-hour they are supposed to only be able to go 30 nascar gives them a five mile-per-hour cushion field approaching the Geico restart zone it is Blaney and Larson Blaney up top Larson down below just like last night that outside line seems to be the preferred line to restart look at Larson struggling off the turn to look at her catching Kyle Busch just came off pit road you know they're still working on the car he's gonna have to fight hard here to keep from going this would put him three laps down yeah he's gonna drive hard he knows that he he could not afford to go down another lap we've got a lot of cars getting the wave around a lot of cars getting the lucky dog it's gonna make it difficult for him if he's three down two down is doable and if you're Ryan Blaney I think that's your goal I think you want to put him three down you don't want to give this guy any hope at all Erik Jones given Jimmie Johnson a little bit of bumper down there and three return to for the third position Harvick's up to second and a little wiggle up top but it's Ryan Blaney trying to put Kyle Busch a lap down another lap down it's hard to come back from - but it's much harder to come back from three and blady knows that but we saw it earlier before this caution dat car was fast even with that damage and right now he's driving away from Blaney he's missing that tail piece and if you take that tail piece off that should end most in theory increased downforce on the back of the car and take away a little bit of drag wouldn't you say Steve absolutely I think a takes away a little dragon adds downforce but this is a short track and short tracks they aren't required if they come off with damage Kelly something was broken maybe that he had a wheel coming off they managed to stick it out until that petition to come back here to the garage to make that repair revealed just hate the camp with issues like that the sports tough enough the tracks tough enough competition is tough enough you hate to go to the garage air because of a mechanical issue now Larsen chase Elias at by side this is for 6th position Larsen restarted on the inside of the front row this guy I thought was going to be strong tonight struggling right now the trying to find where his car can get speed and grip working at top working at bottom he's working that top he's committed to running he could have gotten down there between those two cars with the lap before this in the center three and four and approaching the exit of four watch Jimmie Johnson drives into quarter hard like you have to and watch the back of the car it just is not with him having to chase it and that's why he lost that position and while Larson came up so quickly on you look at largest car that left a right rear quarter panel with that damage I hate to be particular but I believe that the image is not you know that's that's definitely gonna take a little side force out of that car anytime you deform the right rear or the right side quarter panel definitely change the side force and lateral grip of the car and it could be slightly affecting what he's feeling when you save deform what about the 18 Kyle Busch he's got a deformed car he doesn't even have the back part of the car on it and he seems to be turning faster lap times than anybody on the racetrack it's great shot you can see the two distinct grooves legato is kind of run in the middle it's quarter quarter panel of 18 cars kind of flare it out you want that that's like a wing like a little spoiler on the right side definitely not having that tail piece it's going to decrease dragging maybe increase some downforce three-wide battle there trevor bayne trying to get in the middle of this argument oh man that's tough tough for Trevor on the inside going into that shallow trying to keep the car low spotters got to be on the ball right here letting everybody know where they are three wide and where are your three wide good job everyone that was tight races right what you got going on down there but [Music] from a driver's perspective how much can you see because it's so when you're in the middle of the corner so follow joey logano right here so he's right in the middle quarter he can't see the exit until now so that's how quick it happens and you're running so fast junior there was something happens these cars just don't stop and you don't see it spiral calls it but next thing you know you're in the wreck yeah this place is so the banking so steep you can't you can't stop for a crash happening right in front of you mark oh boy so laughs 85 but we've already seen a lot of three-wide check out with Jordan who's dealing with what do you do great information from the spotter the spotters watching those elements Tony to go with the too far that's spotter being on his game and paid attention to other cars to help your new car so I'm not watching your car it's about watching other cars started see rubber put down on the racetrack as well not only at the bottom where the pj1 is down there but also up top where a lot of cars have been running Ryan Blaney out in front of the field he's got to move some of the traffic out of the way to get by [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music] make sure to tune in on Wednesdays at 9:00 a.m. Eastern for the morning drive this week Steve Letarte NBC Sports of course will be joining Steve it's a lot of fun with the bagman Pete bostonia I love for only ninety seven laps in we already have a lot to talk about so there's really no telling what could happen in the other 403 laps here at Bristol I'm sure you'll be talking about Kyle Busch and what happened on lap two but also what's about to happen here Kevin Harvick has reeled in Ryan Blaney now and he's been using different lines yeah running the bottom he's been running the top I want to point out in his line if you watch him entering he enters lower than anyone else that runs the top he drives in a little shallower watch right here he's got to go low for these lap cars but once it gets back to the top and the 12 car gets back to the top of our leader Ryan Blaney Brian goes in a lot higher a lot wider and I've watched I've always harbored here for years Drive that entry so shallow let's see if he does it right here see how low he is but he's gonna drive up to the wall see how much he gains right there boys right there but the advantage though is on entry he'd gain so much on the entry and he maintains off and he just keeps chopping away chomping away chopping away every time I try to run that line on entry that little bit lower line I would push from the center off I couldn't get the car turn but I don't know how hard it does it man but he always runs that shallow entry even running the High Line he never enters right on the cushion another guy hopping away yes Clint Boyer he's won in the very bottom he's committed to the bottom right now how much support car drives he and he just drives in so deep but he's so shallow I have no idea he gets his car to turn so well he's drove that line for years take a look at how he slipped up there at three or four maybe he gets in the corner just right and touch got the right rear a little bit in the debris marbles you see any glance in the mirror he knew he lost a lot of momentum so he did that glance in the mirror to understand where Boyer was making sure he had caught a lot of ground on a medium to run a particularly carefree drivers gonna have that moment multiple times tonight we're not gonna see every one of them great riding along with Kevin watch his eyes so right now he's focused on the cars in front of him he sees all that traffic he comes off the corner now watch his eyes right there that's where he checks the rear every driver does it a little differently he likes to check it and you pay attention to the racetrack the cars now boom right there checks the mirror understands where Boyer is behind him you do that because that's a that's a way to tell whether you you've made a good corner you know you're gonna change some of your corner you're gonna change where you lift where you get back in the gas you're gonna change the way you drive the corner and you look in the mirror to see if that was better the only way you can tell is whether you pull away from somebody you're in the game don't you Kelly wasn't turning before they made that last pit stop he said he was his way too tight through the middle and he couldn't put the throttle down on corner exit so they made a chassis adjustment that helped them out you also notice the different lines he's running ten feet wide sparks in the highlights coming in now the low line is to Marty welcome to the party Clint Boyer up there in the third spot trying to get the lead and trying to make that bottom line work as you guys mentioned up top warriors crew chief pike bugger Ravich his wife is expecting little e any hour now but he made the decision to stay here he said we've had such a terrible weekend we've told every setup at this car I'm hoping it works tonight so far it's work fellas well right now these Fords are looking very strong up front one two and three here comes Harvick now with the traffic in front of the 12th Blaney Harvick gets to the door of Ryan Blaney can he make the pass William Byron up top holding up Blaney lane he's gonna have to get aggressive with his lap traffic he's gonna be trapped behind him there he goes to the bottom the bottom of one to two is going to work really well all night long the bottom of three or four not quite as good as the top if Blaney hasn't really been messing with the bottom bunch he's been on the top Boyer and Harvick both have been tried in a little bit so they may have a better understanding of what the car can do on the bottom now Harvick going to try to jump up on the outside try to get around him to get through this is the deal right here let's see the w0 car that's gonna be Landon Cassill and that's gonna determine what happens right here with this outside lane can they get around he'll make it three wide how does this go work out that's gonna cost Harvick here second position if he's not careful and Harvick about to lose second to Clint Boyer Landon Cassill Darby she's gonna go to the middle it's gonna try to force all these Nikes see if you get aggressive like that maybe he'll be able to maintain second position he doesn't want to give it up to Clint Boyer that's where boy who's been running he knows what his car is gonna do on the bottom that's where he's been the best so a car that's gonna wake and work on the bottom I think Boyer in that 14 comments car he has the best shot of doing it there he is he pulled up in front while all this is happening look at how far him plate he is now he's done past whatever he said to pass one of the victory March shakes Junior's a lap down now there are only 21 cars on the lead lap less than nine laps to go in stage one they've also run down Kyle Busch he had a half a straightaway almost a 3/4 straightaway on the leader and remember with all this trouble in front of Blaney he was leading this race in the spring and got in a wreck with lap traffic see this three wide boy you're trying to get by these two lap cars that's Benedetto in the 32 he's trying to find a line under seven laps to go Clint Boyer up to second able to get by the 4 of Kevin Harvick now Ryan Blaney less than six laps to go to the end of stage one Ryan Blaney he doesn't have any stage points wants to win this stage his 5 sports stage points so cliff Boyer has a few more than him you see this bottom lane has started not to work for boy or look how much the run Harvick was getting no corner and exit now we're going back to the 9 of chase Elliott the track is Ricky Stenhouse jr. and he looks like he's going to come to pit road before the end of stage one used in 12th position when he decided to dive onto pit road here comes Eric Almirola in the 10 it needed to come from 27th after that speed penalty on pit road so he got a good race car party it's a flat tire for Ricky Stenhouse jr. guys are on pit road right now with three laps to go here in the state and one of the fastest cars an entire time Harvick's got back by Boyer to second Ryan Blaney he's got a parking lot in front of him trying to get alive laps winding down less than two to go but here comes Harvick and we know how aggressive Harvick will be to win a stage Blainey trying to get by her ex also in their trap to get his lap back impossible David Ragan at 38 car he's on the lead lap trying to single that lead lap with only one lap to go here comes Harvick find a laugh coming to the checkered flag photo finish for the stage ending Blaney doesn't Harvick's so aggressive it was three one thousand sorry sorry three thousands of a second that Harvick missed winning that stage say that's a photo finish yes it is look I can take a whole lot more this that was just stage one just stage one Ryan Blaney that is his fifth stage win of 2018 fan favorite Ryan Blaney is only driver to lead over 500 in 2018 without a win and it was just that close for young Ryan Blaney [Music] [Music] [Music] NASCAR on NBCSN is brought to you by coca-cola the official fan refreshment of NASCAR fan duel this season there's more ways to win on FanDuel for going further so you can and by Sonic get a chili cheese Coney or quarter pound cheeseburger with tots for $2.99 take another look at how close it was between Ryan Blaney and Kevin Harvick this is for the stage win Harvick has him and then lady on the high side three thousandths of a second gets the stage win and how close is that well I said photo finish that's what now it's close and they're getting ready to come to pit road again NASCAR scoring has to get them all in line before they open up pit road not only pit stops but our adjustments are going to be important because the Sun has finally set the track is going to continue to change so Kelly we've got to see which crew chief makes the right adjustments on their race car and Kevin Harvick did not like the adjustments the 40 made the last time on pit road so they're gonna go back on those he said he has no rear grip the four car just snaps sideways he said when he tries to run up top that also gonna make an air pressure adjustment for Kevin Harvick for tires and fuel Marty his teammate Clint Boyer finished third Kelley in stage one he said the car was too free on entry they debated on a wedge adjustment and boy your weight that Austin you know what it's gonna take too much time just give me an air pressure adjustment up front Ryan Blaney with a nice stage win in a fun battle with Kevin Harvick he said he was loose on entry but needs more center turn so they're gonna make a wedge adjustment Kelly Parker and Marty Erik Jones is gonna pit out of eighth place he was as high as third in that stage but then came across radio screaming how Lucy was and will 2013 a tire going down they're gonna do four Goodyear tires and and a wedge adjustment call six place aric almirola in fifth place Kyle Larson did the same thing on this run they went to the bottom Almirola used it to his success moving up Kyle Larson got some spots back but Larson's really unhappy with his race car lots of adjustments in the 42 and lots of loss of position on pit road I would say that has to be happy Harvick his crew got him out first off of pit road [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Monster Energy Cup Series racing from Bristol it's the Bass Pro Shops NRA night race in two weeks Darlington Raceway is gonna host the official throwback weekend of NASCAR classic paint schemes all the great legends of the sport on hand and you can be there to visit nascar.com slash tickets if you want to take it to spoil that race should be a great one speaking of great ones Rutledge wood and you found a great place to party right Rick you know I did Dale jr. told me I had to come find the best party at the track and it's so good that there's even people here that look like me that's so weird man I like your plaid shirt guys old old smokey moonshine took this roof turn it into a party deck and look around everybody's having a great time look we even got Cole trickle fans here I prefer the Kyle Petty fans when they have theirs but guys a great view down here look at all the action it's right there on the other side of us and the bar is huge Junior this is a great assignment buddy Junior you city's out there is that how that works I just milk jail it looks like a lot of traffic up on top of that if I'm if I was if I wasn't up here that's where I'd want to be having a good time tank now the 48 by the way of Jimmie Johnson got caught for speeding so watch this 9 car he's rollin off pit road he's got two cars in front of him right now he's in third so he doesn't want to start on the outside lane on the inside lane so look at him stop each gives Boyer that spot now he all those got run into by Almirola dude it's going to allow him to start so listen all riders ride on you heard the brakes squealing right there he actually got on the brakes now you see he's lined up on the outside lane of fourth field approaching the Geico restart zone Kevin Harvick on the high side Ryan Blaney down low Harvick jets out front chase Elliott on the high side in the 9 gonna try that same line that Kevin Harvick was able to use to get by Blaney and now Blaney slides in behind harm or the 9 of Elliott chase Elliott is going to take the lead away from Kevin Harvick at Bristol and all that started with his spotter giving him that informational pit road it takes a team to win these races is not just about the driver look at Kurt Busch running around the top trying to make it three wide on the outside of his teammate and they looks crystal ready Man gun tape owner ready to go every piece of tape make you a little faster here he's making that outside word its teammate Harvick it's gonna be forced into the outside crews gonna have to make it work to to stay ahead of Ryan Blaney blame me trying to come through all the bottom doesn't quite clear about the term for Joey Logano this is off the left running his car trying to stay down in that adhesive that they add it to the track guys are still trying to use it so clip were said it was wearing out but look at our leaders they're all down then they're trying to use it see Harvick struggling a little bit he did this and a restart prior to this as well later in the run though he came all and see if that's what happens this run as well which way to the top you're talking about that substance at the bottom of the track it's called pj1 that's after the guy who now owns the company PJ Harvey it was originally designed as a high-temperature coating for NASA and it has now gone on to be a part of drag racing and a part of NASCAR as well it cribs Larson back in the conversation he struggled he was the fastest car in practice had a 50 lap run who runs a 50 lap run and practice anywhere much less Bristol this car was so good and he was still fourth on average with 50 laps straight it's back in the conversation he's fell back throughout the race but looks like they've improved his car on that last stop Junior it's funny you mentioned average wow that's close he said we're a long way from being and he paused and then said average so that's why they went to work so hard on it looks like they've made progress that's a great shot it's sad cam and Busch got in front of Morrison and just went to the bottom keep that spot goes right back to the top just slipped right up out of that groove it's hard for these guys they made this PJ one a little narrow compared to the last race and the guys are having a hard time keeping the rights in it if at all so they're only be able to keep the sometimes they can keep the rights in it if they run real tidy around the bottom let's take a look at the replay these slip to get right there and a hard time drop down in the corner here he's he's not in it very much and really loose you gotta commit to it you gotta get in any dude out of it it's no Brooklyn said or Middle's of no-man's land you either got to be right on the bottom or right on the top nobody's car is gonna be grab it drive it through the middle track very good Larson goes back up high now Eric Jones in the 20 those two fighting for the eighth position Elliott Sadler has a half a second lead over Ryan Blaney then it is six Ford's in a row Blaney Harvick Logano Boyer Kurt Busch and Almirola chase Elliott actually race leader sorry all those guys still work on the bottom out front look out its top right now third place Kevin Harvick see these guys here battling there Jones can't seem to get that bottom to work good enough and they're just switching back and forth man I'm talking about love at the top so I'm going back to the bottom I really love the bottom let's go back to the top look into the card listen to their Jean listen their spotters telling about lap time what it's faster sometimes over on the bottom a 1 & 2 the top three or four and then Trevor Bayne Trevor Baynes having a great race he is just home state to the season Tennessee God no fluke he had good speed at practice him and his teammate both and great race cars this weekend think about this guy he was asked to get out of this car some brought in Matt Kenseth bringing some experience they've been struggling trying to find some speed for all the Roush Racing not just his car and Trevor Bayne having a great night it's got to feel good to him Marty the pride of Knoxville Tennessee as you say and he came out to the Tennessee fight song Rocky Top when he was an so the fans here at Bristol tonight little bit too tight for Bain what makes him the happiest they started 23rd it was steady progress through the field down on the top 10 for Trevor Bayne he's 9 Trevor Bayne looking very strong I mentioned earlier Elliott Sadler that was on my mind because Elliott Sadler announced earlier this week that he was going to be retiring from racing in NASCAR well the very next day another announcement comes out Kasey Kahne the driver of the 95 said he will also retire from NASCAR racing full-time at the end of the 2018 season so a huge announcement the Kasey Kahne who has been a staple in the Cup Series for almost 15 years now yeah are you talking about a driver who has 18 career wins he's won at the Brickyard run a lot of big races but we ran into him early in the weekend out in the bus lot Rick and he seemed at peace I don't want to say that he was excited to retire look at that move to the bottom of the 78 he just seemed like he was ready to move on to the next chapter of his life at perhaps his driving career I don't think he's done behind the wheel [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] it's Monster Energy Cup Series racing from Bristol Motor Speedway the last great Coliseum these cars continue to rock it around this half mile racetrack Kevin Harvick trying to chase down chase Elliott great we were mentioning maybe 20 laps ago how most everyone was around the bottom of the racetrack well now it seems as the tires age the cars are migrating to the top of the racetrack we see the nine chase Elliott leader of the race ran the bottom to clear those two lap cars but now goes right back to the top so guys it seems like maybe what you have to do is new tire at the bottom old tire up top Kevin Harvick seems to be making a lot of time running that top if he can run that top he's been able to run down chase Elliott chase Elliott struggling a little bit there with at lap traffic chase is still run in the bottom though he hasn't moved to the top just yet but as his four car gets closer he's going to get that information from his spotter he's probably gonna be moving up there soon one thing about this four car we talked about it when they dropped the green flag he did not have the griffey meeting so chase Elliott how Lucy was coming off turn four right there but as these runs go old Kevin Harvick gets better and better you can see that run he gets by running this High Line watch what happens right here they kind of stay even Harvick starts to catch him and now watch him gain down the straightaway and Jeff I think in speed by degree the racetrack certainly has gone through a change here the Sun has gone down gotten a lot cooler here at Bristol and you can pretty much go through the top five chase Elliott Ryan Blaney Joey Logano all these guys saying their car has all the sudden gone so loose got to keep up with a racetrack that's one big key it's hard and it changes because it rubber up tighten up have a caution they'll take all that river off that changes the racetrack again Harvick the only problem is is chase running that bottom he's having an easier time to the lap cars because most of the lap traffic is up high so anytime as Harvick closes in he encounters the trouble with the lap traffic because his line is in the high groove look at chase chase sees him he chase sees him coming so he's gonna I got a little space here I'm gonna go up there try that top drew see if I'm found a little speed up there and slow down this this gain on that the poor car has on me check us out we have great cameras so we get to go all bored with both drivers and follow along on the race track so look at chase Elliott he looks loose to me he looks like he's gonna have to turn the wheel back to the right in the middle of corner and I see little correction right there he's too loose it's just not making enough grip Harvick he's got his hands nice steady and smooth his cars allowing him to do that look at the work chase Elliott's have to do versus Harvick this is only a matter of time when you see two drivers like that how much easier it is well armed up right now versus chase Elliott Chase is running those run that High Line also for the first you know handful of laps doesn't really have it figured out just yet to use the struggle up there part goes to the bottom the bottom I wanted to is it bad there's some grip down there not quite as good in three and four oh look at Harvick he has a big moment there quickly for partners the car gets good information for the spotter sit back relax get back and every of them trying to run that nine down again do a little assessment right now making sure this side somewhere all in the car maybe you just miss the lines charges any tree trying to get back to the throttle get the throttle down step the right rear out watch his hands you're the throttle yep here that debris there the tire hitting the hit the wheel well he's out of the groove up in the marbles take about a corner to to get that off the tires and you go back at it you just at that point in survival mode you're just don't react go wreck and then you go back and attack that's what I think is so fascinating you know you and I drove race cars and Harvick can't quit I mean gauges say hey my car is loose and you know he's just got to go in attack he's got to find a way to deal with that issue that all sudden de bellas ant haven't we were riding along with him then boom all of a sudden he's loose want to take a look at tonight's subway fresh take Parker Kligerman [Music] [Music] [Music] that's what a hundred and forty decibel sounds like turn or a wheel coming off so he said immediately I'm coming in that are getting to give them floors of your tires wonder if he got when he got out of the crude he picked up some debris or ran over something with that right side and had a slow leak yeah or if he had a small slow leak and that's what caused him to get out of the groove it's really hard to know go from ballad for the lead to be a little pit road I'm the green here at Bristol that doesn't mean we have a battle for the lead we take a look Ryan Blaney has closed in on the leader chase Elliott and a couple of car lengths here right blend ease move to the top found some great speed he's back into battle here he was fading back into third position racing with his good friend chase Elliott these two guys are going on vacation this week after this race Cup Series takes a week off where you've won your dad and Terry going on vacation that's right Terry balm on a hunting trip oh man spun him out they didn't go hunting that'll ruin a vacation one of us on Saturday night Wow look at that what a great camera view that is showing how difficult it is these guys got their hands full I got splitter bouncing across the racetrack they are driving that groove all the way to the fence in turn wanted to any small little mistake there right in the fence Blaney backs up the center the corner to get this great red on the bottom here at the bottom in her low get all four tires in that sticky stuff if you can this is where it's hard to get grip old corner X because you have to turn the steering wheel so much water it's hard to get the rear tires to hook up and he gave it a good shot there that was a great try being smart to back the corner up three he knows 1 & 2 on the bottom he's gonna have a little more grip at the bottom looking to put the pressure on here he's not done trying he knows he's faster than chase all I can he put them they might not be going on vacation that might change quickly here if Lane he puts the buffer to him but he's gonna try to race him clean oh he's got him now that's what you'd like to see Man 2 good friends but they race hard on the racetrack look at the foot the crates glowing on that 12 car up front Blaney said he loved watching his dad in the Bristol night race now he's leading it Ryan Blaney up front again at Bristol look at Marella now we're all into the conversation now moving up to second place where did he come from actions all over this racetrack go back a few laps go Timmy Hill Daniel Suarez contact come on back for some more [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] caution here Bristol for a spin by David Ragan pit stops happening right now for the leaders top of your screen Joey Logano said his car was much better he was running third when that caution came out his teammate Ryan Blaney right behind him took the lead lap 193 at lap 170 he said we are in trouble the car so loose clearly it got better and chase Elliott was worried that he had a right front maybe either going down or he had used it up too much car got way too tight at the end of the run Parker and a solid night for Erik Jones from the top 10 the entirety of this stage just really loose inside that 20 car has been begging for them to tighten them up and especially so he tight actually use that track bar to go up and help it turn in the center for tires Dave fifth place Kyle Larson has the best pit box will that help him here second place aric almirola up into that second place position running all over the racetrack slight adjustments to the 10 and Joey Logano a great race off of pit row the reason for the fourth caution that came out 238 up David Ragan he was in the way a little bit earlier the 12 got into it but there you saw aric almirola get into the back around goes to 38 caution comes out [Music] [Music] well with 48 to go in the second stage at Bristol all the leaders come to pit road and what does that do that opens up an opportunity for the 4 of Kevin Harvick the 18 of Kyle Busch the 17 of Ricky Stenhouse jr. they stay on the racetrack they take the wave-around go from two laps down to one lap down that could be a difference maker throughout the rest of the night and they know that a caution is coming up in 47 laps after the green flag comes back out so that means that somebody will get the free pass Logano won the race off pit road he leads him back to the green and look who's back in the picture Kyle Larson in the 42 on the high side that joey logano his pit crew got him out first great stop by those guys a little bit of damage to the back of the 22 of Logano he's been hit Kyle Larson working that higher line Ryan Blaney just behind him BuChE CLE just falling back to fourth now they all go down in the bottom Larson was work at the top trying to make it a at 22 move it around trying to find speed back to the top rest of the competition has to be a little bit worried right now Kyle Larson is the highest scored lap down car running 20th ever he stays there of Kyle Busch stays there he could get the free pass get back on the lead lap cars wasn't jumping up on the top and remember that coming Barney gave us a report earlier that he was way too tight other people now are saying the tracks loosened up maybe that's played into Kyle Larson's advantage he certainly had the fast car practices puzzling why his car was so off to start the race maybe the track had just you know with the rain and the reapplying of the pj1 just opted to track that much Ryan Blaney putting a lot of pressure on Larson now look at that right on him this sparks off the 22 car the patch up there on the top of turn two rough bottoming out the trailing arm mounts see I'm enrolled I'm sorry this chase Elliott amaryllis behind those guys those stewart-haas cars do not seem to fire off well on restarts he was surrounded to the front before that caution now he's battling to stay in fifth the youth movement right now in the top six Logano Larson Blaney chase Elliott aric almirola Erik Jones all the top six Makana he ran the bottom by one and to the top of three and four no real consistency yet blinds these guys are choosing especially on the newer tire see Larson knew he couldn't make that pass just rolled in behind the 22 went back to the top enemies to the bottom and gets a chance down here if he could hit one of two just right on the bottom there's good speed down there this is where it's hard trying to get the rear tires to hook up right there it's so hard and now he's committed to the bottom missed the very bottom right here though he just didn't keep all four tires and that sticky stuff jump up in front of Blaney here Blaine he's got a run ladies to his outside quarter now Blaney may be taking this position that all started back in three or four when Larson just didn't hit his marks he was two feet higher than he needed to be while we're on the body that's how precise you have to be and it's so hard this racetrack half mile race track 32 degrees bacon it's so fast you drive in a corner just a little bit too far using too much throttle and you can't hit your marks that's what we saw car lock Kyle Larson do they're going 120 miles an hour so I have to give him a little bit of leeway there you guys say with me mrs. align by six inches well now that we're not doing it anymore we get to be pretty easy to be critical up here Logano trying to hold off Ryan Blaney Kyle Larson two very hungry drivers back here behind Logano check this out five cars racing for the lead here Bristol the Ghana has altered his line just a little bit making a little bit of a lower backing up the center and turning and running off the bottom listen listen to Kyle Larson he's got some things to say so sports lucy and all right neither the trailing arm out to the right side track bar hitting the ground across that bump it's a pretty pretty significant bump it's about the only place on the track you will bottom out the chassis see the air pressures come up it's gonna bottom out less it'll clearance itself over time taste elion bags at the bottom like Larson trying to get to the bottom trying to turn any backup backs up the stair of the corner lift it slow down here it turns it turns down the racetrack trying to get a good run get to that quarter panel step team back old pit road party yeah contact with the wall again guys for Ricky Stenhouse jr. was a fantastic battle between he Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick trying to get the free pass they were really duking it out right now Kyle Busch has that but in the midst of that Ricky Stenhouse jr. made contact the wall he's got to put him three laps down he's coming back on the racetrack back into traffic as they're just 28 laps to go in stage two Joey Logano out front as we go NASCAR non-stop [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] any problem well Rick it's that time of the race 18 to go before the end of the second stage that means NASCAR fantasy live if you're gonna go to the garage if you're gonna make a move you have 17 more laps to do it I really think guys the question is Kyle Busch I'm sure everyone had him in his lineup he wrecks at lap 2 he's read most of the race two laps down now he sits in the free pass position at 16 more laps he'll be back on the lead lap so jr. it's accomplished in the garage or in your liner he's in my lineup you know it's Bristol it's a long race so I could happen he's already got one lap back he's got great speed nice car let's take a look a replay ready playing shovel yeah Oh Lucinda turn three he's been struggling all night loose on corner entry solely for non stop for forty two of the twelve just an amazing save by Blaney great car controlled by both drivers in that situation and loud chase Elliott's to get around them both and if those two guys don't do this great job of driving not only do they wreck but that night car chase Elliott he's in a wreck also this is shot for the nine car he's up second Joey Logano chase Elliott and it's Kyle Larson aric almirola Ryan Blaney Erik Jones Clint Boyer Jimmie Johnson Kurt Busch Alex Bowman all of the top ten chase Elliott's coming hard on Joey Logano he has run him down chase Elliott knows he needs some stage points he needs some playoff points he's already in the playoffs Marty and Rick Nielsen knows how this car progresses throughout alone they start extremely loose at the beginning in the broad but then the car comes to him the longer they run they've shown that all night long so trying to take advantage here and still the lead from Joey Logano under 10 laps to go now till we turn it down the racetrack there Dave we got a junior earlier this week Kyle Larson was asked at the bottom drip isn't as good as maybe it's been in the past as he tries to make this pass his that advantage you because he works so well on the top and Larson said no not necessarily I want options and you can tell because the 42 has been on the high line he's been on the low line he's been working both trying to make passes tonight here he goes back to the high side we just saw Larson put the bumper of the back of the 9 of chase Elliott Elliott goes back to the bottom of the racetrack and Logano staying up high you talked about Joey Logano line how unique it is see how he turns down the corner look at this battle it's a battle for the lucky dog cowboy cal Busch and Harvick and Kyle was way ahead of Harvick I know Harvick was having a problem a little bit ago but Harvick running down this would be the first car lap down to get that free pass this will be a heck of a battle here this be like racing for the win to get back on the lead lap and have a chance it's the last known caution that these drivers will have in front of them less than five laps from the end of stage to pick your battle which one you want to follow the right side of your screen it's who's gonna get the free pass Kyle Busch or Kevin Harvick on the left side of your screen who's gonna get to stage win the 22 of Joey Logano the 9 of chase Elliott and Kyle Larson has backed off because he said it just went tight all of sudden they said be careful because that happen to the 18 and then he that's a smart move Dave you having a problem like that you're probably not gonna get the stage win anyway just back off a little bit save your tires he's still just about 10 car lengths behind that battle for the lead see there he is in the screen on the right just take it easy trying to get them in the karmic side-by-side almost I don't know what to watch here Steve laughs it's the race for the stage win on the rights they're racing for the free pass right now Kyle Busch has the free pass position but Harvick fighting for it is there in traffic Logano also fighting traffic trying to get this win in stage two but here comes chase Elliott on the back bumper what will he do to get the stage win will he put the bumper to the 22 coming out of the final turn it'll be a drag race again Logano is able to get it here comes the 18 of the four those two fighting as soon as the caution comes out the tenth driver goes by and there it is the 18 of Kyle Busch in position for the free pass what a battle on this track that was awesome hey one thing to note so Kyle Busch should be the first guy lap down but that puts Harvick as the only car one lap down right now so if nothing strange happens he should be the next guy to be in that position that's Logano third stage win of 2018 and of course with his win already this season he's locked into the playoff so there's a playoff point helping him advance through the playoffs but he wants to win here Thunder Valley Sonic's American classic just got better get a 100% pure beef all-american dog chili cheese Coney or quarter pound double cheeseburger with tots for just $2.99 this is how you Sonic we mentioned at the top of the show just the atmosphere and the great racing that happens under the lights at this racetrack and we just saw that was the end of the stage and they were fighting for that win well we picked two battles they're about six other ones out there those in our minds were the most important Rick I think they might have heard us high five maybe that was some great racing we didn't know who to follow guys how about over in the drivers booth - could you pick which battle you're supposed to follow there was so much going on and both those is hard to pick which one but amazing job by Kyle Busch to go up against one of the best the business to be able to get that lucky dog and that is what's so awesome buy that Bristol this race is all over the racetrack the stage ends allow us to show it Marty coming down pit road with the third stage win of 2018 for Joey Logano he said he was tight in the center loose on exit both of those got worse the longer he ran right in front of him his teammate Ryan Blaney finished that stage in the third position he said we were not as good that run as we were before he said I can't run the bottom because I'm too free on entry and chase Elliott who finished second in that stage the very first pit stall here on the backstretch he said I think we're a good spot but we need more were to free at the beginning of runs Parker Erik Jones pits out the seventh place position he's been begging for more rear grip inside that 20 cars we knew four Goodyear tires and Sunoco fuel Dave middle of your screen aric almirola confirmed what you guys said not good on the short one sloppy and bouncing he call it as for the 42 of Larson he thought he might have a hole in the nose causing the tight condition they're not going to repair here just four Goodyear tires the race off pit road 22 will contain everybody and a big stop therefore the ten of aric almirola as he comes off two spots better [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] normally when we talk about the NBC Sports Toyota Camry on track car we're talking about this one it was on pit road earlier but tonight we want to talk about the eight team that was on the track well this Toyota has been in all kinds of stuff tonight on lap 2 early in the race Kyle Busch loses his car spins out in front of the field Jessi little slams him in the door fortunately that's hit him that hard in the left front but he came in beat the fender up got the defenders off the tie here he is in a battered car but still badly stayed in front of Ryan Blaney to say only two laps down that was huge because ultimately the battle tournament in between Hillman Kevin Harvick to get one lap down be the first car one lap down caution comes out and now Kyle Busch is back in the game in the lead lap and that's got to be tough for the rest of the competition because he has seven wins in the Cup Series here at Bristol so check this out on pit road we saw this earlier everybody's stopped so look at this chaos three wide coming off pit road checking out Kurt Busch they all stop they want to be in the outside lane Kurt says I'm not stopping he drives beats them to that line guess where he ends up he ends up since 6 so he's going to get that outside lane the line that he wanted that was given it to him by people trying to get that lane and he just loved that I hate those games they frustrate me so I like what a driver who doesn't play the game kind of Falls his way and added a lap of caution here before the green flag Rutledge Rick I I'm trying to live up to juniors request to find the best parties in the infield I'm at the pit road party deck this is really cool they set up bleachers out here so the fans can come in have the total feel kind of hospitality experience but guys the craziness that you see every place in this track you get an amazing view but a fan stopped me and said hey seriously it's cow Bush actually back on the lead lap and I laughed I told him yes then even the guys in the booth can't move is this is nuts it is fun and thankfully your shadow or your impersonator is not hanging out with you on that party deck are we sure that wasn't him well that's a good point I mean I got looked a lot like out of a blue plaid talking shirt on earlier so up front legato and Almirola so a good stop by the 10 team got them some track position the 9 of chase Elliott is still in the top floor Rick the lights are bright the Sun is down it's finally completely dark the race started a little bit earlier than normal still just under halfway left and this is starting to look like the night race we remember that glow of the lights on the cars under the lights Logano Almirola and back up through the gears but Almirola not a very good restart chase Elliott jumps up to second here comes Kurt Busch on the outside we've seen these new tires be treacherous all night they go in there to lean on grip they hope to it's there and then it's not and they slide up the racetrack here comes Jimmie Johnson in the 48 a little wiggle there out of Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson up to fourth now fighting for third big recovery from the 48 was caught speeding earlier he's rebounded all the way up inside the top five Erik Jones in the 20 running in the tire tracks of Jimmie Johnson but it's Joey Logano out front chase Elliott continuing to find that same line right through the middle Erik Jones almost into the wall as he went very high that shot was great I shot was from Colossus the big scoreboard a camera rotating underneath the scoreboard gave us laps here at Bristol you see you mentioned Almirola continued to fight his teammate bails out from the bottom line he goes back to the top let's go back and take a look at that restart you mentioned that Ted just didn't accelerate out of the zone he was on the inside of the front row the 22 is the control car he can set the pace you're gonna see the 22 accelerate looks like he's spitting the tires he just can't seem to get going that backed him up Almirola now in the sixth position and fighting for that spot he has Erik Jones on his outside as well as Kyle Larson look at his rear buffer you see Blaney back there Clint Boyer dies to the bottom how about a great run Alex Bowman right behind Clint Boyer in that white and blue battling painted car great paint scheme I love that 88 great-looking car behind him the three trying to work on traffic as he comes through the can it's a on two and three wide it's right on the side who do I want to focus on and there's battles everywhere Dave Steve is a shame aric almirola lost those positions on the restart because his team as we saw picked him up two spots on pit road in fact Johnny crossfire the crew chief told me last week at Michigan for the company stewart-haas racing the 10 team was best on averages all day long they made a procedural change with their pit crew not a personnel change but a procedure that got them better they're using it again here tonight and it hopefully he can have that payoff later the easiest phosphor a driver to get is with the pit crew can get that form on pit road how about a great run Chris Buescher in the 12th position that 37 pushes car a little bit of damage on the right rear corner but I've been compared to some other cars in the field it basically looks brand new really excels at the tracks of the rut is up to me they felt like qualifying was just flat-out a disaster for them much happier in the race room and it is showing now he's run as high as 11 tonight Rick I thought all of the big three were gonna have trouble that all tripped up I thought it was going to be an opportunity for other drivers but now they're starting to recover but the 78 of Truex he had a moment you see right here on the bottom entering turn one just that time trying to get the power down the middle of corner goes for a slide the 19 of Daniel scores the 11 of Denny Hamlin do a nice job of mourning but look at this that's busy Twitter I would erect just turning to the right at Bristol is bad yeah Logano still out front Elliott running second Kurt Busch Jimmie Johnson aric almirola Parker [Music] and how close [Music] racecars they go by mark I'm gonna give you a little hint be careful I've seen down there before you can get dizzy very quickly watching those cars come by that quick and they are going by quick again turning laps under 16 seconds for a half mile she mentioned because push her in 237 trying to hold off marked Rex jr. they're running 12th and 13th Logano and a tenth of a second lead over chase Elliott Kurt Busch Jimmie Johnson and aric amirola [Music] [Music] only 215 laps to go and Bristol the Monster Energy Cup Series racing under the lights and again he'll take a week off but the Monster Energy Cup Series will return to racing on September 2nd at Darlington Raceway throwback weekend at the track too tough to tame NASCAR paying tribute to seven decades of racing the southern 500 that's Sunday September 2nd on NBCSN Joey Logano chase Elliott Kurt Busch Jimmie Johnson aric Almirola they are running up into the top five and Steve I want to take this opportunity to hand it off to the driver booth let's get over to Dale jr. and Jeff Burton again excellent and taking a break we'll take this one we've got a great battle for the lead watching chase Daly try to run down that 22 of Joey Logano 22 still spark and he isn't that right side track bar pace is picking up as we get later and later into the race but look at that turn down the corner that he has he gets such a good Drive off yes he is able to use more throttle literally has better Drive off running that straight line off the corner it's been able to hold this kind of this kind of distance between him and chase a little trouble lap traffic right here though they're not they're not moving over let's allow chase to close back in there on the bottom that worked well for chase see if he can now chase away him to turn go to the bottom try to get all four tires than that we scream black stuff that's where the drip is still not a lot of help you sell the hand out of the window from JJ Yeley chat saying hey man we let you go we're gonna let you go chase wishes would he let him go a corner before but he didn't and now takes back to the top see it turned out that Joey had this Joey's line man he runs that all the time you got you lift you give up a little bit in the middle to corner get turned go down the track your full throttle review so much more throttle and you carry that I'm down the next straightaway so to do that he has to slow here right there turn and now he's full throttle because he's not turning the wheel the way chase is chase is still having to turn the wheel where Joey turns his wheel now and now we could go straight off the corner well that lap traffic those been tough for Joey not quite getting around it as well that entry is going to be tough to that entry real low and driving right up to the top of the racetrack was tough mile chase to get right here in position but just not as hard to pass on the bottom and three or four it's really impossible guys are able to get up underneath each other in one and two but you can't you don't have that same advantage in three and four on the bottom chase right on his bumper no contact pushed him up the track just a little bit that took that exit why are you going to slide I like it you know that's commitment that's from his crew chief they've had some issues everybody's had a lot of issues with a left front tire rubber for the left front tire where actually chase Elliott though man I mean he started running well and then he got that win at Watkins Lynn who's to say that more aren't coming they started getting staged wind started started things started happening for them and here he is leading another race with close to 200 to go yep it's been reminded to take it easy get that lead all right now let's back it off just a little bit don't want to have an issue with that left front tire coming apart always hated when I slowed down and went faster right and said hey you just slowed down you went quicker and here in a place that happens it's so easy to overdrive the entry couldn't invite you your eyes you got those huge banking corners you're like man I can drive this thing in there but sometimes you just lift a little early or let it roll the middle without as much resistance you can actually make better lap time today what you got going on twenty laps ago the 19 of Daniel Suarez quickly came down pit road either corner he thought he had a right front wheel loose when the team took all four off and examined them the inner side wall of the right front had a like a wear mark around it so there was definitely something going on there the wheel was not in alignment good thing they came down and changed it a lot of stuff tonight Bruce is such a demanding racetrack but here he comes ladies and gentlemen we thought he was done on that - he didn't they kept fighting and right now Kyle Busch has worked himself up to 15th that's enough time now they can't have many more mistakes with only 197 to go but if they have clean pit stops if they have good restarts he can win this race still he's battling right there with Kevin Harvick who still remains the first car a lap down and position for the lucky dog his illowsky is the last car on the lead lap at 18th he is about three-quarters to maybe a full straightaway ahead of the leader party hey let's do our Toyota driver update and they'll do it with Kyle Busch we talked about the impressive march through the field currently right now as you guys mentioned in the 15th spot you see Erik Jones running in the eighth position Martin Truex shooters had a nice rally he's up in 11th but to give you a peek behind the curtain with the 18 team right now calm that's the one word I would use ever since that incident happened on lap 2 a lot of calm on the radio no panic and the theme slow and steady in 15th right now but making their way up through the field normally laughs Kelly a left-handed glove I texted with the team they said it was because he was sweating so much those gloves were getting wet and a little bit slippery so they handed him the glove the last time down pit road what do you make of that guys that's really interesting that report about wanting to change his glove it he's been sweating that much that's thanks really interesting Kelly take a look at this graphic accomplishes afternoon started third wreck don't lap three maybe thought he was taken out LeGrande 182 laps two laps down ran 59 laps one lap down he's back on the lead lap currently 15 still running great lap times has great great speed in his car stuck behind some cars here not really making a bunch of regression it gets harder Jeff as you move through the field you're going up against more competitive race cars and not only is the cars getting tougher but the way the track is now with the top being the preferred Lane it's so much harder to pass see I don't count a roll of having some issues it's a smoke out of the right side it looks like Racing his teammate there a little bit of smoke looks like the left rear tire does have some maybe some contact doesn't have all the letters maybe on it it's hard to tell he's had a little tire you of contact he said he's leaking something yep you heard it there on the radio so he knows that could get slick in a hurry and this is coming out directly behind the car shiny that wheel is you got shiny the wheel is on the left rear the smokes coming from behind the car oh man really loose and I could be him it could be a rear-end gear it could be a whole line it could be something rubbing we had the what we had the one car with a hub earlier it could be having an issue here with a 10 for sure [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] it's still running damn good NASCAR on NBCSN is brought to you by John Deere Gator utility vehicles go Gator Subway restaurants Toyota let's go places and buy credit one bank the credit card perfect for everyday purchases 177 laps to go and Counting out front it's chase Elliott and Kurt Busch right behind him for second let's go through the field brought to you by Hardy morning chase Elliott with almost a three and a half second lead right now Rick in a big conversation between he'll and Alan Gustafson coming into the week keeping up momentum on the racetrack Eddie tohat continued that on the radio take a listen that's a key factor for chase got to keep momentum here at Bristol Kelly Kurt Busch has been the model of consistency five straight top-10 finishes but yet to win this year his crew chief is not told me if we keep running top 10 top 5s that win will come for a five-time winner here at Bristol running second now learning one of the fastest cars on the racetrack for the last 10 laps at Bing Clint Bowyer and his crew chief mike beier average told me I like the speed I don't like the execution we've had lately that's got to get cleaned up here in the regular season Parker Barty he's not gonna be able to hang on for long with that 20 car coming as fast as he is right now he's been three tenths faster than the leaders over the last 10 laps he's been really liking that car right now remember he came so close to winning this race last year gave Erica still flying but still smokin they had high expectations coming in here finishing sixth in April but no further report on what it might be for Eric Marty thanks for Joey Logano has led 95 laps tonight he has fallen back to the sixth position car way too free on this run for Logano trying to run that middle line that he likes rhombic at the top for them doesn't really work here also behind him Ryan Blaney his teammates at his car too free to begin this run they've lost a ton of track position here for Ryan Blaney who did a col thing last night he walked to Xfinity Series race here for Bristol in the stands with the fans Kelly 19th we're rinse for Martin Truex Jr none of those have come on a short traffic that's not for lack of fast race cars as is crew chief told me they just have not had good luck on the short track today they got caught up in that lap three incident but a remarkable recovery running eight right now and behind him is Jimmie Johnson it's kind of an opposite situation for Jimmie who's been so strong here at Bristol with a pair of wins and the best finishing average for the last four years this spotter earl barber telling me heck this is just Jimmy's kind of a place that the bullring is fast exciting he loves this place and behind him there's Chris Buescher what's at stake for this small team will they are in a close battle for 25th in points they told me that would be huge for this team and they're running 10th a really solid day for the 37 team right hey Steve remembered the word intense that I used earlier in intensity could that be ramping up a little bit oh yeah it was a great update on the top 10 will one more update the weather you know rain came through earlier today and then it was going to be spotty and as you can see weather's starting to build right around the center of that those circles right where the track is plus some weather off in the distance so with a hundred and sixty-five to go these crew chiefs and drivers are going to have to decide are we racing to the completion are we racing to a weather issue just one more question Barbie sure it's night race why not well Steve as far as fuel goes 170 laps is about where they are fuel windows so they're inside their fuel window now they will have to come from the start of this final stage before they get the checkered flag they'll have to pay what they're also in the middle of is the longest current green flag run they've run 74 laps so we've heard a little communication about tire wear we'll see if it has any issues there is definitely an issue on the table hearing that NASCAR is gonna black flag then that smoke continues to pour out and it looks to me guys that it must be some fluid when you see the pump recover even though it's flax kind of changing colors right here it's a great shot you can see the theme of course Eric fires back well it seems to be getting better yeah yeah of course it seems to get better unfortunate for the car following it does not believe I'm over the 22 and you see how the screen starts to get covered with moisture the lights start to shine a little bit differently so definitely subdued you said black flag flag expounds the second they do that they're no longer score so it's running laps for running Maya just for your own fun and so they're going to bring him on to pit road and find out if there is fuel coming out or fuel fluid coming out of the tin so he comes off the racetrack for a black black he was running fifth so aric almirola very disappointed that he has to come off the track Daivari cups and of course the true will go and team tires as they're going at the look the looking over the front which Steve why would they do that coming from the tail but you see as soon as they open the hood nothing dripping out of the rear that we can see so unfortunate for the 10 of aric almirola you lose laps so quickly even if they can repair and their chance of winning the race tonight is definitely over NASCAR non-stop for Bristol [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] it's Monster Energy Cup Series racing from Bristol the Bass Pro Shops in our a night race and the caution has come out and that would be the 51 Reed Sorenson and a lot of damage to the right front after he got into Manila but now come back come back up happened down here done hard turn behind the wall potentially a break for Kyle Busch because we heard just a couple laps earlier that he was having an issue and needed to get to pit road take another look there's 51 again of Reed Sorenson up into the wall yeah I have to wonder on a long run this is the longest they've run tonight if you didn't have some kind of a tire problem good break because illowsky he's the first car lap down but he had gotten to lap down and that made Harvick the second lap car lap down so he did not get the pass here the crew chief this puts everybody into their fuel window wants to come down to pit road change four tires change four tires and continue to make adjustments we're hearing all these drivers talk about the track and how it's changing here the pit reporters talked about whether the sticky stuff still working with the tops the best good new tires old tires got to continue to adjust that's what makes this night race so difficult the track never seems to say the same a couple of new players up in the conversation Erik Jones was in fourth place their tricks battle his way up to fifth this guy's starting to show up here late in this race new names new faces up the top ten of the top five now moment he had to pit under green a little while ago that putting two laps down he'll stay out right here and get back to one lap down a tough break he was having such a good night yeah you have to think about Ricky Stenhouse and those guys trying to capitalize tonight and good chance for them to do that here comes the field Kelley and junior here on the backstretch will see the 41 there of Kurt Busch come to his pit stall he said he was loose for a while but then it got pretty tight over although he felt pretty good about the 41 they're gonna make an air pressure adjustment four tires and fuel Marty second place man clip boy a little halfway down the backstretch pits here Kelly he said his car very good especially in the early part of the run no changes for that crew for chase Elliott up here at the front of the backstretch pit stalls he said it's very similar to what we've had before but I honestly feel like the track is working in our favor Parker Erik Jones in the middle of your screen there pits from the top five finally found these the feel he was looking for four Goodyear tires Sunoco fuel Danny Hammond has not been able to find the field they've been working on that race car all night you can see it all patched up from that early damage on that lap to wreck and then Austin Dillon started at the rear and he's finally started moving forward using the top line looking for the feeling needs up there race off pit road won by Clint Bowyer and so Clint Bowyer has never won at Bristol before a best of second winning stage one it was Ryan Blaney then States to Joey Logano with a great finish gets that win can Clint Boyer hang on and get his first Bristol win tonight [Music] [Music] [Music] Anabelle kicking off the regular season on Thursday September 6 on NBC Philadelphia Eagles begin their defense now their Super Bowl title when they host the Atlanta Falcons you know back in 1961 the first race was run here at Bristol and you can see in the infield there's a football field well that's because there was a game played in 1961 an exhibition game between the Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles and take a look at that ticket the world champion Philadelphia Eagles that's because that was the last time they had won the world championship or super will actually talk to one of the players in that game Tom Osborne yeah that name might sound familiar he was a college football coach at the University of Nebraska 40 hey Rick Ryan Blaney had to come back down pit road loose lug nuts on the right side he'll start tail into the field for this research has a great catch get that under caution not find out in a green flag too wide here they come Clint Bowyer on the outside chase Elliott on the inside Boyer with a great start here comes the 78 more trucks junior after a good stop on the high side he moves up to second he'll challenge for the lead as they go to three never one at a short track Martin Truex Jr fighting now to hold on to that second spot as Joey Logano works the middle of the track once again trying to get to the outside of Bart Rex jr. a little further back of this field you see the white car that 18 they cannot get that car full of fuel a long pit stop and be on the outside healthy with this restart Logano had faded on that last long green flag run pre-start on the outside though he's back up in the second position I still use that bottom I'm surprised it's late in the race I've had Kurt he just had a problem his car just went straight to the top from the bottom trevor bayne in there digging trying to get her Neath Kurt Trix it's a great run off of too hard to throttle all these guys still using that bottom groove on new tires to keep that in mind if we get some late go little bobble by the 22 of Logano tracks right in his bumper off the turn to an old-school Bristol there overnight but for all with that Gerace can make that bottle work and wanted to down here and clear him not not so fast just about ghana holds position on the outside quarter the new house was driving up into this in fifth place Austin Dillon who had to go to the rear of the field started the back a good night taken tear his car second place or a top-five finish last week is this the race Martin Truex junior finally gets that short track win now heads he's moved up to the second spot nobody's really been able to take claim of this race just yet and we had so many different leaders boy you're out front for the first time tonight Truex trying to run him down tricks really hasn't had a lot of speed yet had speed and practice seems like they've improved this car throughout the night making adjustments Wheelz pretty smooth throttle inputs seem pretty smooth miss the middle just a little bit there but don't hear any feather in the throttle do it much work they're not working the steering wheel too much for eyes fine interested juniors you see Clint Boyer out front Martin Truex Jr in second really no pressure coming from behind for you the white lease - when do they decide to go to the top that you don't want to be the first guy to go to the top and run slower so I think what's happening right now is the spotters watching chase Elliott running back there in third and chase Elliott has moved to the top if he starts making ground spotters going to say hey nine cars coming now move to the top but until then it's really no need to move chase was a tenth faster than the leader tricks went to the top down there and three or four chase again attempt quicker than the leader leader Clint boy run the bottom chase on top Turek struggling to find speed he's a couple tenths off right now moving around improving his speed just a little bit Kelly and just as you guys saw the 9 of chase Elliott moved to the top plate and use a spotter for Martin Truex Jr told him just Matt he said tonight is the top and he's gaining ground there you go that's the signal y'all you know the tops gonna come in you know it's gonna happen you just don't know win Marty hey guys behind him chase Elliott you saw him move to the top and Junior you're right he was much quicker up there but that was not the plan for the 19 they felt like late in the race the top wouldn't be the place to be they kind of worked on the bottom a little bit more but you've got to be flexible here at Bristol you see chase running the bottom running the middle running the top wherever it creates speed that's where that 9 is going even this far behind Martin tricks junior he can feel that dirty air he can feel that loss of downforce on the front of his car he does well problem they're missing the bottom there but he can feel that so he goes where the 78 isn't sometimes if he needs to run the bottom he'll run the bottom he submits Carver works well on the bottom if he needs to be down there and boy is gonna have to answer the move from Truex you can see Truex is starting to catch him he's gonna have to answer and get to the top Joey Logano is part of that conversation as well he's keeping the pressure on JC Lee so chase can be you know he can look around but not a whole lot he doesn't want to make a mistake and put his car in the wrong line look here he's getting a good run up but it's a pietà direct enjoy the got a chance to try to drive underneath chase yeah so if chase changes his line and something doesn't work he opens himself up to lose that position you cannot afford to lose positions experiencing around on this racetrack he just can't it's too late in the race to be able to give up that spot to a car like Joey Logano so he has to drive a little bit of Defense and also trying to look good there to the center of the corner he's gotten all these guys are driving the corner so differently you can see the gone over that low exit tricks has a similar exit as well kind of stopped a car in the middle and turn down and run off the bottom watching this great battle for this lead four-way battle I'm telling you he's coming Kyle Busch is definitely good I'm sorry yeah he's definitely gonna be a part of this finish think you got mistake-free on on pit road they should be a car part of this battle for the finish this race Marty and June you're pretty amazing on the left-hand side of your screen that's a battle for the lead four cars all in one shot pretty amazing and you talk about that line jr. the 22 seem to take as the battle for the lead heats up here with Poirier and Martin Truex Jr Truex looks like he's going to give that lead away from Clem boy of a Boyar using that Highline to try and get it back as a great battle here but back to Logano he drives off the hill TJ majored his spotter had been on him pull it off the hill driving off feel a little bit different lines Jr's absolutely good they're all starting to use that line as well we've seen it from Truex as well we're seeing it from Boyer stop in the middle corner turn down and run off the bottom let's drop down the hill even put the left rear if you can in that pj1 to get a little more traction and fork for it by it to be able to use a little more throttle you can see where Truex is faster they enter the corner about the same speed but watch right here Truex rolls a little banner is able to turn get that runs go get alongside a boy or now boy is just got to not overdrive the entry trying to beat him off the corner give up the center and roll that speed on corner exit listen in to Clint Bowyer's radio spotter Britt Griffith breasts up there watch and give and Clint boy that information you can see Truex is a little bit faster a lot faster he's really put the pressure on it's gonna be hard to complete that pass he's gonna have to pull that slide job we've seen it a few times before we just got to commit and drive up in there like the 9 of chase Elliott is doing douve to the bottom of the racetrack now chase Elliott in the mix for this fight for the lead next time trait look at that run trees kiss right here this is it drive it on in there right up at the front of the 14 car foresters force yourself in that top groove it's got a good run yeah that is see if you can make it work we're rolling the middle well gonna pitch him out both corner exit new sponsor tonight Cummins on Boyer's car trying to give them a good run boy are fighting up front as number one here at Bristol but that means also the 78 of Martin Truex Jr has it either as we go NASCAR non-stop [Music] [Music] [Music] as we saw in NASCAR non-stop Boyer has been fighting to keep Martin Truex Jr off let's take a look at tonight's Ram trucks prove it to last Kyle Busch Rick accident early Kitty continue to rebound currently in the fifth position battling with his brother current for the fourth place spot who's going to take control of this race there's been so many different leaders tonight right now Clint Boyer leads but after all these pit stops restarts seems like there's a different guy out front each time we see it is every time and then who can take advantage if we get that caution late who can be in the rate light line who can push the issue and make something happen to put themselves in position to win this race Kyle Busch has been so impressive Steve he has moved up continuously we thought he had a problem before that last caution came out now he's up into the top five trying to get the position away from his brother and this is what I'm waiting to see we had this conversation you know it's one thing to pass the car is back in 15th or 10th when you get into the top five these are the tough cars to pass currently plus nine positions on this run alone just cleared his brother Kurt Busch for the fourth position and I don't think he's done there this car doesn't take off great for the first two or three laps but once the tires get just a touch of a John him his car continues to work the bottom of the racetrack the top of the racetrack very versatile in relation to the race leader he is now only two and a half seconds back the next one he has to try to get by will be the 9 of chase Elliott and Rick we talked about the accident but it was even before that where Kyle Busch kind of set the tone for the night at driver introduction [Applause] I don't need no introduction [Applause] sets the tone and he's the guy he I think he drives off the noise the booze the cheers he doesn't care he just wants to be the guy that sparks a reaction and he absolutely sparks a reaction from this crowd he's definitely sparking a reaction and right now Clint Boyer trying to hold off that 78th as they went along here Clint Boyer actually got away from Martin Truex Jr Clint's got that outside figured out Martin maybe uses tires a little bit much trying to get by him and maybe let him cool down a little bit it'll make another charge I think car for car true except Lee has a little more speed flat traffic's been a little more difficult two times for 2x if you think it'd be tougher for the leader he's the guy that everybody races I don't want to lose a lap but look at that way Boyer goes to the corner just puts distance on Martin she goes to the bottom around that lap car will you Byron and now Martin has to shorten up his exit that's a couple car links you have to get yo fight to get back Boyer just seems to be able to get around that lap traffic the only this racetrack is going to continue to change it's only 89 to go but this line that they're running right now where they're turning low off the corner doesn't mean the track is going to continue to allow them to do that Marty Kyle Busch trying to get to chase Elliott that would be for the 3rd position can't overstate what an amazing rally it's been for this team for way of review the accident on lap 2 they were down two laps at one point almost down three laps with this 18 car and let's take a bigger picture view at it with the big three what would a win tonight for Kyle Busch mean after the win by Kevin Harvick at Michigan last week if they can come back from this nearly being down three laps and win tonight momentum going into the playoffs were only two regular-season races left after tonight he is flying I mean she's fast call the racetrack doing a great job working around lap traffic he's pushing hard sideways off turn four Gracie wins last six short track races Kyle Busch he's won two in a row here trying to make it three [Music] he's only 1.7 seconds back from our leader I mean he's gonna get their to hurry no time at all before he's up there working on Martin Trix jr. for second there's Truex there's our leader trying to put a lap down on the two-car Brad Keselowski Harvick right now the lucky dog but if Brad Keselowski goes another lap down here that'll make him a lucky dog Harvey just can't get that opportunity that break to get his lap back cuz he's just as fast as Kyle Busch the same thing to happen the last sequence as they got to the 2 car and lat them and took Harvick out of that positions great battle for 4th Erik Jones had a great flowing run car you talked about Kyle Busch's car and how it doesn't fire off jolts car doesn't either but he really comes on on the long run look at him pressuring 9 car chase Elliott trying to let chase know hey man I don't want to waste a lot of time here right on him putting the bumper to him and it's a home and send him into the corner that's the worst get run into on entry you're not gonna miss none of this battle right here we go to break for you flying off the car might have a caution with that debris we'll see it all right here old non-stop [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] it's been an incredible run by Kyle Busch AG team he got into the back of the 78 Horton Trix jr. slamming into the wall he hits again cut attack made Kyle Busch got to the back of the 78 the 78 spins and brings out the caution once again also involved the 7 of JJ Yeley tire completely coming off the wall and you just hear Martin Truex Jr save that hurt so the crew getting to March Rex jr. he'll take his belts off it hurt and also hurt his feelings yeah you know sit there running second with a shot to win this race obviously frustrated man you put so much into racing mean so much to you and something like that happens it just runs all through you man makes you so bad so much commitment had been made by Martin Truex Jr still looking for that first short track win was in the best position he's been in for a long time to get it running second and there we see JJ Yeley able to just squeeze out of the driver's side of that car right up against the wall let's take a look at the replay here coming off turn four Kyle Busch tricks take it I come down the track a little bit but really didn't turn into the team car JJ Haley just trying to get behind nothing he could do 78 come right across the racetrack huge impact that angle into the inside wall is is an odd one and a tough one just barely touches him there Martin's not gonna be happy with that I think I'll did it I don't purpose by any means but certainly coming off turn four and thank you to 78 was we leave just hard Rex you know the even short tracks going 100 150 miles an hour those are hard hard shots you know those two they normally work really well together and you get this late in the year and these kind of incidents is you know getting ready to make the playoffs and it can wear on a relationship I mean those those two teams they work well together they work well Joe Gibbs and Furniture row but you know those things happen it hurts hurts those relationships we've seen these two guys get into a before it Indian atlas last year late race restart they've been working really well together they decided it was time to race see the result of that 78 thought they've been working the road again and you really didn't want a race at that point thought they could just keep playing along just staying in front of everybody else and you saw the post race what happened between the two teams [Music] as Martin showing his frustration Marty and Rick for what it's worth I'll Bush came on the radio and kind of grown after all that happens that the contact was so light clearly indicating he did not mean to do that and did not want that to happen for what it's worth Cole Pearn came down to the 18 pit box had a conversation a quick conversation with Adam Stevens kind of ended it with a thumbs up but you could tell he was not happy when he walked away short-track bristol racing if we're gonna leave here they're gonna be mad for a second I mean that you gotta remember that they're fighting for a second right now I think Jeff's point is well-founded that two races to the playoffs right Jeff we leave here two more and then they can be racing for a championship and and we've seen that furniture Oh team joke is racing the Toyota connection that works so well together they continue to you know dominate hand it back and forth with Harvick and they're winning as well so it's gonna be interesting to see how this how they recover from this and move forward Marty and see we have documented the amazing rally for the 18 team today but there's a bigger problem and you'll understand this as a crew chief that back panel is not on the back of the 18 car so when they go to plug the fuel cam in it will not work they cannot get fuel in the 18 car they have to physically hold the panel they can't change tires at the same time so they are currently seven gallons short from being able to make it to the end of this race and they're not sure how they're going to get fuel in when they come in and stop this time here's the radio with Adam Stevens a moment ago telling Kyle Busch what the situation and there you go so they are gonna be seven gallons short here Steve so they're trying to figure out what they're gonna do on this stop how they're gonna get fuel in and how they're gonna finish this race right well from what you're explaining Marty they can get fuel in if someone holds the panel which means it's going to slow the pit stop down it took him basically 75 laps to drive from the back half of the lead lap up to second if they have to have another slow pit stop Rick I mean it's a great race car but with 62 to go I don't think he can expect but Steve they don't have to get it full right now to go there 7 gallons sure thing I have to get seven gallons in should only take you know three and a half seconds or so if the car was in good working order but you can see by the damage that it's gonna be interesting to see how they try to do this the other issue with that Steve is if they've been working all night on that car with full of fuel and then they go put tires on it and it don't get it full of all it's gonna drive different it's the car it's not gonna drive the same because it's gonna have less rear weight percentage it and that's gonna change the way the car drives you see there's no nothing supporting that green area at the right rear or excuse me left rear behind the left rear tire you see the dry brake and you see just that I mean the body works blowing around it caution lap speed so it's a hundred pound fuel can at that fuel man the gas man's gonna push and he needs it to push back right if it just gives like a sponge it's not gonna work Steve that think it's a fuel in it I mean he's been racing for this damage all night long so at some point they've been able to get fuel in the car but it's gonna just cost him some time on pit road and how much time will that cost him how many spots will he lose and can't afford losing spots 160 laps to go yeah I mean the last time he was the last car off pit road the lead lap so his pit stop was so slow that he gave up every position on the lead lap and like you said that that would just be a devastating blow well the drivers we heard earlier that feelings are going to get hurt when you go short track racing well Sheri Pollux longtime girlfriend of marked Rex junior just tweeted oMG can't believe that just happened Kyle Busch is a girlfriend you know they go through so much and they ride you know they see their husbands and boyfriends when they come home they see the heartbreak but things don't go well so when you hear somebody express that opinion that's because they're living this every single day and the emotion involved in it runs really high yeah we saw the frustration of Martin Truex Jr when he got out of the car he kicked the car so frustrated at what had taken place they're getting ready ready for that car to get onto the hauler they're not trying to get back out on the racetrack here we go Fields coming down pit road let's see what happens with Kyle Busch Barney party any guys it's interesting the chassis adjustment on the 18 was almost an afterthought their whole conversation was about how this fuel situation was going to go down they are going to make a very small what you just when you see him plug it in you see it just flex in it doesn't do anything they have one guy in there trying to hold it as best they can that state bellows the car chief trying to hold it in there as fast as he can there's the adjustment they're gonna lose a ton of track position here but that's what they did and they think they got enough fuel in it to make it to the end here Parker Marty Eric Jones in the middle of your screen there's get Pitt out of the top three he feels like he just needs more fire off speed as we know it he's been great on the long run four Goodyear tires Sunoco fuel above him Denny Hamlin pits out a tenth he said just said the car is awful and Austin Dillon has been looking for board grip up top Kelly truck sooner has just been released from the infield care center and after a couple of hard hits in the wall glad to see that you're okay Martin what did you feel there before that wreck high skating life here pretty simple I mean it's a shame we had a good night going started off rough a battled hard and I got the car pretty good there so you know I know we saw the frustration out of you after that is that this intensity just short track racing or is it as the playoffs are approaching it's just Bristol yeah trying to get that first short track win the oh this place has been so hard on us I mean I can't even explain see how good we've run here in the past three or four years and craft like this every single time it's like just one thing after another so sucks had it happened but you know at the end of days racing to Bristol I feel like I probably should have took the lead here I probably should've bumped for 14 out of the way just to get the lead and I would've been in that position so sometimes he was a nice guy and he got knocked out of the way so let's have to race him a little harder next time thanks Martin I like that attitude it's it's Bristol and that's why we love the short tracks that's you know we had the same kind of fireworks apart year it's why we love Bristol is because of drama like this might not like what happened you may want to blame Kyle Busch for that hate to see mark get taken out of the race but a short track racing creates all this drama it doesn't make it doesn't make it where you're okay with it you're still obviously clearly it's not happy about it but Martin cooled off a little bit things happened here that don't happen everywhere else Marty and guys a cavalcade of issues for the 18 now they're starting to push water out the car is overheating Stevie says a radiator fan not working Adam Stevens quote after that well that's not good is it yeah well that is not good and we talked about it was going to be a battle to get fuel in the race car we see in timing of scoring is somewhere a tenth or eleventh it's not exact here with him doubling up he's on the inside so I think he's in the 11th position so from second to 11th 56 to go Rick I'm not saying it's impossible but if he somehow gets from 11th to the lead in this race guys this is going to be a comeback for the ages well how about the fact that the front rows made up of Erik Jones and Clint Bowyer two drivers said have not won at this racetrack than a couple veterans behind them Clint Boyer on the outside and great flag back in the air 55 laps to go from Bristol this cycle of pit stops and this restarts hurt chase Elliott fallen all the way back to eighth place after having such a great run earlier tonight his teammate Jimmie Johnson up here on the inside of Austin Dillon Austin has the preferred line on the outside and that Ryan Newman haven't called his name and there he is hanging out all right Newman look at him about to get turned around here he tries to get down in front of chase Elliott three wide off the turn - oh that's frustrating for chase chase knows with 53 to go he's going to have to push the issue you got to be aggressive you just got to be aggressive here just like tricks it got to move these guys why you can and get on up to the front it's only way you're gonna have a shot at winning this race taste jump to the outside that gonna have a good run right here on Newman trying to drive into corner a little bit deeper than he can now carry speeds in the middle just couldn't carry it through the middle like you needed to nothing's gonna block him chase tries to cross him over see me carry that speed to the middle the great move that race yeah awesome whole field now in front of chase all the top the top set car six cars were all run to the bottom we've seen it every restart these guys get new tires the bottles of a preferred line 41 a third Bush he ran right to the rear bumper of Clint Bowyer there but then that Joker just did not roll now Aaron's trying to take the fight to it Jimmie Johnson watching all this did not get off a term for good art do and turn three and four oh there again both drivers great car control from both drivers there I know Eric probably didn't mean to do that similar situation that we saw with Kyle Busch out there that's what you got to do what you got to do exactly what Jimmy did he had the position he had the nose on the 20 going out of turn we cannot lift too late guys are gonna try to chop you gonna expect you to lift and you just can't give that up but you and you think about the year of Jimmy Johnson's career long witless streak you say you can't lift I'm not sure that anyone hungry inside the top five to win this race then the seven-time champion you eat will chop at the same time champion meet a lift he's struggling right now though yeah Larson puts the bumper to it three wide off a two this is picking up 45 to go you said it you you can't lift now you got to go Jimmie Johnson fighting back so watch I want to show you something Jimmy Johnson should be running second right now watch them going off pit road watch Kurt Busch's Jimmy Johnson is in fourth he keeps going Kurt Busch slows down that gave Kurt Busch the outside now Kurt Sean in second and Jimmy's back here in his battle he and his spotter need to do a better job there to get themselves in that outside lane Jimmy Johnson wants to break that winless streak we know how good here is he is here at Bristol but I got to tell you when I was talking to Ted Canales today he didn't seem overly optimistic basically told me they kind of had it about a top 10 car so it seems like they're overachieving of it today these guys are having a good battle battle up front those starting to heat up Kurt Busch he's the new guy that's moving into the conversation moving into the battle see Ryan blady a lot of sparks in the middle of quarters plays hard contact he has been struggling this whole second half the race yeah so fast early signs leading valid for the lead 14 radio is here what it's talking about ready for green I feel they must feel like they have a long run car I have a little bit of clear track in front of them that 41 though guys he is not and a slouch when it comes to press to remember we've talked about his brother all day the seven-time winner Walker Bush is a five-time winner here he knows how to win at the high banks of Bristol this is the driver he's seen his teammates win this year right he's seen that 14 go to Victory Lane he's seen Kevin Harvick go to Victory Lane there's been rumors on the garage area about where he'll drive next year they've tried to quiet those rumors the best way to quiet them winning that fixes about every issue with the nerese team it's got 37 laps to do it they're going by fast it's a battle for third right here chase Elliott who all the way back in seventh eighth place after the restart has worked his way into fourth place it's that great speed but he's gonna have to get by this 20 quickly as the laps are winding down he needs to get by him quickly to be able to run down those leaders it's gonna be hard to do here Joey just has been really good at keeping guys behind he we saw all kinds of pressure earlier and nobody could make it happen so you see how high he is carries great momentum through the middle and then on corner exit so how's chase gonna pass him he's gonna have to get a big run and then just put a slider on him and try to make it work Erik Jones was into his bumper several laps ago we saw it on the last run chase has every right in my mind to go up there and get him the same aggression if he can get there Kelly ton winner here yet he said the first couple fuzzy Bristol tea was blown away by the speed and intensity of 2002 he showed up and everything just seems to slow down he's really credit to go through chief Jimmy fennec for that help you talk about those rumors and I asked his crew chief Billy Scott how that's affected the team you said look the best thing we can do is keep performing week in and week out we have a lot to accomplish this season we can't looking ahead to what's going to happen four months from now Marty this plant his teammate hunt boy are leading right now trying for his third win of the season when I talked to Mike Bargo rabbits this morning he said we've been terrible all week and I have no idea if this set up is going to work well it certainly has worked the last three stops no changes for Boyer's and you guys want to hear a weird stat his two wins this year have come before off weekends guess what next week is and off weekend that would be weird before your wins again this weekend here at Bristol he's not going to think it's too weird though because he'll have that giant trophy that Jeff and junior were talking about earlier incredible race 18 lead changes between eight different drivers let's take a look at tonight's lap leaders brought to you by Honda power sports Ryan Blaney has led the most laps hundred 21 Clint Boyer he could leave the most laps if he's able is down front but the caution has come out the 2 of Brad Keselowski is around it's a lot of smoke and he was slow on the track that will put Alex Bolin back at Ally laughs I believe he's the first car lap down wow that thing just came around or the bottom of the racetrack don't see a tire now is there obviously but it blew Albin wow that thing came around seems to think he had a flat finally got too much to control grant struggled all night long he said that entire run that was 27 laughs run so literally you can't run you know with a tire going down that whole time but Jeff you said something a little earlier what we were talking about some of the keys restarts we're gonna have another one with very few laps to go it's Bristol I mean we see it all the time we see these late race restarts and I think it's gonna be interesting right now pit roads open who's coming and who's staying 15 cars on the lead lap they have the opportunity to come on this first time by and alixus Oh chase Elliott from third is going to come on to pit road and look how many cars he brings with him almost everyone in the lead lap comes to Marty Mike bugga ravage made the call for Clint Bowyer to stay out he said nothing is going to beat this track position meanwhile Alan Gustafson bringing chase Elliott down pit road to the car way too tight and I don't like being on the bottom on these restarts he can help me get to the top that will be awesome the wedge adjustment also air pressure trying to free that car up Parker Erik Jones pit C's cannot turn off turns one and two just too tight down on the bottom right now most likely gonna do four times this was a big discussion about coming down or not yes it's gonna be four Goodyear tires and Sunoco fueling the three there you see only took a left side tires Dave Kyle Larson came down pit road fired off tight got extremely loose there at the end he'll take four and fuel [Music] with the two-tire stop that is Austin Dillon who wins the race off of pit road did he Hamlet's going to do the same thing gap grabbing nine spots but remember a couple of guys stayed out on the track [Music] it's gonna be a sprint Monster Energy Cup Series racing from Thunder Valley and after the checkered flag here at Bristol stay tuned for the NASCAR America post race show presented by Honda power sports a lot to talk about after this one is over so Rick it was decision time who is gonna come to pit road will Clint Boyer Kurt Busch they stayed on the racetrack they'll take the front row Jimmie Johnson Chris Buescher Row 2 also on old tires now it gets a little questionable Austin Dillon Austin Dillon Denny Hamlin took two tires only they'll take Row three and chase le and Kyle Busch in row four are the first two cars with four tires so now what's gonna be more important clear track or fresh Goodyear rubber you see everybody's choices green flag with 23 to go it's the night race I expect some sparks Rick well there might be a little bump and you're banging because we have seen that already intensity has picked up Boyer Kurt Busch making up row one back up through the gears at Bristol Kurt Busch with a great restart he cleared he Kurt Busch takes the lead on the restart three one for third now boost jumps to the outside of that 37 car chris beuscher trying to make get three wide move himself come on tag that and then get through that more contact and we're seeing a little bit of tire smoke out of 37 a butcher there's still three wide this won't last long those tires on the 11 are helping him hold that top position look at this squeeze down the front stretch Chris Buescher drops back doctor his Busch has got a right front tire down well and a lot of smoke coming out of the 18 as well of Kyle Busch after that contact now a battle again for the lead Clint Boyer on the inside tries to take it back complet rubble he's got a lip rear tire down another contact between those cars he tires just can't take that left root down he'll have to come back to pit road trying to find a way by the track Kurt Busch still holding out a top spot around goes the 18 I got the letter on the rocks out the caution kasey kahne had been scored a lap down in the 17th position probably will get the free pass sanobim tonight I'd say well look at look at the banking feeling I can't go anywhere because he doesn't have any rubber on the wheels the tires have come off hear the crowd cheer look at the what's the situation here Steve he can't move that cars I'd pretty much take him out of the event yeah once he jumps wininet gets out of it we've seen NASCAR help cars with reg situation from being high-sided at the road course you ask her they'll choose to push him but his chance of winning is over such a polarizing figure the place goes electric he moves the needle up down good bad in and out well Kyle Busch does on the racetrack definitely excites the fans [Music] I'm telling you guys current Bush did not want to see this yellow because now Denny Hamlin in that eleven and Kyle Larson with four fresh tires in that 42 will be in the row right behind those leaders there's not a lot to push by the way on the back of that eight team a bitter dog Rick I think they'll give him a push and now listen they try this they said in situations where you get stuck because of the racetrack and the shape of the racetrack they'll assist you a little bit there you go he'll come and get left rear tire and I'm sure they'll cut more of the body off of the 18 so Kurt Busch is out front and closing in on 16 laps to go Clint Boyer running second Hamlin Larson Johnson Blaney but it was the tight racing for the fourth position right there you see the 18 car that's what cuts the left rear in the 37 car Buescher he had his right front go down you know three wide at Bristol it's gonna be some contact there's no way not to be on the corner exit and it's just too much for the tires to handle but it's late in the race who's gonna lift he left you're not gonna win you don't lift you have a timer up what a tough break for chris beuscher did such a wonderful job all night my fur goes flattened around the 18 goes 48 on pit road right now two guys Kelly yeah Jimmy Johnson did not want to come to pit road but Chad can now insisted he was worried about some of the damage as we saw him kind of sandwiched in there on that last run so they're gonna change all four Goodyear tires here I like this call not calling a race with emotion why I like this call because Jimmy Johnson's 15 points 106 points up 10 points 12 points that's what he might give up I know Jimmy Johnson wants to try to win the race but check and I was at this point he's a defense mode he's let's just get out of here with some points two races to the playoffs let's make sure we're in the playoff picture so the 48 will come off of pit road with four fresh tires only 15 cars on the lead lap that's including Kasey Kahne so what he saw hurt Bush taken the lead from Clint boy or Clint Boyer he controlled the restart he's on the outside you see the restart zone it goes he dispensed the tires and Curtin does a great job it hasn't cleared get into turn one that's a clean restart I want to see a replay because how does a guy not control the restart beat the control car getting into turn one I thought maybe jumped but that was a clean restart morning well the 14 is not happy about it so we've seen corporate teammates not be happy with each other now we have teammates not happy with each other listen on the radio and Mike Michael Ramage came on the radio later I said I thought we were supposed to race each other hard not hit each other I didn't see any contact there but Boyer not happy well in that same replay who made the big move the 11 of Denny Hamlin three wide using those two fresh tires well guys Kyle Larson what makes finding race last night said Bristol his absolute favorite racetrack he's on four fresh tires starting in the outside row - I believe he's going to be at the top going into turn one now it's Kurt Busch's turn to control the restart pace car diving onto pit road 41 and 14 coming out of turn four back up through the gears they go again terrible restart for the 14 of Clint Boyer didn't time it properly Kyle Larson in the second place with those tires to see what he can do with Kurt Busch those new tires they will let he'll make that bottom work a little better than old tires that's what he's going to have to do Kurt's not going to get him the top 30 laps difference of tires for Kyle Larson 30 laps pressure for Larson then for Kurt Busch what maybe no Kyle Larson will do because we've seen it he doesn't mind throwing an aggressive slider to try to get by up to 41 he's got to get to his rear bumper own corner injury at with some momentum and you know that you know what's coming Kurt Busch knows was coming how do you defend and that's the question I'm gonna tend to go right here does he take his line away does he take away the possibility of the slide job boy Kurt Kurt Busch car looks pretty good there 1 & 2 this car is turning good I don't know this Kyle is able to put enough throttle down and make any gains off the corner five-time winner out front a guy who wants a win here so bad since it's his favorite racetrack running sunny little bottle their weight lose that's a that's a Carly that's huge and little bit off the corner and she just take a while to get that back even in these fast enough he just gave up two car links and man at Bristol that's a ton he has struggled all night long he was so fast in practice but he's struggling all night long with speed now in a position to strike with his tire you know better tires and just can't really get in the car to hook up he is so loose but push doing a great job both in there working them tools you know they're using that track bar just her trying to figure out where that needs to be maybe even play with the brake levers trying to set that up to where that needs to be to help the car spin 58 races since Kurt Busch's won and think about that number of times he's seen Kevin Harvick when he's sitting Clint Bowyer win he needs to get this win his teammates the win he hasn't the momentum this would build for him going into the playoffs would be huge you don't want to give a guy like Kurt Busch confidence he's already an aggressive driver if he could give him a little more believe in himself he's gonna be hard to be in the playoffs he's putting together some awesome laughs here he's been faster than Kyle over the last several laps right there just a tick quicker Marcin not able to close just three laps to go and I don't want to use the word comfortable but he's got a big lead right now over second place Kyle Larson less than 45 seconds to go in this race two laps remain Kurt Busch with his career in question after 2018 doesn't have a deal for next year has it one in fifty eight races credit one one to go Kurt Busch trying to make sure he's in the playoffs with a win Kurt Busch has a six-pack of Monster Energy at Bristol now you're clear a good job driver burn it down six career wins at Bristol and a huge one here Kurt Busch wins of the Monster Energy Cup Series for the first time this year all right [Music] - great restarts - in this race we'll put Kurt Busch in victory lane again this moment presented by Sunoco fueling victories all season long a lot of tape on the front of that car but the celebration is going to continue for two weeks because Kurt Busch now has a win in 2018 and that guarantees a spot in the playoffs [Music] we heard Billy Scott his crew chief say burn it down I think Kurt Busch's gonna try to do just that you see the smoke continuing to roll [Applause] listen to the crowd war Kurt Busch celebrating at Bristol and Barty's right there that's got to be a good feeling for Kurt Busch celebrated a birthday a couple of weeks ago you can tell this one means a lot at a place he's been so successful at over the years had an incredible final restart and had to hold off Kyle Larson with fresher tires let him get his helmet off after a long exhausting night how about that one Kurt how did you hold off Larson we had 30 lap fresher tires it was awesome to be in this position when you race that a short track on Saturday night it brings back all the memories of growing up as a kid and racing with your dad and your family and I didn't want to let my dad down he's here tonight and my wife said go out there and go get him show what's all about and I was just perfect with the restarts and I can't think Monster Energy enough this Ford was awesome they saw the great fans this was an awesome awesome win for us how about these fans right here pressed up against the fence to see you Kurt these guys are awesome everybody here knows what this Saturday night short trucks all about him we got the best fans in sports oh thank you guys thank you so much good show hanging a Kurt Busch he'll get to Victory Lane in a moment we will see him there and the 100th win for Ford in their fusion they get to Victory Lane in Bristol talk about win 100 for Ford how about win number one for crew chief Billy Scott yeah he'll celebrate as well Kurt Busch the law of witless streak has come to an end it happens that the world's fastest half-mile [Music] [Music] well there's quite a few fireworks on track and now the fans are they going to be treated to fireworks off the track as well what an evening it was for Kurt Busch he was so excited to get the Victory Lane he left the flag on the hood he left his helmet on top of the car so the helmet gloves and flag Kevin's gonna grab those hey Kevin just hold onto a buddy oh what a window for Kurt Busch what a race I don't know if it's better to eat that helmet and then the extremely unique Victory Lane here at Bristol it's actually up on the second level of the building in turn three and what a great moment for the team to be able to celebrate this was definitely a team win for Kurt Busch in the 41 team let's go down to right [Music] Rick Kurt Busch is taking a big swig from that can of monster climbing out here in victory lane [Applause] so much [Music] look at the smile on Kurt's face 2017 Daytona seems crazy to say is the last time you're in victory lane I know it doesn't feel that long how good does it feel to get back here tonight it's right now that's awesome to be able to drive in the victory lane and one of my favorite tracks and to do it the hard way you know that's you got to have restart luck inside outside but the guys made good adjustments and all this damage I'm like you know it's not that bad we're gonna be okay and I'm just so proud of the team effort and this one this one is one of the sweetest because you have to work the hardest right now to make sure cuz the cars right there on edge and you got to work every single lap you know all night you never gave up you stayed so close to the front but it seemed like that restart with Clint when you jumped out it seemed like you knew no this is mine now this one right here she told me just go take it to Ashley your wife told you hear hear she's Amish because I want to hear now you know what go out there and go get them so no excuses it's a great way to celebrate with everybody I mean all the monster employees all the monster people the sponsorship from them and for Haas Automation it's awesome I mean all the way around loaded into an off week we're gonna enjoy these few days then I got the ten biggest weeks ahead of us with the regarding the southern 500 thanks again Haas Automation monster love you guys hey congratulations you're going to the playoffs alright yeah Kurt Busch everybody guys he got locked in because of the wind there's wife Ashley but there's a couple other drivers that are now locked in based on points because there's only two races to go Ryan Blaney in the 12 the 2 of Brad Keselowski in the 42 of Kyle Larson also now are locked into the playoffs because they're so far ahead in the point standings they can't fall out of that position Danny Hamlin looking very good at +2 14 the 10 and the 48 I also think over a hundred both it's got to be feeling pretty good Alex Bowman came in 62 ahead leaves 79 ahead plus 15 with only two races to go now it's gonna be a question of do we get an outside winner and just no major major mistakes let's take a look at Kurt Busch's night let's start off so great it's a verb gets involved in the crash at platform with his brother spinning out here seam in the back of it 11 that's three bad damage man but those guys fixed it up did a little job there put the tape here's the pass for the lead restart really he just got such a great restart took advantage of that bottom clearing Clint Boyer off the turn - this is drive to the checkered man Hill Donal knows old tires Jeff just incredible he's been talking about maybe you guys it felt like he's been too respected over the last several weeks we made a statement tonight he did you can see the excitement in his eyes and to win a race like that on a late race restart having the bottom really it's not where you wanted to be on a restart I'd be there to take advantage of it and get that done thats its just one it man find a way to take it and so again he will have a two week celebration because it will be off next week before we go to Darlington the guy who finished second in this race Kyle Larson so strong once again was with Kelly Kyle Larson will have to settle for another runner-up finish here at Bristol Kyle how much more did you think that the fresh tires would have advantage on track position there at the end I think if I had a better car tires probably would have showed what they're really capable of just a really frustrating day our DC solar Chevy was not very good from lap 1 to lap 500 there but we fought and got a second place finish out of it so you happy about running second but just disappointed yokas I had a lot of confidence going to this race and thought our car was really good but we were probably at 12 to 15th place car I thought just lined up in the right restarts about every time and was able to you know gain some spots on every restart and you know maintain and then would be terrible there toward the end of the run so frustrating but we're able to fight so that's you know good for our team you know to be able to do that our pit stops you aside from the first one we're really good so happy about that and was to attend you to fight I need to get her cars a lot better that's how challenging was it tonight given the circumstances with the rain and the changing conditions yeah the track seemed to change a little bit run to run you know from I mean my car was bad like I said so maybe it was my balance I was changing runner on but sitting like the top you would be good one run and then the bottom would kind of be good another run so I don't know though a lot of guys seemed really fast but had a lot of troubles you know at 18 the 417 was really good and they were able to pass cars kind of wherever but you know I was falling back wherever I ran well he gets a runner-up finish out of a day when he didn't have the race car he had hoped for seems like Kyle Busch experienced just about every high and low you could at Bristol in one race Kyle how would you describe the night I don't know if there was any highs I don't know what you're talking about I went back through the field that's just me and this team had never given up and being able to drive up through the field like that the eminence Camry was fast even torn up and beat up and wrecked and everything else it was fast and we had a shot to win the race there I'm just got to race him with guys three wide and couldn't get clear of him I was boxed in by the 11 the 11 was choking up the top in front of me and every every straightaway hosts side-by-side with him I just wanted to clear them if I could ever get clear of them I could shoot to the bottom get by the 11 but we were just kind of stuck and mired where we were maybe if we would have stayed out you know Monday Morning Quarterback we would have stayed out would have inherited the fourth starting position on that restart and ahead of all that so you know ifs ands or buts we never should even have been in that spot without torn up this race car was we probably finished where we should have but we had a shot anyways brother well congratulations occurred that's cool but he just forgot his helmet on the roof and just chunked his helmet so I have something else for him I'll tell him in private the incident with Truex coming off the corner there caught what happened yeah totally my fault oh man I feel terrible about that obviously I just misjudged it might a little bit four inches six inches whatever you name it I got in the gas was coming up off the corner I was gonna slide in behind him I didn't think I was next to him yet and I just barely clipped him and sent him for a whale of a ride so hopefully he's all right and everything's okay there I hated that that I clipped him I know he could add a good shot to win the race to the win wasn't in the offing but he took us for a great ride tonight at Bristol Kyle Busch is always entertaining and drivers what'd you think well Bristol's back man you know the energy of Bristol when they changed this racetrack and the line moved all the way to the top it became not as exciting well it's the last few races we've seen it man and the energy is back and you can talk about you'll people running into each other and all that stuff but won't we watch tonight was just awesome racing from the top second lap they wrecked you know trying to make something happen so I just thought we saw a great race tonight yeah it's crazy up here I'll tell you that and it's hard to broadcast these races especially Bristol that you guys are telling me coming into this this is a fast racetrack a lot lots happening all the way around this place there's so many things to talk about and man I had a lot of fun tonight what an incredible race the drivers were really delivering for us tonight running really hard we had a lot of guys up front with a chance to win this race I thought Clint Bowyer was in the best position then he had a not-so-great restart Kurt Busch took advantage of that and he goes on for the wind so couldn't see Kurt winning this race earlier you know before the halfway mark but he made it happen and a lot of guys had trouble that we thought were gonna contend so really dramatic race a ton of fun right here in the booth with you man and I can't wait for next week well it was a great night and we see those guys that are so excited thinking about Clint Boyer that's probably devastated sitting there leading the race and did not get to win that's always heartbreaking but you know Rick we just saw a great race I'd it was so much fun up here seeing all that and man we got a week off but then we get to go to Darwin's in the southern 500 and looking forward to that it was a lot of fun and junior you actually have to wait an extra week because now we have an off week until Darlington chase Elliott another impressive finish he gets a top three finishes third he's with killing Elliott makes it five straight top-10 finishes but on a day when you got up there and led 112 laps how satisfied are you with this third-place finish not very to be honest just a better great car and was really good through those mid stages and was really able to capitalize and lead some laps and got kind of tight right after that and once we got it fixed back we it was I thought really good again and just got the bottom on some of those lat you know there's late race restarts - that very last one just this hey they had a car that that I felt like I could contend with with those guys when we had it ride and we got it right there at the end so need to capitalize tonight this was a great racetrack for us and pretty unfortunate we didn't we saw a lot of great battles out of you tonight including at a time with Ryan Blaney when you're good friends in those moments what's it like for you the how much fun are you having well just short track racing in general you know I wish we did more of it it doesn't get any cooler or any more fun than then racing here and at a venue like this and at a racetrack this fun and when the driver can really make a big difference and that's really all you can ask for so appreciate Kelly a Blue Book for being on the car this weekend and like I said just wish we could capitalize this is a good great opportunity for us that we really need to get some more playoff points and I hate that we didn't in two weeks Thanks well that's right two weeks until the Cup Series is back in action but next week it will be Road America for the Xfinity series and chases dad little Elliott the Hall of Famer is going to be racing at Road America that is going to be a great show that's next Saturday race coverage beginning at repin Eastern on NBC SN and of course after winning it watching little is his dad coming in who actually spotted for it so I'm trying to think the last time that a current Hall of Fame member race I'm not sure we've ever seen that a lot of guys in the Hall of Fame bill is in the Hall of Fame well he's gonna come back out we're gonna get to see it Hall of Famer put the helmet back on Rick that will be impressive and I can't wait to enjoy that race from Road America and just moments ago Marty caught up with Joey Logano well let's cover the good in the bad for Joey Logano a good stage win good on short runs ready for the bad not into the long run didn't seem to work too well for you guys tonight did it I was hoping we're gonna break some bad news yeah I knew that but yeah you know the show pens will afford it it was really really fast on the short run at winning speed on the short run and about 20 of speed hundred in the long run so we had a little bit of work to do there because we lose all our track position and we couldn't position ourselves close enough to the front at the end of win you know I feel like if we started at top four you can possibly win that race so overall you're proud of the speed gain you know we've been fighting hard for top tens lately so it felt nice to have speed and lead a bunch of laps and win a stage and finish our top five ultimately that was that was nice just wish we were positioned closer because it's really all about the win in such a tight race here at Bristol so much fun it's the funnest race that we have all year most grueling race all year but I enjoy the heck out of this place and you know nice to have another top five at it so we mentioned all those short runs how advantageous advantageous was it that you had a few few restart jerath Ian well as long as you start on the outside it's pretty exciting you know if you start on the inside you you know you're gonna lose two or three spots so you got lucky and started a 10th on that last restart got a few spots and then I was able to pass a couple more before the end of the race so I was hoping for one more us fourth so I was gonna get the outside it one more but you know hey I got to be happy with that I started on the inside most of them so felt nice to get a couple outside restarts at the enemy much-needed top 5 for this 22 team tonight Erik Jones finishes 5th and Eric it seemed like at times you had a card maybe could get up to a lead but it was a long run car what do you need on the short run yeah I don't know you're a little bit tight on the short run which is good in the long run you know about 80 60 laps and we were pretty good but you know just didn't have enough to felt like we're having a hustle really hard all night and harder than you know you really should to be good here but you know score flips cameras all right I mean we got up there contented for a bit how did you know restarted second that's all you can ask for having a shot so just didn't have enough you know we were out card a little bit but you know it's a good day for us I mean bristles a good spot for us and happy running the top five but there was a lot of contact out there and it seemed like a crazy night was the raising just crazy whoa it's just on edge I mean I'm wore out it was a lot of hustling everybody seemed to be kind of wide open the whole time which makes for some contact it makes for some exciting racing so it was rough at times I mean I roughed it up a few times our cars got some scars on it so yeah but it's fun you know it's bristled short track and that's what you're supposed to do at the end of the day there are solid top five Erik Jones since that win at Daytona yeah Parker an incredible race I mean I think one of the amazing things is we saw 21 lead changes tonight and there were three drivers that led over a hundred laps each so there was never a dominant performance but at any given time that bleed could have changed it was in jeopardy well the lead was in jeopardy and just names inside the top 10 inside the top 15 guys that needed good runs I'm not even sure where to start we see our CRV both just outside the top 10 with Austin Dillon Ryan Newman Alex Bowman had to pit under green recovered four top-10 finish Jimmie Johnson worked his way back into the top ten so many players Chris Buescher had such a great run going and ended up with that I call it damaged a flat right front tire late there was so much excitement I wasn't sure who I wanted to follow out there I mean if truly is the last great call see him and it was elbows up fender defender NASCAR race absolutely it never disappoints the night race at Bristol bumping and banging sparks flying fireworks and of course yes he won it Kurt Busch gets the win on the other side of the break the Honda power sports post race [Music] this copyrighted telecast may not be reproduced retransmitted or used in any form without the authorized written consent of NASCAR broadcasting NASCAR would like to thank all of our fans for your support and we hope you enjoy today's broadcast you

Channel: NASCAR

Views: 317,261

Keywords: NASCAR, motorsports, racing, stock car, crash, mencs, bristol, kyle busch, chase elliott, jimmie johnson, kevin harvick, denny hamlin, kyle larson, joey logano, ryan blaney, brad keselowski, martin truex jr, bubba wallace

Id: V3QLdSPN5cI

Length: 220min 12sec (13212 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 21 2018