BRISTOL, Tenn.: Somewhere underneath the thick crimson haze floating over Bristol Motor Speedway, Joey Logano took the checkered flag for NASCAR’s first Cup Series race at a dust monitor in 50 years.
He couldn’t see a lot visibility was subsequent to nothing throughout this Monday mud storm however Logano clung to the acquainted backside lane across the bullring to gather the checkered flag on this NASCAR experiment.
Logano received a bounce on Denny Hamlin on the time beyond regulation restart to earn his third profession victory at Bristol. But this was not the Bristol of outdated, the monitor had been lined with 2,300 truckloads of crimson Tennessee clay in order that NASCAR may add a dust monitor to the Cup schedule for the primary time since 1970.
How about Bristol on filth, guys! This is unimaginable, Logano mentioned to the group, a lowered capability sellout of about 30,000 followers.
There’s nothing like successful at Bristol, however placing it on filth and being the primary to do it is vitally particular.
Logano turned the seventh race winner by way of seven races this season and gave Team Penske back-to-back victories. Ryan Blaney gained in a Penske Ford final week.
The Logano victory closed a weekend of uncertainty and even some hysteria as NASCAR launched this drive by way of the filth. It was broadcast accomplice Fox who needed a dust race on the Cup schedule and Speedway Motorsports, in search of some new power at its beloved Bristol bullring. mentioned it might take the race.
So NASCAR awarded the experiment to Bristol, bypassing dozens of high quality established filth tracks throughout the nation. The snub prolonged to Tony Stewart, who had efficiently hosted seven Truck Series races at his Eldora Speedway filth monitor in Ohio however mentioned was by no means thought-about for a Cup race.
Marcus Smith, the CEO of Speedway Motorsports, insisted concrete Bristol was as much as the problem and he instructed The Associated Press he’d spent almost $2 million to make the filth dream a actuality.
He was happy with the thrill generated by the occasion, whilst NASCAR huddled for options to excessive mud, poor tire sturdiness and shifting climate situations that made the buildup a muddy mess. When race day lastly arrived, torrential in a single day rains had flooded the Bristol grounds and NASCAR needed to postpone Sunday’s present by a day.
The wait appeared price it and the top product has been deemed a win: earlier than the race was even over, the monitor introduced over the general public deal with system that Bristol would run on filth once more subsequent season.
UP NEXT
NASCAR is off for Easter and the Cup Series resumes Saturday night time April 10 underneath the lights at Martinsville Speedway. Martin Truex Jr. is the defending race winner.
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