Story By: JORDAN WOOD / WOOD BROTHERS RACING – BRISTOL, TN – NASCAR’s experiment with racing on a dirt surface at Bristol Motor Speedway seems to have run its course, and even some of the most ardent dirt-racing aficionados are happy to see this weekend’s Food City 500 contested on concrete.
“As much of a fan of dirt racing as I am, I have to say I’m excited to be back on the concrete at Bristol,” said Jeremy Bullins, crew chief of the No. 21 DEX Imaging Mustang Dark Horse driven by Harrison Burton.
Even when the spring races at Bristol were run on dirt in the past three seasons, the clay was removed for the night race later in the fall. Bullins plans to use his notes from last fall’s race to prepare for Sunday’s 500-lapper on the high-banked concrete short track.
“We found some speed in the middle portion of the race last fall before some steering issues caused us to have a poor finish,” he said. “I’m confident that we can build off what we learned in the fall and go have a competitive weekend with our DEX Imaging Ford.”
Practice for the Food City 500 is set for Saturday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time to be followed by qualifying at 5:50. FOX Sports 1 will carry the TV broadcast.
Sunday’s 500-lap, 266.5-mile race is expected to get the green flag just after 3:30 p.m., with TV coverage switching to FOX.
Stage breaks are planned for Laps 125 and 250.