Bristol: Where to Watch this Weekend

Friday, April 11

NCTS Practice & Kennametal Pole Qualifying (FS2 at 3:30 p.m. ET)

NCTS Race: Weather Guard Truck Race (FS1, NRN, SiriusXM at 7:30 p.m. ET)

Saturday, April 12

NXS Practice & Kennametal Pole Qualifying (The CW App at 11:30 a.m. ET)

NCS Practice & Busch Light Pole Qualifying (Amazon Prime, PRN, SiriusXM at 2 p.m. ET)

NXS Race: SciAps 300 (The CW, PRN, SiriusXM at 5 p.m. ET)

Sunday, April 13

NCS Race: Food City 500 (FS1, PRN, SiriusXM at 3 p.m. ET)

Historical & Significant Events at Bristol Motor Speedway:

• Groundbreaking for Bristol International Speedway, as Bristol Motor Speedway was originally known, took place in 1960.
• The track was built by Bowling operator Larry Carrier, Kingsport businessman Carl Moore and construction company owner R.G. Pope and the track measured an exact half-mile.
• The first NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway was on July 30, 1961, and the inaugural event was won by Jack Smith with relief from Johnny Allen. Smith had a three lap lead when Allen took over and Allen built the lead to as many as six laps.
• Also in 1961, the NFL’s Washington Redskins took on the Philadelphia Eagles in a pre-season game at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Eagles won, 17-10. 
• In 1969 the track was dug up and reshaped and the banking significantly increased. Starting in July 1969 the track was measured at .533 miles.
• Financial problems led to sale of the track after the 1976 season to Nashville accountant and attorney Gary Baker and his partner Lanny Hester.
• All of the NASCAR Cup Series races at Bristol have been scheduled for 500 laps, except for both races in 1976 and the second in 1977, which were 400 laps each.
• The name changed to Bristol International Raceway in 1978.
• The first night race was held in the fall of 1978.
• In 1982 and in 1985 the track underwent ownership changes. In 1982 California businessman Warner Hodgdon began buying into teams and tracks. In 1982 he bought out Hester and in 1983 Baker’s half. In 1985 Hodgdon declared bankruptcy. Larry Carrier stepped in to run the track.
• The surface was changed from asphalt to concrete in 1992, becoming the first track on the schedule to be completely surfaced in concrete.
• Larry Carrier led the track for 10 years until he sold it to Speedway Motorsports for a reported $26 million in 1996. The track had a capacity of 71,000 and the Night Race was one of the Series premier events, called the ‘Toughest Ticket in Racing’.
• The track name changed again, this time to Bristol Motor Speedway in May of 1996.
• The track was resurfaced between races in 2007, and the turns were ground down in 2012 to eliminate part of the progressive banking.
• In 2016, Bristol enjoyed its “Biggest Year Yet” hosting the Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol, where border rivals Virginia Tech and the University of Tennessee played a college football game in front of an NCAA-record crowd of 156,990.
• In 2016, a special country music concert was held, featuring a trio of successful local acts. The Honda Ridgeline Bristol Tailgate featured Kenny Chesney, The Band Perry and Old Dominion in front of a crowd of more than 40,000.
• The week following the Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol, Bristol Motor Speedway held a second game in 2016, the Food City Bucs at Bristol presented by Food City. The local favorite East Tennessee State University Buccaneers upset rival Western Carolina University 34-31 in a thrilling come-from-behind victory.
• In 2020, Bristol Motor Speedway hosted the NASCAR Cup Series Open and All-Star Race for the first-time. 
• In total, there have been 125 NASCAR Cup Series points-paying races at Bristol Motor Speedway since the first race in 1961, two races each season until 2021 when the track replaced their spring date with the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt track (2021-2023).
• The 2024 season is the first season since 2021 that both Bristol races will be run on the concrete surface. From 2021-2023 the spring Bristol race was run a dirt surface.
• In 2025, Bristol Motor Speedway will host the first Major League Baseball game in Tennessee history inside its infield. On Aug. 2, 2025, the Atlanta Braves will play the Cincinnati Reds in an official regular season game during the MLB Speedway Classic.

Where To Watch NASCAR This Week:

Friday, March 28

NCTS Practice & Kennametal Pole Qualifying (FS2 at 2 p.m. ET)

NXS Practice & Kennametal Pole Qualifying (The CW App at 4:30 p.m. ET)

NCTS Race: Boys And Girls Club Of The Blue Ridge 200 (FS1, NRN, SiriusXM at 7:30 p.m. ET)

Saturday, March 29

NCS Practice & Busch Light Pole Qualifying (Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM at 2 p.m. ET)

NXS Race: US Marine Corps 250 (The CW, MRN, SiriusXM at 5 p.m. ET)

Sunday, March 30

NCS Race: Cook Out 400 (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM at 3 p.m. ET)

NASCAR & Martinsville

Historical & Significant Events at Martinsville Speedway:

·       Opened in September of 1947 by Henry Clay Earles, Martinsville Speedway, originally a dirt track, is one of the oldest continuously-operating race tracks in the United States.

·       Located at an overgrown 30 acre cornfield just outside Martinsville. Construction of the track was soon underway in 1947 and ended up costing $60,000.

·       The first NASCAR-sanctioned race at Martinsville Speedway was on July 4, 1948.

·       The first NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway was on September 25, 1949, and was a 200 lap (100 mile) race that was won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Red Byron driving an Oldsmobile for car owner Raymond Parks.

·       The track was paved during the summer months of 1955. The first race at the track that season was on dirt (May 15) and the second race of the year was the first on the paved track (Oct. 16). Prior to paving the track, the Cup Series ran 12 races total on the dirt at Martinsville (1949-1955). 

·       The first 500-lap (250 mile) event at Martinsville Speedway was in 1956 and was won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Buck Baker from the pole position. Baker was driving a 1956 Dodge for car owner Carl Kiekhaefer.

·       In 1964 Earles decided it was time for a different type of trophy for race winners. His choice was a grandfather clock produced by nearby Ridgeway Clock Company. On September 27, 1964, Earles awarded the first clock trophy to Fred Lorenzen, the winner of the Old Dominion 500 that afternoon.

·       Richard Petty has the most clocks with 12 (he won three times at Martinsville prior to the introduction of the clock). Darrell Waltrip won 11, while Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson each have 9 clocks.

·       Concrete corners were added atop asphalt in 1976 at Martinsville Speedway.

·       International Speedway Corporation (now NASCAR) purchased the privately owned Martinsville Speedway in 2004 for $192 million.

·       In the past 20 years the track has stepped up its investment in improvements and additions to establish the once dusty ½ mile dirt track on 30 acres into a modern facility encompassing over 300 acres.

·       In 2017, lights were added to Martinsville Speedway. The project cost an estimated $5 million to complete.

·       In total, there have been 152 NASCAR Cup Series points-paying races at Martinsville Speedway, one in the inaugural year and two races per year since 1950.

·       Martinsville Speedway, at 152 NASCAR Cup Series points-paying races, has hosted the second-most points paying events all-time, behind only Daytona International Speedway at 156.

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