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The dirt race at Bristol was contested on March 29, 2021. It was held on the same track NASCAR has raced on since 1960. The normal concrete racing surface at Bristol was covered with 2,300 truckloads of red clay, reducing the banking from 28 to 19 degrees, and making for the Cup Series' first race on dirt since 1970. The last NASCAR Cup race had been held in Raleigh at the State Fairgrounds. Richard Petty won the 200 lap event. It was more than just hauling in dirt and covering up the concrete. The Bristol track was "red dirt," which is native to the area and considered generally good for racing. The track includes a bottom layer of soil that was used the last time Bristol had dirt events in 2000 and 2001. The second layer came from

a campground near the track, and the third layer came from Bluff City about 20-30 miles away. Bristol tested about 15 types of dirt from the area to try to find the best dirt – the kind that has low silt and sand content so that it packs well but also retains some water. Before NASCAR raced on the surface, they held the Bristol Dirt Nationals on March 15-20. The event featured eight competition classes, and over 1,200 drivers, including some drivers from the NASCAR garage. The Dirt Nationals gave track officials their first chance to going through track preparations under race conditions and learn how they can be better for NASCAR

weekend. Several drivers including Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Corey LaJoie, Cole Custer and Chase Elliott – raced at the track in modifieds or dirt late models. Seven Cup drivers – Ryan Newman, Daniel Suarez, Briscoe, Wallace, Larson, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. – competed in the truck event to get more track time. Issues began to crop up Friday when Cup and Trucks held their practice sessions. The dust that kicked up from the dirt was thick, but the main concern was the durability of the tires provided by Goodyear. Drivers reported significant wear down to the cords on their tires and the 3,400-pound stock cars were tearing up the track surface. NASCAR made tweaks to in-race procedures to allot additional time for track prep and granted teams an additional set of tires for the race. When rain stopped Saturday, the trucks were sent out to start heat races, but it took just one lap for the rain-

soaked track to splatter windshields with a thick layer of mud and cake the front grilles -- putting every competitor into a blinding situation with a fear of an overheating engine. On race day, NASCAR's hyped return to dirt is instead a muddy mess on hold at least until Monday. Torrential rains flooded campgrounds and parking lots. After 2½ inches of rain fell across "Thunder Valley," NASCAR canceled all Sunday activity because even if Bristol's converted dirt track could eventually be readied for night racing, the entire facility was a swampy mess. Grandstand seats that had been covered in dust were caked in mud, while pit road and the apron around the 0.533-mile bullring held several inches of standing water. The race was rescheduled to 4 pm Monday. The race was 250 laps. The first two stages were 100 laps each; and the final stage was 50 laps. Martin Truex won Stage one, and after NASCAR saw that the tires still had

excessive wear; they decided to have a competition yellow at lap 150 so teams could change tires. The race pretty much proved to be a crash-fest. Ten times the yellow would fly for accidents. The track was so dusty drivers (and fans) could barely see what was going on. (Check out the dust above). Several of the 'dirt' favorites were in accidents and lost laps taking them out of contention for the win. Those dirt specialist with issues included Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman, Stewart Friesen, JJ Yeley, and others. When the checkered flag waved Joey Logano had claimed the historic win. The only win he would have in 2021. NASCAR is planning to hold another dirt race at

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BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY DIRT TRACK - BRISTOL TN