Kyle Busch wins on the dirt at Bristol (4-17-22)
By: Becca Cottingham Quimby
Headline Photo Courtesy: NASCAR Twitter Page
We have our third short track race but this is Bristol on dirt. This is an ever-changing track and pit stops will be different. We started with drivers three wide and Chase Briscoe battles to lead upfront. The drivers behind him have grills covered in mud already. NASCAR calls a competition caution so that everyone can come down and get the grill of the car cleaned off. They are running cautions slightly differently since we are running out of dirt. Chase Briscoe had an amazing run and stayed up front even while drivers behind him were going three-wide to make moves around cars. Things were going great for Chase until he gets up just a little too high and hit the wall due to a blown right rear. This allows Kyle Larson to get around him and take the lead. The caution was short-lived and Kyle Larson will go back to battle for the lead. There is a group of brothers that are in the top ten trying to either secure the lead or stage points. Both Ty Dillion, Austin Dillion, Kyle Busch, and Kurt Busch are all upfront. Kyle Larson will keep the lead and will win his first stage of the year.
Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain, and Chase Briscoe all stay out during the stage break. Daniel Suarez will Stage two has been the stage of issues or cautions. Multiple cautions had to be thrown due to multiple on-track pile-ups. Most of them had Corey LaJoie in them. Other big-name drivers such as Alex Bowman and Kevin Harvick. Both Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin will end up being out of the race. There was additional caution debris. Daniel Suarez was looking like he was going to possibly win the caution came out for debris on the track and this bunched drivers back up. This did allow Chase Briscoe to make a move and get back out front. Chase Briscoe will win stage two.
Stage three will start with multiple cars staying out without pitting due to weather impending on the track. We do get back to green flag racing and drivers are sliding everywhere. Tyler Reddick leads us to green with a multi-groove track. We get roughly three to five cars involved in a wreck with Ricky Stenhouse getting the worse of the accident. We see Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse bring out a caution. Kyle Busch has been working his way back through the field and battling with Tyler Reddick but has not been able to get around him. We get back under green, but something happened to Austin Dillon on the restart and that brings out another caution. Kurt Busch has heavy damage as he hit the wall dead on. Austin Dillon has teammate Tyler Reddick who is leading the race worried that his engine may go like Austin’s engine. We will get another rain delay that will once again change the track. On the restart we see Tyler Reddick get a good restart. While Kyle Busch and Chase Briscoe battle with Joey Logano right behind them. They are bouncing off one another everywhere on the track. Chase Briscoe will get around Kyle Busch and is pushing to catch up with Tyler Reddick. Tyler Reddick is driving the race of his life Chase Briscoe has caught him and slides into him. Both slid out Kyle Busch wins because of the heartbreak slide job.
