NASCAR: LIVE Weather And Race Updates From Bristol
Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
It’s Bristol baby! It’s also raining, a lot.
The bad news is that a lot of the wet stuff is in the forecast for Sunday at Bristol, the good news is that Bristol has lights and the Air Titan. Given the power of the Air Titan and the size of Bristol, any break in the rain could allow for the track to be dried relatively fast. The lights will also allow for NASCAR to run well into the night if that is what the weather dictates.
Below you will find a running stream of all of the events at the track today. Beginning at 11:00 AM ET we here at BTF will be providing you with weather updates. We will continue to provide those weather updates until the start of the race at which point we will bring you updates and analysis of the racing action. Be sure to refresh the feed to see all of the latest news and updates from Bristol.
(The previous updates have been moved to page No. 2)
Lap 23 – Yellow Flag is out and the cars are rolling. No. 11 team is trying to get Erik Jones into the car. Hamlin suffered a neck spasm and as a result cannot resume the race when it goes green.
Lap 24 – Bristol salutes Jeff Gordon. JGR confirms that Hamlin is okay and this is a precaution. On a side note, the stuff with Gordon’s kids must have been pretty cool for him.
Lap 28 – Getting ready to go green.
Lap 32 – Pit road is open, jet dryers are off of the track. Whatever Erik Jones does in the No. 11 car today, it will count for Hamlin. If Jones wins the race it will count for Hamlin since he is the driver that started the race.
Lap 34 – Keselowski will restart down eight laps. GREEN FLAG!
Lap 39 – Harvick and Busch have broke away from the field.
Lap 43 – Edwards says that Kenseth is leaking something.
Lap 50 – Harvick is lapping cars already, competition yellow is coming.
Lap 55 – Erik Jones goes down a lap. Jones has never driven a Sprint Cup Series car before right now.
Lap 60 – COMPETITION YELLOW FLAG
Lap 66 – Biffle and Hornish Jr. will be on the front row as they did not pit.
Lap 67 – Penalties on the No. 55 and the No. 18 – too fast exiting.
Lap 70 – Biffle and Hornish Jr. fall back quickly. Kurt Busch to the lead.
Lap 80 – Gordon into the top-10 and Hornish Jr. out of it.
Lap 85 – Busch, Harvick and Kenseth are your leaders.
Lap 95 – Busch leads and Harvick got loose trying to pass the No. 95 machine.
Lap 105 – Earnhardt Jr. had a tire going down and had to pit. He is now two laps down.
Lap 113 – Cassill almost wrecked the entire field, all is well though.
Lap 123 – Harvick is stalking Busch and Earnhardt Jr. is BACK on pit road AGAIN. Now he is four laps down.
Lap 130 – Newman and Stewart in danger of going down a lap soon.
Lap 138 – Earnhardt Jr.’s second stop was for a loose wheel. Allmendinger is overheating. Harvick is leading.
Lap 153 – Harvick, Busch, Edwards, Kenseth and McMurray are the top-five.
Lap 159 – Truex Jr. has to pit early and now his top-10 streak could be in trouble.
Lap 163 – Stewart is up to 15th.
CAUTION – Weeper in Turn Two
Lap 173 – Race off of pit road: 4, 19, 41, 20, 1, 48, 24, 27, 3 and 15.
Lap 176 – GREEN FLAG – 18 cars on the lead lap!
Lap 183 – Johnson and Gordon both started outside of the top-20 and are now both in the top-10. Harvick leads.
Lap 189 – Edwards could have engine issues.
Lap 199 – 17 cars on the lead lap as Harvick leads.
Lap 214 – Gordon now down two laps after pitting for a loose wheel.
Lap 224 – Busch and Kenseth battle for second. Gordon is up to 26th but still two laps down.
Lap 229 – Stewart is running in 13th and having a solid day.
Lap 237 – Kurt Busch now has a vibration. Guys need to tighten their tires if you ask me.
Lap 246 – Edwards is coming for Harvick. Gordon is stuck in 23rd and two laps down. Earnhardt Jr. is in 30th and two laps down.
Lap 250 – Stand Up For Cancer!!
Lap 260 – Gordon passes Harvick and gets back a lap the hard way. Harvick leads Edwards just past halfway in Bristol.
CAUTION – Rain in Turn 4
Lap 269 – Edwards has given NASCAR permission to call the race (he is the leader). Radar looks good though.
Lap 274 – Small burst of rain just over the track, no huge threat if it moves through quickly.
Lap 276 – RED FLAG is out to dry the track. Drivers told to remain in their cars.
8:15 PM ET – The rain has stopped and the radar looks clear.
8:24 PM ET – Engines have been fired and the cars are rolling off of pit road.
Lap 279 – Back under caution and getting ready to go green. 17 cars on the lead lap and Gordon is the first car one lap down.
Lap 281 – CAUTION – Johnson and Busch get together!
Lap 283 – Most cars seem to be okay. Some damage to the No. 10. Still waiting for word on the free pass. It would seem that it would go to Gordon since Patrick was involved in the wreck.
Lap 285 – Johnson got damaged repaired. No free pass on that caution.
Lap 288 – Patrick not happy about not getting the free pass. Although she didn’t cause the caution, she was certainly a part of it. That was the right move by NASCAR.
Lap 290 – 17 cars on the lead lap as we get ready to go back to green.
Lap 303 – Edwards and Kenseth lead!
Lap 312 – Johnson, Burton, Harvick and Ragan wreck! CAUTION is out.
Lap 314 -The run at history will come to an end for Harvick, Logano and Truex Jr. tonight in Bristol.
Lap 319 – Harvick still in the garage area.
Lap 323 – Edwards leads Kenseth, Stenhouse Jr., Busch and Menard. Free pass goes to Gordon.
GREEN FLAG!
Lap 328 – Kahne into second place and looking for the lead!
Lap 338 – 19, 5, 20, 17, 42, 51, 1, 43, 15 and 3
Lap 344 – CAUTION – debris. Free Pass goes to Johnson.
Lap 349 – Larson is the leader as he and the rest of the top-seven did not pit under this caution.
GREEN FLAG!
Lap 353 – 42, 31, 43, 15 and 27.
CAUTION – Cassill HARD hit into the wall. And I mean a HARD HIT into the wall!
Lap 370 – SAFER barrier did its job there. Larson has damage and he might need to pit for fuel. Danica Patrick gets the free pass.
Lap 372 – There are showers about 40 minutes away from the track that could be an issue. We will have to wait and see.
Lap 380 – 42, 31, 43, 20 and 1.
GREEN FLAG!
Lap 394 – Kenseth is chasing Larson and the rain is coming!
Lap 400 – 100 laps to go and Larson leads.
Lap 414 -Larson, Kenseth and Busch all want to win badly!
Lap 440 – Larson has to pit from the lead and Kenseth will go to the lead with 60 laps to go.
Lap 445 – Kurt Busch to the lead!
Lap 455 – Busch, Kenseth, Gordon, Edwards and Newman are the top-five.
Lap 464 – It would seem that only a caution would ruin this win for Busch but what are the odds of that … oh wait.
28 laps to go – it’s ALL Busch right now.
CAUTION – 26 laps to go!
24 laps to go – rain is in the area.
23 laps to go – Busch is the ONLY car to pit.
GREEN FLAG!
20 laps to go – Kenseth leads!
CAUTION – Allmendinger and Kahne!
16 laps to go – the rain is still coming – 20, 19, 3, 24 and 41 are the top-five.
13 laps to go – it will be less than 10 to go when we go back to green.
10 laps to go – getting ready to run to the finish. Will it stay green? Will the rain come?
GWC – and the rains have come!
The pace car is bringing them down pit road as they attempt to dry the track. Heavier rain is coming and this could be futile.
AND NOW WE WAIT ….
How many GWC will there be? Will Kenseth or Gordon run out of fuel? Two laps to go at Bristol!
GREEN FLAG!! (GWC)
Finish – KENSETH WINS!