Xfinity: Austin Dillon Wins In A Wild Finish At Bristol
By Alex Herbst
It looked like a night where one driver would dominate the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. But Austin Dillon pulled out a surprise win with a crazy final twenty laps.
A small track with a bad attitude, Bristol Motor Speedway is the last great coliseum of racing. On Friday night, the rising stars of the NASCAR Xfinity Series went up against some of the best from the Sprint Cup Series. At the end of the race, Austin Dillon would take the checkered flag, following a crazy final twenty laps.
Early in the race, it looked as if Kyle Larson was going to walk away with the victory in the Food City 300. He was dominant in the #42 Chevy, running away from his competition and looking to secure a second consecutive win for Chip Ganassi Racing. However, he would have to fight off the hard-charging drivers of Joe Gibbs Racing including Erik Jones and Kyle Busch.
Much of the headlines during the week was about the track surface and changes to try and make for more side-by-side racing. The changes made at Bristol seemed to have work, with lots of passing and drivers not giving an inch, leading to a number of incidents.
Perhaps the biggest incident of the night came with just five laps to go, when Kyle Busch attempted to pass Brad Keselowski for the lead. He was not clear of the Team Penske Ford, and hit the wall, blowing a tire. It would add to a rough final third of the race for JGR, after Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez wrecked together with 56 laps to go.
Brad Keselowski would hold the lead heading for NASCAR’s version of overtime, but would run out of fuel before the race got back to green. That handed the top spot to Austin Dillon, who would not look back in the final two laps, winning the Food City 300 at Bristol.
Here are the full results from the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway:
- Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
- Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, JR Motorsports
- Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
- Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, JR Motorsports
- Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
- Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Jeremy Clements Racing
- Darrell Wallace Jr., Ford, Roush-Fenway Racing
- Blake Koch, Chevrolet, Kaulig Racing
- Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
- Corey LaJoie, Toyota, JGL Racing
- Regan Smith, Chevrolet, JR Motorsports
- Brad Keselowski, Ford, Team Penske
- Gray Gaulding, Ford, Roush-Fenway Racing
- Ray Black Jr., Chevrolet, SS Green Light Racing
- Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, JD Motorsports
- David Starr, Chevrolet, RSS Racing
- Mario Gosselin, Chevrolet, King Autosport
- Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, JGL Racing
- B.J. McLeod, Ford, B.J. McLeod Motorsports
- Travis Kvapil, Ford, Rick Ware Racing
- Brandon Gdovic, Chevrolet, Precision Performance Motorsports
- Joey Gase, Chevrolet, Means Racing
- Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, JD Motorsports
- Kyle Busch, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
- Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
- Camden Murphy, Chevrolet, Rick Ware Racing
- JJ Yeley, Toyota, Tri-Star Motorsports
- Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
- Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, Derrike Cope Racing
- Daniel Suarez, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
- T.J. Bell, Chevrolet, Obiaka Racing
- Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, JD Motorsports
- Erik Jones, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
- Hermie Sadler, Toyota, Tri-Star Motorsports
- Ryan Reed, Ford, Roush-Fenway Racing
- Mike Harmon, Dodge, Harmon Racing
- Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, RSS Racing
- Harrision Rhodes, Chevrolet, MBM Racing
- Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Shepherd Racing Ventures
- Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, Tri-Star Motorsports
Related Story: Cup Qualifying Results - The Night Race at Bristol
The next race up for the NASCAR Xfinity Series will be their last road course event of the 2016 season. The young guns of the series head north to Road America in Wisconsin for the Road America 180, with just four races to go before the Xfinity Chase. Catch the race next Saturday live on NBCSN.