NASCAR: 3 drivers penalized ahead of Bristol dirt race

Three drivers, including polesitter Kyle Larson, are set to drop to the rear ahead of today’s NASCAR Cup Series dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

After a Sunday postponement, the NASCAR Cup Series is set for its first dirt track race in over 50 years this afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway.

But first, three drivers are set to be set to the rear of the field ahead of this 250-lap Food City Dirt Race around the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked oval in Bristol, Tennessee.

Those three drivers are Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto and Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell.

Larson was set to start the race from the pole position behind the wheel of his #5 Chevrolet but will have to drop to the back of the inside lane as a result of an engine change.

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DiBenedetto was set to start in 12th place behind the wheel of his #21 Ford but will have to drop to the back of the outside lane after the team had to fix a damaged fender when it came off the lift/hauler.

And finally, McDowell was set to start in 16th place behind the wheel of his #34 Ford but will have to drop to the back of the outside lane after the team found an issue with the throttle body when warming up the car and then fixed it.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin is set to become the polesitter behind the wheel of the #11 Toyota, but he will not get lane choice, so he is set to start on the outside lane. He is still set to control the field coming to the green flag.

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, who was slated to start in third place behind the wheel of his #12 Ford, is set to move up to the inside lane on the front row, but he will not be allowed to beat Hamlin to the start/finish line.

With Larson, DiBenedetto and McDowell set to drop to the rear, everyone who had been slated to start behind them is set to move up, either one row or two rows depending on whether they were slated to start on the inside lane or the outside lane.

So here is the updated starting lineup for the 2021 Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Starting Lineup
1st – Denny Hamlin
2nd – Ryan Blaney
3rd – Martin Truex Jr.
4th – Kyle Busch
5th – Alex Bowman
6th – Kevin Harvick
7th – Austin Dillon
8th – William Byron
9th – Chris Buescher
10th – Joey Logano
11th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
12th – Ryan Newman
13th – Christopher Bell
14th – Daniel Suarez
15th – Ross Chastain
16th – Brad Keselowski
17th – Bubba Wallace
18th – Ryan Preece
19th – Cole Custer
20th – Erik Jones
21st – Aric Almirola
22nd – Chase Elliott
23rd – Chase Briscoe
24th – Kurt Busch
25th – Tyler Reddick
26th – Corey LaJoie
27th – Anthony Alfredo
28th – Stewart Friesen
29th – Cody Ware
30th – J.J. Yeley
31st – Quin Houff
32nd – Chris Windom
33rd – Shane Golobic
34th – Mike Marlar
35th – Josh Bilicki
36th – Matt DiBenedetto
37th – Ty Dillon
38th – Michael McDowell
39th – Kyle Larson

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Tune in to Fox right now for the live broadcast of the Food City Dirt Race from Bristol Motor Speedway.

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