Saturday night's Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway is scheduled to bring the opening round of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs to an end following races at Darlington Raceway and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
This past Sunday afternoon's race at Gateway featured only the 36 full-time entries, including the six non-chartered (open) entries fielded by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. With all 36 full-time cars driven by full-time drivers this year, this race was just the third race in Cup Series history to feature no part-time drivers.
Saturday night's 500-lap race around the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked Bristol, Tennessee oval will hold no such distinction, as three open cars have been added to the entry list.
3 lineup changes made for Bristol playoff race
Richard Childress Racing and 23XI Racing are both set to add a car, while Garage 66 (MBM Motorsports) are set to return with their part-time car.
Set to drive the No. 33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing is Austin Hill, who also drove it in its sixth and most recent appearance of the season at Daytona International Speedway to conclude the regular season. Hill has driven the car three times so far this year and recorded a top finish of ninth place on the streets of Chicago.
Hill is set to join a lineup which includes full-time drivers Austin Dillon, who is still in playoff contention, and Kyle Busch.
Set to drive the No. 67 Toyota for 23XI Racing is Corey Heim. Heim has made four appearances so far this season, but he failed to qualify for the Chicago race. His top finish of the year came in his season debut at Kansas Speedway, when he beat his three full-time teammates – Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, and Riley Herbst – with a 13th place result.
As for Garage 66, Chad Finchum is set to make his third start of the season behind the wheel of the No. 66 Ford and first since the early June race at Nashville Superspeedway. He is one of six drivers to drive the car at some point this season, and Saturday's race is set to mark its 13th start.
Tune in to USA Network this Saturday, September 13 at 7:30 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the Bass Pro Shops Night Race from Bristol Motor Speedway. Begin a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss the closing race of the opening round of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs!