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2023 Food City Dirt Race
Race details
Race 8 of 36 in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series
Date	April 9, 2023
Location	Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee
Course	Permanent racing facility; 0.533 mi (0.858 km)
Distance	250 laps, 133.25 mi (214.445 km)
Average speed	46.68 miles per hour (75.12 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kyle Larson;
Time	15 Passing Points
Most laps led
Driver	Christopher Bell
Laps	100
Winner
No. 20	Christopher Bell
Television in the United States
Network	Fox
Announcers	Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer, and Tony Stewart
Radio in the United States
Radio	PRN
Booth Announcers	Doug Rice and Mark Garrow
Turn Announcers	Rob Albright (Backstretch)

The 2023 Food City Dirt Race was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on April 9, 2023, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Contested over 250 laps on the 0.533 miles (0.858 km) short track, it was the eighth race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report

Background

Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking combined with short length, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating.

In 2021, the race shifted to a dirt surface version of the track and was renamed the Food City Dirt Race.^[10]

Entry list

(R) denotes rookie driver.
(i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet
2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford
3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford
7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet
8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
9	Josh Berry (i)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford
13	Jonathan Davenport	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet
14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
15	J. J. Yeley (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford
16	A. J. Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet
17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford
19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford
22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford
23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota
24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet
34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford
38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford
41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
42	Noah Gragson (R)	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet
43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet
45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota
47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet
48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
51	Matt Crafton (i)^[a]	Rick Ware Racing	Ford
54	Ty Gibbs (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
77	Ty Dillon	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet
78	B. J. McLeod	Live Fast Motorsports	Chevrolet
99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet
Official entry list

Practice

Due to inclement weather, both practice sessions scheduled for Friday were cancelled.

Qualifying heat races

Qualifying race procedure similar to that used by the Chili Bowl qualifying nights and Bryan Clauson Classic. Starting order for heat races based on random draw. Grid determined by a combination of passing points and finishing points. Ties broken by owner points.

Race 1

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps
1	5	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	15
2	6	45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota	15
3	8	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	15
4	2	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	15
5	1	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	15
6	4	31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	15
7	10	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	15
8	7	9	Josh Berry (i)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	15
9	9	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	15
10	3	78	B. J. McLeod	Live Fast Motorsports	Chevrolet	15
Official race one results

Race 2

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps
1	1	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	15
2	2	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	15
3	5	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	15
4	4	21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	15
5	6	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	15
6	9	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	15
7	3	16	A. J. Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	15
8	8	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	15
9	7	42	Noah Gragson (R)	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	15
Official race two results

Race 3

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps
1	6	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	15
2	5	41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	15
3	9	15	J. J. Yeley (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	15
4	1	43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	15
5	8	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	15
6	4	51	Matt Crafton (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	15
7	7	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	15
8	3	77	Ty Dillon	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	15
9	2	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	15
Official race three results

Race 4

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps
1	1	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	15
2	6	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	15
3	7	2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford	15
4	2	13	Jonathan Davenport	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	15
5	8	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	15
6	4	54	Ty Gibbs (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	15
7	5	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	15
8	9	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	15
9	3	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	15
Official race four results

Starting Lineup

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
2	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
3	15	J. J. Yeley (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford
4	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
5	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
6	45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota
7	2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford
8	41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
9	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford
10	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
11	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota
12	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford
13	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford
14	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
15	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford
16	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet
17	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
18	43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet
19	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
20	21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford
21	13	Jonathan Davenport	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet
22	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet
23	54	Ty Gibbs (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
24	51	Matt Crafton (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford
25	31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet
26	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
27	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
28	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford
29	16	A. J. Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet
30	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
31	9	Josh Berry (i)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
32	77	Ty Dillon	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet
33	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford
34	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet
35	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet
36	42	Noah Gragson (R)	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet
37	78	B. J. McLeod	Live Fast Motorsports	Chevrolet
Official starting lineup

Race

Stage Results

Stage One Laps: 75

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	10
2	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	9
3	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	8
4	41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	7
5	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	6
6	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5
7	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	4
8	45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota	3
9	31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	2
10	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	1
Official stage one results

Stage Two Laps: 75

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota	10
2	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	9
3	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	8
4	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	7
5	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	6
6	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	5
7	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	4
8	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	3
9	31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	2
10	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage Three Laps: 100

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	4	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	250	52
2	6	45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota	250	48
3	2	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	250	52
4	22	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	250	33
5	14	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	250	41
6	25	31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	250	35
7	27	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	250	34
8	15	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	250	29
9	26	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	250	28
10	23	54	Ty Gibbs (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	250	27
11	13	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	250	26
12	11	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	250	25
13	10	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	250	25
14	18	43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	250	23
15	20	21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	250	22
16	29	16	A. J. Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	250	21
17	33	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	250	20
18	28	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	250	19
19	7	2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford	250	18
20	3	15	J. J. Yeley (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	250	0
21	32	77	Ty Dillon	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	250	16
22	30	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	250	15
23	9	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	250	23
24	8	41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	250	20
25	34	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	250	12
26	37	78	B. J. McLeod	Live Fast Motorsports	Chevrolet	250	11
27	31	9	Josh Berry (i)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	250	0
28	16	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	249	9
29	17	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	248	8
30	35	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	247	7
31	19	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	240	7
32	5	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	236	19
33	36	42	Noah Gragson (R)	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	205	4
34	24	51	Matt Crafton (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	185	0
35	1	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	177	20
36	21	13	Jonathan Davenport	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	176	1
37	12	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	96	1
Official race results

Race statistics

Lead changes: 4 among 4 different drivers
Cautions/Laps: 14 for 71 laps
Red flags: 0
Time of race: 2 hours, 40 minutes and 40 seconds
Average speed: 46.68 miles per hour (75.12 km/h)

Media

Television

The Food City Dirt Race was carried by Fox in the United States. Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer and three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing Tony Stewart called the race from the broadcast booth. Jamie Little, Regan Smith and Josh Sims handled pit road for the television side. Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

Fox
Booth announcers	Pit reporters	In-race analyst
Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy Color-commentator: Clint Bowyer Color-commentator: Tony Stewart	Jamie Little Regan Smith Josh Sims	Larry McReynolds

Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race which was simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race in the booth when the field raced down the frontstretch. Rob Albright called the race from atop the turn 3 suites when the field raced down the backstretch. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan, Matt Prieur, Lenny Batycki and Heather Debeaux covered the action on pit lane for PRN.

PRN
Booth announcers	Turn announcers	Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Doug Rice Announcer: Mark Garrow	Backstretch: Rob Albright	Brad Gillie Brett McMillan Matt Prieur Lenny Batycki Heather Debeaux

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
1	1	Christopher Bell	281
1	2	Ross Chastain	268 (–13)
	3	Kevin Harvick	255 (–26)
	4	Kyle Larson	242 (–39)
7	5	Tyler Reddick	235 (–46)
	6	Kyle Busch	234 (–47)
1	7	Martin Truex Jr.	232 (–49)
3	8	Joey Logano	223 (–58)
	9	Brad Keselowski	216 (–65)
	10	Ryan Blaney	211 (–70)
4	11	Alex Bowman	211 (–70)
1	12	Denny Hamlin	203 (–78)
3	13	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	194 (–87)
	14	William Byron	193 (–88)
2	15	Austin Cindric	193 (–88)
1	16	Chris Buescher	183 (–98)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

Pos	Manufacturer	Points
1	Chevrolet	302
2	Toyota	279 (–23)
3	Ford	268 (–34)

Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

Notes

^ Matt Crafton replaced Cody Ware after Ware had to miss the race due to what at time was announced as a personal matter. On April 10, 2023, Ware was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR after he was arrested and charged with felony assault;^[11] the suspension ended on December 12, 2023 when the charges were dropped.^[12]

References

^ "2023 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
^ "Bristol Motor Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
^ Taranto, Steven (14 September 2022). "NASCAR releases 2023 Cup Series schedule highlighted by new Chicago, All-Star race stops". CBS Broadcasting Inc. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
^ "NASCAR unveils 2023 schedule for its national series". National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC. 14 September 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
^ "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. April 3, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
^ "Bristol Heat Races Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
^ "Starting Lineup". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
^ "Food City Dirt Race Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. April 9, 2023. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. April 9, 2023. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
^ "NASCAR Cup Series to go dirt trackin' at Bristol in 2021 - NBC Sports". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
^ Staff Report (April 10, 2023). "NASCAR officials issue indefinite suspension to Cody Ware after arrest". NASCAR.
^ "NASCAR officials reinstate Cup Series driver Cody Ware".

Previous race: 2023 Toyota Owners 400	NASCAR Cup Series 2023 season	Next race: 2023 NOCO 400

[13] Matt Crafton replaced Cody Ware after Ware had to miss the race due to what at time was announced as a personal matter. On April 10, 2023, Ware was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR after he was arrested and charged with felony assault;^[11] the suspension ended on December 12, 2023 when the charges were dropped.^[12]

[1] "2023 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved October 10, 2022.

[2] "Bristol Motor Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2023.

[cbs-news20220914-3] Taranto, Steven (14 September 2022). "NASCAR releases 2023 Cup Series schedule highlighted by new Chicago, All-Star race stops". CBS Broadcasting Inc. Retrieved 10 March 2023.

[nascar-news20220924-4] "NASCAR unveils 2023 schedule for its national series". National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC. 14 September 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2023.

[5] "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. April 3, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2023.

[6] "Bristol Heat Races Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2023.

[7] "Starting Lineup". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2023.

[8] "Food City Dirt Race Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. April 9, 2023. Retrieved April 9, 2023.

[9] "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. April 9, 2023. Retrieved April 9, 2023.

[10] "NASCAR Cup Series to go dirt trackin' at Bristol in 2021 - NBC Sports". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2020-09-30.

[11] Staff Report (April 10, 2023). "NASCAR officials issue indefinite suspension to Cody Ware after arrest". NASCAR.

[12] "NASCAR officials reinstate Cup Series driver Cody Ware".

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