2019 Food City 500

The 2019 Food City 500 is a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on April 7, 2019, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Contested over 500 laps on the 0.533 mi concrete short track, it was the eighth race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

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. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating.

First practice
Ryan Blaney was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 14.804 seconds and a speed of 129.614 mph.

Qualifying
Chase Elliott scored the pole for the race with a time of 14.568 and a speed of 131.713 mph.

Second practice
Erik Jones was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 14.771 seconds and a speed of 129.903 mph.

Final practice
Joey Logano was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 14.894 seconds and a speed of 128.830 mph.

Start
Kevin Harvick drops to the rear of the field after failing pre-race inspection three times and has to serve a drive-through penalty after the green flag waves. It does not take long for things to get wild. Aric Almirola gets into the wall on the backstretch on lap 1. As the field checked up, Kyle Busch spun with some contact from Ryan Preece.

Denny Hamlin took over the lead from Chase Elliott until he was passed seven laps later by Erik Jones the Byron, Michigan native. Ryan Blaney charged to the front and grabbed the top spot when Jones was forced to pit with a tire going down. As the field stabilized Clint Bowyer settled into 2nd, with Joey Logano in 3rd, his teammate }{Brad Keselowski]] 4th, and Jimmie Johnson 5th.

Clint Bowyer made a late run and passed Blaney with eight laps to go in Stage 1. Immediately after the pass for the lead Daniel Hemric spun, with a little help from Ross Chastain, The race restarted with two laps to go in the first stage with Clint Bowyer and Ty Dillon on the front row. Dillon inherited the spot when driver’s in front of him chose to pit. The race to the green and white checkered flag went to Dillon as he and Bower banged doors repeatedly to the finish. It was Ty Dillon’s first stage win ever.

Stage 2
After the stage ending pit stops Brad Keselowski assumed the lead, with Logano 2nd, Johnson 3rd, Kyle Busch 4th, and Blaney 5th. Keselowski led for 15 laps, turning over the top spot to Logano who quickly pulled away from the field.

Between the two Team Penske drivers, they led every lap of Stage 2. Logano putting all but 16 cars at least one lap down.

Erik Jones recovered from his Stage 1 tire issues that put him 3 laps down. He received the free pass at the end of Stage 2 to get him back on the lead lap.

Final Stage
Ryan Blaney, out of the pits first after the stage ending caution pit stops, led the pack to the restart. Joey Logano, restarting next to Blaney, dropped in behind his other teammate in 2nd.

Shortly after the restart, NASCAR displayed the caution for debris on the track. When the race went back to green and the leaders settled into position the running order remained the same. Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch in 4th and Chase Elliott in 5th.

Erik Jones continued to battle back towards the front. After starting the Final Stage in 18th at the tail of the lead lap, Jones was about to move into the top 10 when he again experienced a tire issue. Pitting on lap 320 he went back to 2 laps down.

Ryan Blaney held the lead despite repeated attempts by Logano to pass him. While Logano may well have had the faster car, Blaney fought off every challenge until Logano squeezed past on lap 354. With the top two cars fighting it out, Bowyer drove to their bumpers and joined the fray. He also passed Blaney and began to stalk Logano.

Trapping Joey Logano behind a lapped car, Clint Bowyer made the pass for the lead in Turn 2 on lap 374. By the time Bowyer returned to the start/finish line the caution was displayed for debris on the track. This gave everyone a chance to pit for fresh tires and a full tank of Sunoco Race Fuel. 15 cars remained on the lead lap.

Restarting with 118 laps to go Clint Bowyer led with Kyle Busch beside him on the front row. A short side-by-side battle ensued with Busch winning out and taking the top spot for the first time in the race. Bowyer ran 2nd, Logano 3rd, Blaney 4th, and Kurt Busch 5th. In a great run for Chris Buescher, he ran in 6th with 100 laps to go.

With a car that seemed to improve the longer it ran, Bower passed Kyle Busch with 91 laps to go. Logano jumped on the opportunity to slide past Busch.

With 86 laps to go, Kyle Larson, William Byron and Martin Truex Jr. got together down the backstretch bringing out the 9th caution of the day. Everyone pitted for fresh rubber and the fuel that would carry them to the finish.

Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer again paced the field, this time with Busch the leader. Bowyer spun the tires on the restart as Busch drove off into Turn 1 followed by Keselowski and Logano. Battling for position, Ryan Blaney and Ryan Newman got together, not enough to crash but when Elliott got a piece of them he cut a tire. Lucky for Elliott, Bowyer also cut a tire and scraped the wall in Turn 2 bringing out another caution.

With laps dwindling down the battles for position among the leaders are getting intense. Kyle Busch again brings the pack to the line followed by Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Kurt Busch, No one times a restart better than Kyle Busch, especially when he’s in the lead. He shot off into Turn 1, but his lead was short-lived. Both Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano closed the gap and passed with 55 laps to go. They quickly pulled away.

With 31 laps to go, Joey Logano gave Brad Keselowski and little bump in Turn 1 and took the lead away from his teammate. Then Kyle Larson hit the wall bringing out a late caution with just 22 laps to go.

Finish
Logano pitted from the lead, as did most of the top 10. The Busch brothers stayed out. The race to the finish lined up with Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Daniel Suárez, Paul Menard, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, and Ryan Blaney.

The gamble to not take tires paid off for Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch as they finished 1-2. Joey Logano used the fresh rubber to work his way back to 3rd. Keselowski was black flagged by NASCAR for not obeying orders from the scoring tower and finished 18th, 1 lap down. Ryan Blaney took 4th and Denny Hamlin ended up in 5th.

Stage results
Stage One Laps: 125

Stage Two Laps: 125

Final stage results
Stage Three Laps: 250

Race statistics

 * Lead changes: 21 among 9 different drivers
 * Cautions/Laps: 11 for 77
 * Red flags: 0
 * Time of race: 2 hours, 56 minutes and 38 seconds
 * Average speed: 90.527 mph

Television
Fox Sports covered their 19th race at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Mike Joy, five-time Bristol winner Jeff Gordon and 12-time Bristol winner – and all-time Bristol race winner – Darrell Waltrip had the call in the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Regan Smith, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties for the television side.

Radio
PRN had the radio call for the race which was also be simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice, Mark Garrow and Wendy Venturini called the race in the booth when the field was racing 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, Jim Noble, and Steve Richards covered the action on pit lane.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Manufacturers' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
 * . – Driver has clinched a position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.