2026 Food City 500
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| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 8 of 36 in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | April 12, 2026 | ||
| Location | Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 0.533 miles (0.858 km) | ||
| Distance | 505 laps, 269.165 mi (429 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 500 laps, 266.5 mi (433.29 km) | ||
| Average speed | 88.817 miles per hour (142.937 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Team Penske | ||
| Time | 15.101 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 284 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | |
| Time | 15.554 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | FS1 | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer, and Kevin Harvick | ||
| Nielsen ratings | 1.09 (1.945 million) | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | PRN | ||
| Booth announcers | Brad Gillie and Nick Yeoman | ||
| Turn announcers | Pat Patterson (Backstretch) | ||
The 2026 Food City 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on April 12, 2026, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Contested over 505 laps on the 0.533 miles (0.858 km) short track, extended from the original 500 laps due to a overtime finish, it was the 8th race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Ty Gibbs won the race for his first career NASCAR Cup Series win. Ryan Blaney finished 2nd, and Kyle Larson finished 3rd. Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe rounded out the top five, and Todd Gilliland, Joey Logano, Ryan Preece, Denny Hamlin, and Carson Hocevar rounded out the top ten.
Background
The 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. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks.
Besides holding racing events, the track has hosted the Battle at Bristol, a college football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Virginia Tech Hokies on September 10, 2016, and the MLB Speedway Classic, an MLB baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds from August 2-3, 2025.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 15.403 seconds and a speed of 124.573 mph (200.481 km/h).
Practice results
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Hyak Motorsports | Chevrolet | 15.403 | 124.573 |
| 2 | 4 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 15.439 | 124.283 |
| 3 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 15.451 | 124.186 |
| Official practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Ryan Blaney scored the pole for the race with a time of 15.101 and a speed of 127.064 mph (204.490 km/h).[7]
Qualifying results
Race
Race results
Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 125
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 8 |
| 4 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 35 | Riley Herbst | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 1 |
Stage Two Laps: 125
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 1 |
Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 250
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 505 | 59 |
| 2 | 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 505 | 53 |
| 3 | 8 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 505 | 54 |
| 4 | 2 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 505 | 33 |
| 5 | 3 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 505 | 45 |
| 6 | 35 | 34 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 505 | 31 |
| 7 | 20 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 505 | 33 |
| 8 | 17 | 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing | Ford | 505 | 29 |
| 9 | 11 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 505 | 41 |
| 10 | 10 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 505 | 38 |
| 11 | 12 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 505 | 30 |
| 12 | 13 | 7 | Daniel Suárez | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 505 | 25 |
| 13 | 7 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 505 | 24 |
| 14 | 21 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 505 | 23 |
| 15 | 22 | 16 | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 505 | 22 |
| 16 | 9 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 505 | 23 |
| 17 | 23 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Hyak Motorsports | Chevrolet | 504 | 20 |
| 18 | 24 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 504 | 19 |
| 19 | 15 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 504 | 18 |
| 20 | 6 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 504 | 17 |
| 21 | 4 | 35 | Riley Herbst | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 504 | 19 |
| 22 | 18 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 504 | 15 |
| 23 | 28 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 503 | 14 |
| 24 | 19 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 503 | 13 |
| 25 | 29 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 503 | 12 |
| 26 | 16 | 4 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 503 | 11 |
| 27 | 14 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 501 | 19 |
| 28 | 30 | 41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 501 | 9 |
| 29 | 32 | 10 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 501 | 8 |
| 30 | 34 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 500 | 7 |
| 31 | 36 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 500 | 6 |
| 32 | 25 | 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 490 | 16 |
| 33 | 26 | 88 | Connor Zilisch (R) | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 478 | 4 |
| 34 | 33 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 335 | 3 |
| 35 | 31 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 324 | 2 |
| 36 | 37 | 66 | Chad Finchum (i) | Garage 66 | Ford | 239 | 0 |
| 37 | 27 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||
Race statistics
- Lead changes: 12 among 4 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 9 for 72 laps
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 3 hours, 1 minute and 50 seconds
- Average speed: 88.817 miles per hour (142.937 km/h)
- Margin of victory: 0.055 seconds
