Race Report- Bristol Dirt Race: Kyle Busch wins after Briscoe and Reddick Tangle on Final Lap
18 APRIL 2022
By Bob Francis, Managing Editor
Go Full Throttle Racing News
BRISTOL, TENNESEE — Oh the irony! After stating the Alex Bowman “backs into wins” referring to the Las Vegas spring race, it was Kyle Busch who cashed in on a racing incident Easter Sunday night at Bristol Motor Speedway and grabbed the win. Tyler Reddick, driver of the № 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, was leading as he took the white flag, and Chase Briscoe (№ 14 Stewart Haas Ford) was closing fast. Briscoe went “full send” diving under Reddick as the two cars went into turn 3. Briscoe slid up track into Reddick sending both cars spinning, but they had a sizable gap on 3rd place Busch. Reddick did a 360 and jumped back on the throttle trying to get traction on the dirt and get to the finish line, but Kyle Busch‘s speed off Turn 4 pushed his № 18 M&M’s Toyota to the finish line 0.330 seconds ahead of Reddick’s № 8 for Busch’s first win of 2022.
60 Wins Ties “The King” Richard Petty
Busch’s win was his 60th career victory, 9th on the All-time Wins list and most among active drivers. The win ties Busch with Richard Petty’s series record streak of 18 years with at least one win during the NASCAR Cup season. “Yeah, we got one,” Busch said. “Doesn’t matter how you get ’em. It’s all about getting ’em. Can’t say enough. I mean, man, I feel like Dale Earnhardt Sr. right now (as the Bristol crowd booed). This is awesome. I didn’t do anything.” Busch continued at the post race press conference- “I don’t know why, we couldn’t fire off after it rained, both times,” Busch said. “It just would not fire. Took it about 20 laps to get going…Overall, just really pumped to be back. Real pumped to get a win. This one means a lot. I can win on any surface here at Bristol. Bring it on, baby.”
Briscoe Takes Full Responsibility for Spinning Reddick
“I was running Tyler down and tried throwing a slider and didn‘t expect him to drive in there on me, and I got loose,” Briscoe said. “I was spinning either way. I feel terrible. I didn‘t want to wreck him. That was my fault 100 percent. I hate it for Tyler. He‘s a good friend of mine.”
Reddick and Briscoe Demonstrate Grace, Class and Sportsmanship
“I don’t think I did everything right, to be honest with you,” Reddick said. “Briscoe was able to run me back down there. Just looking at it, I should have done a little bit better job of just … I don’t know. I shouldn’t have let him get that close. He ran me back down. Worked really hard to do that.”
“I mean, you’re racing on dirt, going for the move on the final corner. It’s everything that, as a driver, you hope to battle for in his situation. Made it really exciting for the fans, so… It does suck, but we were able to finish second still. I’m being honest. I should have done a better job and pulled away so he wasn’t in range to try to make that move. That’s how I look at it.”
UPDATE: TV Ratings Great News For BMS, NASCAR and Fox TV
FOX TV PR reported that Sunday Night’s Bristol Dirt Race brought in 4.007 million viewers, a 27% increase over last year’s Bristol Dirt race (run on a Monday due to weather). According to the ratings data, peak viewership hit 4.518 million at the end of Stage 2, just as the rain delay and extended Red flag. Comparing to other Sunday races on Fox, Richmond had 3.958M, COTA 3.731M, Atlanta 4.003M and Phoenix 3.991M. The ratings win all but guarantees Bristol Dirt will be back in 2023.
Up Next: The Geico 500 from Talladega Super Speedway
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