Denny Hamlin leads Toyota sweep in Bristol qualifying

The Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series are both on the 0.533-mile Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend, competing in the Food City 300 Xfinity Series race on Friday night, August 21 and the Irwin Tools Night Race for the Sprint Cup Series on Saturday night, August 22.

It’s time for some short track racing on the high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway, and while I may not like the layout which changed in 2007 to allow multiple grooves on the track, it’s still short track racing at high speeds.

Gordon would qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs if the season ended today, holding the second-to-last points spot in the standings.

The think about Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth this week is they should be be considered co-favorites to win, which is a big statement because Harvick has been that “it” guy favored in nearly every race other than the roads and restrictor-plates. His second-place finish at Michigan last week was his best since the June 7 Pocono race, which was his 11th top-two finish of the first 15 races. “Everybody on the team has kind of taken up that same mentality”.

Win or lose, Gordon is prepared to put on one final show for the Bristol fans. In the Cup Series, where he’ll be in the No. 18 Skittles Toyota Camry, Busch has 12 top 10 finishes, including five wins, in 20 starts.

I think we’re going to see all four Gibbs auto run well, with Kyle Busch and Kenseth leading the parade again. Kurt Busch’s last win here came in 2006.

Jeff Gordon will start 24th – ironically, it’s the same position he finished in his first start at Bristol in 1993. Brad Keselowski has two wins, the last coming in 2012. Bristol is a prime place for Smith to gain ground on his young adversaries. Ryan Newman is making his 500th start, while Ricky Stenhouse Jr.is making his 100th….

“It’s right on the edge of being loose in”, Kurt Busch said.