STEWART-HAAS RACING
Food City Dirt Race
Date: April 9, 2023
Event: Food City Dirt Race (Round 8 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile, dirt oval)
Format: 250 laps, broken into three stages (75 laps/75 laps/100 laps)
Race Winner: Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing (Toyota)
SHR Race Finish:
● Aric Almirola (Started 19th, Finished 31st / Running, completed 240 of 250 laps)
SHR Points:
● Aric Almirola (29th with 101 points, 180 out of first)
SHR Notes:
● Almirola finished 10th in Stage 2 to earn a bonus point.
Race Notes:
● Christopher Bell won the Food City Dirt Race to score his fifth career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first on dirt at Bristol.
● Bell was the seventh different winner in the eight NASCAR Cup Series races run this season.
● There were 14 caution periods for a total of 73 laps, including the final lap, as the race ended under caution.
● All but 10 of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Bell leaves Bristol as the new championship leader with a 13-point advantage over second-place Ross Chastain.
Sound Bites:
“I tried. I was out of my comfort zone already running up there and I was doing way better than I thought I was capable, and I started really getting a feel for it and a rhythm and started to get comfortable. Then I went down into turn one and tried a little bit harder and slid through the cushion and got in the fence and broke the right-rear toe link, and then we lost 10 laps changing the right-rear toe link. I’m just disappointed in myself and mad at myself for throwing away a good finish, but I was trying and just made a mistake.” – Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the NOCO 400 on Sunday, April 16 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.