BRISTOL, Tenn. – Thirty-nine cars are on the entry list for Sunday’s Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the first NASCAR Cup Series race on a dirt surface in 50 years.
Headlined by defending Cup Series champion Chase Elliott, who will pilot the No. 9 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, the stars of NASCAR’s premier division will hit the dirt over the weekend and attempt to tame The Last Great Coliseum in a whole new manner.
The lineup for the 250-lap feature at the .533-mile dirt-covered oval will be set through four qualifying heat races, with all drivers transferring into the big show since there are less than 40 cars entered.
However, the final starting positions will be determined by a combination of heat-race finish points and passing points earned for spots gained during each 15-lap heat.
Multiple grassroots dirt-track stars will be in action during the Food City Dirt Race, led by USAC Triple Crown champion Chris Windom of Canton, Ill., who will wheel the No. 15 NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet for Rick Ware Racing in partnership with Hayward Motorsports, Windom’s USAC sprint car team.
A similar agreement will see California sprint car and midget ace Shane Golobic step behind the wheel of Live Fast Motorsports’ No. 78 Ford, with support from Matt Wood Racing and longtime sponsors NOS Energy Drink and Elk Grove Ford.
Big-block modified star Stewart Friesen will step up from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for his first Cup Series appearance behind the wheel of the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports.
Finally, past World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series champion Mike Marlar will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut with Carl Long’s MBM Motorsports team, driving the No. 66 Toyota.
Full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers who cut their teeth in dirt-track racing before advancing into stock cars include Kyle Larson (No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet), Tyler Reddick (No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet), Chase Briscoe (No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford), Christopher Bell (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet).
The 36 chartered NASCAR Cup Series teams are joined by three open teams at Bristol – the No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet of Ryan Preece; the No. 66 MBM Motorsports Toyota of Marlar; and the No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota of Ty Dillon.
Sunday’s Food City Dirt Race is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. ET start, with live coverage on FOX, the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
NASCAR Cup Series Food City Dirt Race Entry List
(39 entries as of March 22)
Car No. – Driver – Team
00 – Quin Houff – StarCom Racing
1 – Kurt Busch – Chip Ganassi Racing
2 – Brad Keselowski – Team Penske
3 – Austin Dillon – Richard Childress Racing
4 – Kevin Harvick – Stewart-Haas Racing
5 – Kyle Larson – Hendrick Motorsports
6 – Ryan Newman – Roush Fenway Racing
7 – Corey LaJoie – Spire Motorsports
8 – Tyler Reddick – Richard Childress Racing
9 – Chase Elliott – Hendrick Motorsports
10 – Aric Almirola – Stewart-Haas Racing
11 – Denny Hamlin – Joe Gibbs Racing
12 – Ryan Blaney – Team Penske
14 – Chase Briscoe – Stewart-Haas Racing
15 – Chris Windom – Rick Ware Racing
17 – Chris Buescher – Roush Fenway Racing
18 – Kyle Busch – Joe Gibbs Racing
19 – Martin Truex Jr. – Joe Gibbs Racing
20 – Christopher Bell – Joe Gibbs Racing
21 – Matt DiBenedetto – Wood Brothers Racing
22 – Joey Logano – Team Penske
23 – Bubba Wallace – 23XI Racing
24 – William Byron – Hendrick Motorsports
34 – Michael McDowell – Front Row Motorsports
37 – Ryan Preece – JTG Daugherty Racing *
38 – Anthony Alfredo – Front Row Motorsports
41 – Cole Custer – Stewart-Haas Racing
42 – Ross Chastain – Chip Ganassi Racing
43 – Erik Jones – Richard Petty Motorsports
47 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – JTG Daugherty Racing
48 – Alex Bowman – Hendrick Motorsports
51 – Cody Ware – Rick Ware Racing
52 – Josh Bilicki – Rick Ware Racing
53 – J.J. Yeley – Rick Ware Racing
66 – Mike Marlar – Motorsports Business Management *
77 – Stewart Friesen – Spire Motorsports
78 – Shane Golobic – Live Fast Motorsports
96 – Ty Dillon – Gaunt Brothers Racing *
99 – Daniel Suarez – Trackhouse Racing