BRISTOL, Tenn. — With recent equipment package changes from NASCAR and Goodyear for its Cup Series short track and road course races, the Food City 500 should have somewhat of a new identity when the green flag drops Sunday afternoon on the tradition-rich race.
Drivers, teams, fans and others in the industry can’t wait to see what the new product will look like as 40 cars battle around the high-banks at legendary Bristol Motor Speedway.
NASCAR has increased the horsepower to a maximum of 750 for all cars in the Food City 500. Goodyear says it will deliver a softer tire for the race as well. The combination of the two is expected to provide more thrilling racing at the important regular season race.
Justin Fantozzi, Goodyear Director of Racing for the Americas, said they conducted a couple of tire tests in the off-season in the process of selecting the tire for this weekend.
“The objective at our Bristol tire test in November was to develop a setup that is less temperature dependent at laying rubber down,” Fantozzi said. “We heard loudly from the teams about variations in weather between practice and race conditions, and the need for a tire solution to address this. The track took rubber in November under rather cold temperatures, and again at the March OEM Wheel Force test. Our development team did a great job, and we are very pleased to be heading into the weekend with this new package.”
No matter what all of the variables produce, the fact is that a host of seasoned competitors are looking to get back to their “favorite track” and get down to business.
In recent seasons it’s been a Kyle Larson show as the driver of the No. 5 Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports has left his rivals in the dust and earned multiple victories with more than 400 laps led in each contest. Last year Larson won the Food City 500 and Christopher Bell rallied to win the 2025 Night Race.
Those two, along with Denny Hamlin, who also has a pair of Bristol victories in recent years, will be three of the drivers that are considered pre-race favorites.
“We’ve had a couple of really good races there and those were a lot of fun,” Larson said. “Hopefully we can go there and have the same sort of dominance like we’ve had in the past. I want to get back to leading a bunch of laps, winning stages and challenging for race wins. No better place to do that than Bristol. Hopefully we can put a whole weekend together like we’ve done in the past.”
Bell won America’s Night Race in September and feels comfortable and confident with whatever version of Bristol the teams get this weekend.
“Bristol is always one that we have circled on our calendar and know that we are going to be a contender there,” Bell said. “Bristol’s been throwing the sink at everybody. Now we get the package change, the engine change and tire change all at once. It’s definitely one of the trickiest races to prepare for these days. There are a lot of unknowns going into this weekend, but that feels normal.”
Once you are past the first three favorites, then the flood gates open. More than 10 drivers are in the lineup of those who are hungry to win at Bristol and have the skillset to get the job done. Those drivers include red-hot Tyler Reddick, driver of the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing, who has jumped out to a blistering start to the season by winning four of the first seven races. After going winless last year, he has posted victories at Daytona, Atlanta, COTA and Darlington in his 2026 outburst.
Reddick has run well at Bristol in the past and nearly claimed a Bristol win on dirt in 2022 before he and Chase Briscoe tangled on the final lap coming out of turn four. Their skirmish opened the door for Kyle Busch to claim his ninth Bristol Cup victory.
Reddick also ran well at Bristol during his Truck and O’Reilly Series days and his driving style works well around Bristol’s unique configuration, which is a short track that races like a superspeedway.
“I mean, it’s just a matter of the tracks that I’m really strong at and our cars are really strong at,” Reddick said. “We’ve just this year been capitalizing on it and getting the wins. If we can keep this up, who knows? I’m just going to take it one week at a time.”
The murderer’s row of top challengers continues with recent Martinsville winner Chase Elliott, who won the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol, and Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe, Joey Logano, NASCAR Clash winner Ryan Preece, Bubba Wallace and Brad Keselowski. All of these drivers have won a Bristol race in some form or fashion.
Elliott has a ton of fans at Bristol Motor Speedway so he would like to make them all happy by bringing some of his recent Martinsville magic into the Tennessee hills.
“It was definitely a team effort,’’ said Elliott, of his recent Martinsville victory. “We’ve never had a win this early in the season. Just a really great team effort. So proud of [crew chief] Alan [Gustafson] the crew really did a great job. We took a gamble and were going to two-stop that last stage and honestly believe it was going to work out either way. Just so proud. It sure is a lot of fun when days like this work out…To win these races is just so tough. Really grateful for the opportunity as always. I never take it for granted.’’
Another driver to watch is Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain. He drives the No. 1 Chevrolet and is among a large contingent of Cup drivers this weekend who are doing a little moonlighting. Chastain is also racing in the Tennessee Army National Guard 250 Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday night.
“I love racing at Bristol which is why I always try and run more than one series there,” Chastain said. “It’s so fun to be on the track which is kind of down in a bowl with all of the fans right next to you. The atmosphere at Bristol is just so cool. Walking across the track down into the infield at the crossover gate is a neat experience. You get to feel how steep the banking is.”
The rising stars list has at least five drivers who despite their lack of long-term experience are still near the top of the list of those who could win the Food City 500.
That list starts with Ty Gibbs at Bristol. The driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing machine has led laps and looked super comfortable in his limited Cup starts on the high banks and has been tagged by media and racing historians as someone who could be the next “first time Cup winner at Bristol” on the track’s all-star list that includes Dale Earnhardt Sr., Rusty Wallace, Kurt Busch and Ernie Irvan, among others.
Carson Hocevar is also proving that he has no fear in the sport and it would not be a surprise to see the driver of the No. 77 Chevy for Spire Motorsports standing in Bristol’s victory lane. Hocevar has received many compliments for his driving style and has even been compared to Dale Earnhardt Sr. for his take no prisoners and make no friends approach behind the wheel.
“We’ve been fast at Bristol ever since my first Cup race there in 2023,” Hocevar said. “We have just been very successful there. I really enjoy running there, and it is one of Luke’s (Lambert, crew chief) favorite tracks. He has a lot of experience there and won races at every level. We are close, we just need everything to come together.”
Hocevar says the speed around the iconic bullring is what brings out the best in him. He is also one of the Cup regulars who are competing in Friday’s truck race under the lights.
“Bristol is super-fast and I think that suits me,” Hocevar said. “You carry a lot of speed around there and you have to make decisions very quickly and pick between the top and bottom lanes depending on where the lap traffic is. It is almost like running on a dirt track.”
