Easter Bunny (Briscoe and Reddick) Brings Kyle Busch a Surprise Victory on Bristol Dirt

Chris Graythen / Getty Images

BRISTOL, TN - RIS - It all came down to the final laps on a duel between a closing Chase Briscoe and Tyler Reddick, who was leading the NASCAR Cup Food City Dirt Race.  Briscoe and Reddick got together and Kyle Busch was there to claim the victory. The final margin of victory was a matter of feet between Reddick and Busch, but a win nonetheless.  Busch was following behind in third place by about three seconds. Busch’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led only that final lap of Sunday’s race. His first victory of the season was the 60th of his Cup Series career.

Reddick — who led 99 laps — righted his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet from his final-turn spin to finish second, .330 seconds behind at the checkered flag. Joey Logano — last year’s Bristol Dirt winner — finished third, defending Cup Series champ Kyle Larson was fourth, and Ryan Blaney filled out the top five.

Briscoe ended up finishing in 22nd place after leading 59 laps.  Briscoe came to Reddick with apologies immediately after the race, but both drivers shook hands and blamed themselves for the incident.  Briscoe appeared to have the car to beat, but when rain came at the end of the second stage, Briscoe headed to the pits.  That left all drivers who did not pit at the front of the race. Briscoe fought to get into position to take the lead from 17th place and caught Reddick with two laps to go.  His risky attempt to pass Reddick was almost successful.  His car got into Reddick entering a turn on the last lap and both spun out. Following the race, the two chatted on pit road, to all appearances, both knew that it was purely a racing incident and both seemed satisfied that there was no intent in the contact.

Briscoe led the first 48 laps, but his No. 14 Ford spun early with a flat tire to prompt a caution flag on Lap 49. He rallied to take the lead on Lap 140 and held on to win Stage 2 with 150 laps complete. Larson won Stage 1. This race had several leaders early on. Drivers like Larson were challenging for the lead. Briscoe was there the whole time it seemed, and he kept his foot on the pedal. When he had to go through the restart after the first delay was over, he didn’t balk. He was fast. Then, an opening. Another weather delay in stage 3. With 20 laps to go, things started back up and Briscoe almost caught up to Reddick.

The race was delayed twice by rain — once during the Stage 2 break, and then again with Reddick ahead with 28 laps remaining. Rain was falling during the final laps during some hard racing.

The NASCAR Cup Series’ next race is scheduled next Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.

Unofficial Results: 62nd Annual Food City Dirt Race, April 17, 2022, Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt
Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 11, Kyle Busch, No. 18 Mars Crunchy Cookie Toyota, 250, 5, 5, 1, 1, 5, 52, Running
2) 3, Tyler Reddick, No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet, 250, 8, 10, 1, 99, , 39, Running
3) 10, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 250, 7, 7, , , , 42, Running
4) 5, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 250, 1, 6, 1, 27, 1, 48, Running
5) 25, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford, 250, 9, 9, , , , 36, Running
6) 8, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 250, 6, , , , , 36, Running
7) 2, Christopher Bell, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota, 250, 3, 2, , , , 47, Running
8) 9, Chase Elliott, No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet, 250, , 4, , , , 36, Running
9) 17, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 250, , 8, , , , 31, Running
10) 7, Ty Dillon, No. 42 Food City/Gain Chevrolet, 250, 2, , , , , 36, Running
11) 18, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Solomon Plumbing Ford, 250, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 21, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet, 250, , 3, 1, 64, , 33, Running
13) 1, Cole Custer, No. 41 Jacob Construction/HaasTooling Ford, 250, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 6, Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 15, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 250, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 20, Austin Cindric #, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 250, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 23, Todd Gilliland #, No. 38 First Phase Credit Card Ford, 250, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 19, William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 26, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Nations Guard Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 24, Harrison Burton #, No. 21 Dex Imaging Ford, 250, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 30, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota, 250, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 4, Chase Briscoe, No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford, 250, , 1, 2, 59, 1, 25, Running
23) 31, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Cummins/Rush Truck Centers Ford, 250, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 14, Erik Jones, No. 43 Food City/Tide Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 36, Josh Williams(i), No. 78 Alloy Employer Services Ford, 250, , , , , , 0, Running
26) 35, Cody Ware, No. 51 Nurtec ODT Ford, 250, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 28, Noah Gragson(i), No. 16 Chevy Truck Month Chevrolet, 248, , , , , , 0, Running
28) 22, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota, 245, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 16, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/Irish Spring Chevrolet, 240, 10, , , , , 9, Running
30) 29, JJ Yeley(i), No. 15 Georgia Strong/JAG Metals LLC Ford, 221, , , , , , 0, Accident
31) 12, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Chevrolet, 211, 4, , , , , 13, Accident
32) 13, Kurt Busch, No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota, 211, , , , , , 5, Accident
33) 33, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Advent Health Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 4, Engine
34) 32, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Latte Ford, 100, , , , , , 3, Accident
35) 34, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, 91, , , , , , 2, Engine
36) 27, Justin Allgaier(i), No. 77 BRANDT Chevrolet, 74, , , , , , 0, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie
Length: 250 Laps, 125 miles
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 34 Mins, 27 Secs.
Average Speed: 34.973 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.330 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 5, 42, 20, 3, 18, 48, 22, 8, 12, 47
Stage 2 Top 10: 14, 20, 99, 9, 18, 5, 22, 34, 12, 8
Comments: Kyle Busch has won the Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt, his 60th career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.
No vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty.

Cautions: 14 for 82 laps;
Laps: 15-25 (Competition [10]);
51-55 (No. 14 Spin Turn 2 [78]);
76-76 (No. 77 Incident Turn 3 / Stage 1 Conclusion [4]);
93-96 (No. 48 Spin Turn 4 [41]);
99-105 (No. 4, 7, 16, 48 Incident Backstretch [51]);
115-118 (No. 3, 6 Incident Turn 2 [16]);
127-131 (Debris Backstretch [10]);
133-139 (No. 7, 21, 23 Incident Backstretch [16]);
151-151 (Stage 2 Conclusion [16]);
163-167 (No. 9, 47, 51, 99 Incident Turn 3 [16]);
170-175 (No. 43 Incident Turn 2 [51]);
179-183 (No. 38 Spin Turn 2 [16]);
204-210 (No. 47 Incident Turn 2 [16]);
213-226 (No. 3, 10, 45 Incident Turn 1 [Red Flag: 00:16:51] [19]).

Lead Changes: 6 among 5 drivers;
C. Custer 0;
C. Briscoe 1-48;
K. Larson 49-75;
D. Suarez 76-139;
C. Briscoe 140-150;
T. Reddick 151-249;
K. Busch 250.

Busch Light Pole Award:  Cole Custer, No. 41 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race:  Austin Cindric, No. 2

Unofficial Points Report: 62nd Annual Food City Dirt Race, Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt
Pos, Driver, Car, Starts, GL, Points, Ldr, Nxt, Race Wins, Stage Wins, Playoff Pts
1) Chase Elliott, No. 9, 9, 0, 324, 0, 0, 0, 2, 2
2) Ryan Blaney, No. 12, 9, 0, 321, -3, 3, 0, 3, 3
3) Joey Logano, No. 22, 9, 1, 303, -21, 18, 0, 0, 0
4) William Byron, No. 24, 9, -1, 295, -29, 8, 2, 2, 12
5) Alex Bowman, No. 48, 9, 1, 273, -51, 22, 1, 1, 6
6) Kyle Busch, No. 18, 9, 4, 273, -51, 0, 1, 0, 5
7) Martin Truex Jr., No. 19, 9, 0, 253, -71, 20, 0, 3, 3
8) Ross Chastain, No. 1, 9, -3, 250, -74, 3, 1, 1, 6
9) Kyle Larson, No. 5, 9, 4, 249, -75, 1, 1, 1, 6
10) Chase Briscoe, No. 14, 9, 1, 245, -79, 4, 1, 1, 6
11) Tyler Reddick, No. 8, 9, 1, 241, -83, 4, 0, 2, 2
12) Aric Almirola, No. 10, 9, -4, 237, -87, 4, 0, 0, 0
13) Kevin Harvick, No. 4, 9, -4, 225, -99, 12, 0, 0, 0
14) Austin Cindric #, No. 2, 9, 0, 222, -102, 3, 1, 0, 5
15) Christopher Bell, No. 20, 9, 4, 220, -104, 2, 0, 0, 0
16) Daniel Suarez, No. 99, 9, 2, 212, -112, 8, 0, 1, 1
17) Austin Dillon, No. 3, 9, -2, 210, -114, 2, 0, 0, 0
18) Chris Buescher, No. 17, 9, 2, 195, -129, 15, 0, 0, 0
19) Erik Jones, No. 43, 9, -2, 194, -130, 1, 0, 0, 0
20) Kurt Busch, No. 45, 9, -4, 192, -132, 2, 0, 0, 0
21) Ty Dillon, No. 42, 9, 4, 166, -158, 26, 0, 0, 0
22) Bubba Wallace, No. 23, 9, 0, 163, -161, 3, 0, 0, 0
23) Denny Hamlin, No. 11, 9, -2, 159, -165, 4, 1, 1, 6
24) Cole Custer, No. 41, 9, 0, 159, -165, 0, 0, 0, 0
25) Justin Haley, No. 31, 9, -2, 158, -166, 1, 0, 0, 0
26) Michael McDowell, No. 34, 9, 0, 152, -172, 6, 0, 0, 0
27) Todd Gilliland #, No. 38, 9, 0, 132, -192, 20, 0, 0, 0
28) Harrison Burton #, No. 21, 9, 1, 127, -197, 5, 0, 0, 0
29) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47, 9, -1, 120, -204, 7, 0, 0, 0
30) Brad Keselowski, No. 6, 9, 1, 118, -206, 2, 0, 0, -10
31) Corey LaJoie, No. 7, 9, -1, 117, -207, 1, 0, 0, 0
32) Cody Ware, No. 51, 9, 0, 79, -245, 38, 0, 0, 0
33) Bj Mcleod, , 7, 0, 60, -264, 19, 0, 0, 0
34) David Ragan, , 2, 0, 48, -276, 12, 0, 0, 0
35) Garrett Smithley, , 3, 0, 28, -296, 20, 0, 0, 0
36) Greg Biffle, , 4, 0, 22, -302, 6, 0, 0, 0
37) Jacques Villeneuve, , 1, 0, 15, -309, 7, 0, 0, 0
38) Boris Said, , 1, 0, 11, -313, 4, 0, 0, 0
39) Joey Hand, , 1, 0, 2, -322, 9, 0, 0, 0
40) Daniel Hemric(i), , 3, 0, 0, -324, 2, 0, 0, 0
41) Landon Cassill(i), , 3, 0, 0, -324, 0, 0, 0, 0
42) Josh Bilicki(i), , 5, 0, 0, -324, 0, 0, 0, 0
43) A J Allmendinger(i), , 4, 0, 0, -324, 0, 0, 0, 0
44) Kaz Grala(i), , 2, 0, 0, -324, 0, 0, 0, 0
45) Josh Williams(i), No. 78, 1, 0, 0, -324, 0, 0, 0, 0
46) Noah Gragson(i), No. 16, 3, -1, 0, -324, 0, 0, 0, 0
47) JJ Yeley(i), No. 15, 3, -1, 0, -324, 0, 0, 0, 0
48) Loris Hezemans(i), , 1, -1, 0, -324, 0, 0, 0, 0
49) Justin Allgaier(i), No. 77, 1, 0, 0, -324, 0, 0, 0, 0
50) Andy Lally(i), , 1, -2, 0, -324, 0, 0, 0, 0
51) Timmy Hill(i), , 0, -2, 0, -324, 0, 0, 0, 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series