gettyimages-1685530484.jpg
Getty Images

Through the hills of Tennessee and Appalachia, the first hints of springtime are beginning to appear and the new world is beginning to bloom at winter's end. But strangely, at this time of the year, there is no better place to be in this area than at a man-made behemoth of steel and concrete. One that harkens back to the golden ages of the past, and one that has earned the right to be called The Last Great Coliseum.

The NASCAR Cup Series makes its first trip of the season to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 500, and for the first time in several years finds Bristol in the same condition they left it following the Night Race last fall. After three years as the only dirt race on the Cup Series calendar, Bristol's spring race will once again be held on concrete, presenting 500 laps of traditional high-speed and high-contact Bristol racing -- complete with the red and white walls of NASCAR's Winston Cup era as the track commemorates a return to concrete with a throwback weekend.

The last time the Cup Series raced at Bristol on concrete in the springtime, it was Kyle Busch outdueling his brother Kurt to take his eighth of nine career wins at this racetrack. Busch will look for Bristol win No. 10 this weekend, but he does so coming off of a dismal performance last week at Phoenix and seeking to not lose ground to winning drivers this season like Phoenix winner Christopher Bell, who won the spring race at Bristol last year when it was on dirt.

This year will see 2023 Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney start in pole position after a successful day of qualifying. Blaney claimed his first pole of the year on Saturday, narrowly edging out rookie Josh Berry, and veterans Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, who have each claimed poles in the first few races of the season.

How to watch the NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol

Date: Sunday, March 17
Location: Bristol Motor Speedway -- Bristol, Tennessee
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: Fox
Stream: fubo (try for free)

Starting lineup

  1. #12 - Ryan Blaney
  2. #4 - Josh Berry (R)
  3. #11 - Denny Hamlin
  4. #22 - Joey Logano
  5. #9 - Chase Elliott
  6. #14 - Chase Briscoe
  7. #34 - Michael McDowell
  8. #24 - William Byron
  9. #23 - Bubba Wallace
  10. #5 - Kyle Larson
  11. #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
  12. #20 - Christopher Bell
  13. #21 - Harrison Burton
  14. #8 - Kyle Busch
  15. #43 - Erik Jones
  16. #71 - Zane Smith (R)
  17. #6 - Brad Keselowski
  18. #7 - Corey LaJoie
  19. #54 - Ty Gibbs
  20. #31 - Daniel Hemric
  21. #2 - Austin Cindric
  22. #10 - Noah Gragson
  23. #45 - Tyler Reddick
  24. #38 - Todd Gilliland
  25. #41 - Ryan Preece
  26. #42 - John Hunter Nemechek
  27. #47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  28. #99 - Daniel Suarez
  29. #48 - Alex Bowman
  30. #16 - A.J. Allmendinger
  31. #3 - Austin Dillon
  32. #51 - Justin Haley
  33. #15 - Kaz Grala (R)
  34. #17 - Chris Buescher
  35. #77 - Carson Hocevar (R)
  36. #1 - Ross Chastain

What to watch

Following the events of last week's race at Phoenix, NASCAR is collectively on feud watch as the Cup Series heads to a short track like Bristol fresh off of multiple disputes throughout the field. One disagreement was between Joey Logano and John Hunter Nemechek, with Logano calling on the second-generation driver to be "man enough" to take responsibility for running into the back of him entering Turn 1.

The Logano and Nemechek dispute seems settled, as Logano told reporters during a tire test at North Wilkesboro Speedway that the two have spoken and are "all good." The status of another dispute, however, seems less certain.

Following Sunday's race in Phoenix, Erik Jones voiced his displeasure with Chase Briscoe through the media, saying he had repeatedly dragged him down on multiple restarts and put him in a position where he got put in the wall while running four-wide, ruining his race and relegating him to a 31st-place finish despite having a car that qualified in the top five and ran as high as second before a botched pit stop cost him track position.

"He seems to have an issue with me every week. I'll call him this week, he probably won't call me back," Jones told Frontstretch. "I'd love to talk to him."

The issue seemed unresolved as of Tuesday, as Briscoe told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that he still had not received a phone call from Jones and remained bewildered as to exactly what the driver of the No. 43 was mad at him for. While Briscoe acknowledged that he got into Jones coming off Turn 4, he made note that the contact that sent Jones into the wall came from Bubba Wallace, who both Jones and Briscoe had been racing for position.

"I don't know if he just hasn't called me because he watched the replay and realized it wasn't really me that did it," Briscoe said. "I haven't heard from him. If he calls me, I'll be glad to talk to him and kind of explain everything to him. ... I thought it was just a racin' deal where four guys were kind of all going for the same spot and it all just kind of closed up."

Depending on what is said this coming Saturday, when drivers typically meet with the press before qualifying, keep an eye on Jones and Briscoe should they find each other on the racetrack come Sunday.

News of the week

  • In the wake of a mixed response to the first race with NASCAR's new short track and road course aerodynamic rules at Phoenix, much of the discourse over the past week has centered around competitors advocating for an increase in horsepower juxtaposed to NASCAR's resistance to an increase from the current standard 650 horsepower. NASCAR has spent much of the past 10 years tapering down on horsepower for a variety of reasons, among them attempts to produce closer racing on intermediate tracks, cost control and efforts to entice new manufacturers into the sport.

    A number of drivers have spoken out on this topic, including Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson, whose arguments included the idea that an increase in horsepower more in line with what Cup Series engines are capable of producing would not come with a significant increase in costs. NASCAR, however, continues to resist such a concept on the grounds of what it would take to get another carmaker to agree to enter the sport.

    "The number we're at seems to be where we want to be to try to get potential new manufacturers interested," Cup Series managing director Brad Moran said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. "If we start getting away from that number, it can create problems in that area. But we're always open to everything. We do consider everything, and the engine gets talked about quite often. But there's a lot of different parties that have to agree before that one can happen."

    That argument was countered by Larson, who offered a direct anecdote from internal conversations at Hendrick Motorsports to suggest that an increase in horsepower could be done relatively easily and quickly. While massive changes to NASCAR engines and horsepower output likely won't come immediately, don't expect this debate to go away or get less intense anytime soon.

    "I've heard our Scotty Maxim say ... 'We could bring 1,000 horsepower next week,'" Larson told the Dale Jr. Download. "They're literally taking the engine that I won with at Vegas and making it a 1,000-horsepower engine to put in one of Rick's [Hendrick] personal cars that they're building right now. They can do it.
  • Former F1 driver and 24 Hours of Le Mans champion Kamui Kobayashi will make his return to NASCAR next weekend at Circuit of the Americas, driving a third car for 23XI Racing just as he did last summer at Indianapolis. Kobayashi will make his second career Cup start after finishing 33rd in his debut at Indy, where he became the second Japanese driver in history to compete in a Cup Series race.

Pick to win

Ty Gibbs (+1300) -- I am extremely bullish on Ty Gibbs this weekend, and I am one foot in the water -- almost two -- on picking him to win outright. The last time the Cup Series raced at Bristol, Gibbs led a career-high 102 laps and looked to have a potential race-winning car before finishing fifth. In the first short track race of the year at The Clash, Gibbs was cruising on his way to victory before a late caution foiled that. And he's coming off of two-straight top fives and three-straight top 10s, including a career-best third-place finish last week at Phoenix where he led 57 laps.

Ty Gibbs' first win is coming. In fact, it's coming soon. And I dare say that it could come as early as this weekend.

So who wins the Food City 500 2024, and which longshots are a must-back? Check out the latest 2024 NASCAR at Bristol odds below, then visit SportsLine to see the full projected 2024 NASCAR at Bristol leaderboard, all from the model that has nailed 16 winners.