Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images
A year later and no one still knows what to expect from Bristol Motor Speedway each time Cup Series teams unload.
On Saturday during practice, it was every bit identical to the extreme tire wear and cording race from last spring. However, the Night Race in September intended to replicate the conditions from the spring and failed even after a test session during the summer that achieved those aims.
No one knows what to prepare for and Sunday looks like a complete mystery too, as perfectly articulated by Chris Buescher.
“We didn’t see what happened in the spring coming whatsoever, and we went to the fall expecting it, and it didn’t happen,” Buescher said. “We did the tire rest last year before the fall race, and it had all kinds of significant wear, and we were prepared for that when we came back, and it just did not happen.
“I don’t know what to make out of that. I don’t know what we’ll see this go-around. I really don’t. I hope we get back to the point where we have somewhere in-between the two, really. I’d love to be able to go 60 or 70 laps and wear out a set of tires, not 30 or 40 — and certainly not 250.”
On an afternoon in the mid-40s, Cup Series cars once again refused to lay down rubber and PJ1 TrackBite refused to activate in the cold weather, and tires quickly started to fade and cord within 30 laps into a run.
Those are exactly the conditions that made for a chaotic race last March.
Bowman on pole
Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images
Fortunately for Alex Bowman, he loves tire management races and seemingly has one of the fastest cars that he placed on the pole by the end of time trials on Saturday, even if ‘uncertainty’ remains the watch word.
“I think all signs point towards a race like the spring,” Bowman said. “We started practice with rubber already on the racetrack from the Xfinity Series cars and we peeled that right back up. Then we ran the tires right off.
“It’s confusing because I don’t think the weather makes a difference. It’s obviously really cold today and it’s supposed to be warmer tomorrow so maybe that changes it but it’s really difficult to say.
“I think it’s going to be like (it was last spring) but we’re going to find out together, I think.”
Bowman added, all of this during his pole winning press conference, that he was just as curious as everyone in the media center how Sunday will go, and that he expects the race to begin with a slow pace just to get an idea of how much tires to blister and fade.
“If people start to fall off a cliff, we’ll know what’s coming,” Bowman said. “If the tires don’t wear out then we will just start to increasingly run harder throughout the day.”
Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images
Reaction during practice
The cording started immediately as practice began and practically every driver in the session articulated it to the pit road reporters on the PRN Radio broadcast in real time. The tires were lasting around 30 laps, which is when they were at the most risk of coming apart in the spring race last year when pushed to full speed.
Joey Logano: “The tires don’t last much longer than that. I’m definitely not comfortable enough to run longer.I don’t think everybody has their head wrapped completely around what’s causing it. Either way, we’ll adapt.”
Chase Briscoe: “It’s a lot like last year. Definitely odd. The fall race, no issues, the spring race everybody’s cording. Maybe it’s a temperature issue? I don’t know what we’ve got, to be honest with you.”
Ricky Stenhouse: “The 24’s cording, ours are cording, at least it’s not just us … We’ll see if it changes with the sun out and warmer temperatures.”
Josh Berry: “The track’s not taking rubber, it’s gonna be all about keeping the tires on it if it’s like that tomorrow.”
XFinity practice track took rubber and cars were setting fastest laps 30-40 laps into the run. Cup practice it looks like no one has been on track it’s so white. No rubber into the track and tearing tires apart. Not great so far
— Brian Keselowski (@KeselowskiBrian) April 12, 2025
Then a handful of drivers came into the media center to detail what they had discovered.
Michael McDowell: “It’s hard to tell … but it does feel a little bit like last spring, which I was not anticipating. We’ll see. There’s still an Xfinity Series race to go and we’ll see if they treat the track at all so it’s hard to say. Is tomorrow going to be like the spring race last year? I don’t know. It has the appearance that it could be but we’ll see.”
John Hunter Nemechek: “I don’t feel like last year in practice showed a lot of tire wear and this year it did so I’m not sure what this year will bring.”
So if this race is an extreme tire management race, Bowman explained what that will look like.
“Last year, we rolled around at what I felt like was half speed, all day,” Bowman said. “I thought I was going to get out of the car and everyone was going to be mad because we didn’t run hard all day but everyone loved it because there was chaos.
“In the fall, everyone just ran hard all day every lap and that’s what Cup racing has become these days, how hard you have to run the car. There are some places you have to manage but for the most part you’re 10/10 every lap.”
One of the more chaotic elements of that race last year was that NASCAR changed how it officiated the race once race control figured out what the dynamic looked like. They threw cautions early for cars simply slowing off the pace for having a tire start to cord and then stopped halfway through.
“Tomorrow, it’s really going to depend on when the cautions come out and what they do,” Bowman said. “You look at the end of that spring race and we didn’t get cautions for a lot of things that could have been cautions, honestly.
“At the beginning of the race, we were getting cautions all the time. If you save too much and you’re not getting cautions, you’re just giving away track position but if you don’t get cautions and you run too hard, you’re getting screwed on that too. It will be interesting to see what the mindset there is and what the reality is tomorrow with what the tires do with it being warmer and what direction we go.”
Logano, Busch bit in qualifying
Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images
Joey Logano got loose and the right rear caught some of the SAFER Barrier.
“The last few times we’ve qualified here in the Next Gen car it’s been sketchy to say the least,” Logano said..”This time it bit me.”
Busch saved it and was able to retain his 15th fastest lap from the lap before. Logano did not post a fast lap and will have to start at the rear after making repairs anyway.
Starting lineup
148Alex BowmanHendrick Motorsports247Ricky Stenhouse Jr.HYAK Motorsports35Kyle LarsonHendrick Motorsports411Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs Racing512Ryan BlaneyTeam Penske654Ty GibbsJoe Gibbs Racing720Christopher BellJoe Gibbs Racing816AJ AllmendingerKaulig Racing977Carson HocevarSpire Motorsports107Justin HaleySpire Motorsports1121Josh BerryWood Brothers Racing1210Ty DillonKaulig Racing1371Michael McDowellSpire Motorsports1419Chase BriscoeJoe Gibbs Racing158Kyle BuschRichard Childress Racing166Brad KeselowskiRFK Racing173Austin DillonRichard Childress Racing1838Zane SmithFront Row Motorsports1933Jesse Love * (i)Richard Childress Racing209Chase ElliottHendrick Motorsports212Austin CindricTeam Penske2223Bubba Wallace23XI Racing2399Daniel SuarezTrackhouse Racing2417Chris BuescherRFK Racing2535Riley Herbst #23XI Racing2624William ByronHendrick Motorsports2745Tyler Reddick23XI Racing2843Erik JonesLEGACY MOTOR CLUB2960Ryan PreeceRFK Racing3034Todd GillilandFront Row Motorsports314Noah GragsonFront Row Motorsports3242John Hunter NemechekLEGACY MOTOR CLUB3341Cole CusterHaas Factory Team3451Cody WareRick Ware Racing351Ross ChastainTrackhouse Racing3688Shane van Gisbergen #Trackhouse Racing3701Corey LaJoie *Rick Ware Racing3822Joey LoganoTeam Penske3966Josh Bilicki * (i)Garage 66