Break out the brooms: It is a clean sweep of the Round of 16 for Joe Gibbs Racing.
This time, it was Christopher Bell who captured the checkered flag for JGR, using fresh tires to take the lead on a late restart and then holding off a last-lap charge from Brad Keselowski to win the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Oh boy, where do we even begin with this race? High levels of tire wear and season-high 14 cautions constantly flipped and transformed pit strategy throughout the night, so let’s do our best to break it all down.
Tire Wear Steals the Show Under the Lights
“I don’t think anyone in the field predicted this type of race.”
That postrace quote from Denny Hamlin perfectly summarizes the tire fallout and strategy that unfolded under the bright lights of Bristol.
Short track racing has been underwhelming in the Next Gen era, and NASCAR has called upon Goodyear to help with the product by making adjustments to the tire compound. The result: A soft right-side tire that wears down quicker than the typical tire.
At first, it looked as though the soft tire compound would not have much of an impact at Bristol. During Friday’s (Sept. 12) practice session, drivers were able to comfortably go 70 laps or so without any significant falloff.
But then the sun set in eastern Tennessee, the temperature of the concrete surface of the half-mile track cooled off, and a switch flipped. About 25 laps in, drivers began to report issues, and teams changed the tires to reveal cording and high wear on the right sides.
Not expecting such high levels of wear after practice, drivers and teams had to pivot and make tire management and saving their rubber a higher priority.
In response, Goodyear decided to prep and offer an extra set of tires to every team, bringing the total number of sets for the race weekend to 12, the same amount as the spring 2024 Bristol race that also saw tires falloff quickly.
“The industry has asked for this,” Justin Fantozzi, Operations Manager for Global Race Tires at Goodyear, told USA Sports during the broadcast. “We’ve got the best driver, the best crew chiefs. We’re going to ask them to manage it, and we’re delivering on exactly what we were asked to do.”
And deliver they did, adding a layer of intrigue of strategy to make Saturday night one of the most memorable Bristol nights races in recent years.
Ty Gibbs’ Bid for 1st Career Win Comes Undone
Out of all the drivers in the field, Ty Gibbs was one of the first to change his driving style to better manage the soft right-side tires, and it paid dividends. Gibbs piloted the No. 54 JGR Toyota to a combined 19 stage points on the night, finishing runner-up in stage one before winning stage two.
Gibbs led a race-high 201 of 500 laps and had himself in the lead and in position to finally get the monkey off of his back and collect his first career NASCAR Cup Series win.
But then, on lap 436, Gibbs missed his pit road entry from the lead, having to get back to speed and stay on the track for one more lap. The misstep occurred too late in the race for Gibbs to fight his back to the front, though he did salvage a top-10 finish in 10th.
However, Gibbs’ long wait for his first Cup win will continue.
Pit Penalties for Playoff Drivers
In addition to tire management on-track, drivers and teams also had to be aware of having a clean day on Bristol’s unique pit lane, with stalls on both straightaways. Several playoff teams had missteps on pit road, which in some cases led to the team’s elimination.
- Austin Dillon and the No. 3 RCR Racing team entered Bristol on the outside looking in, 11 points below the cut line. Dillon did himself no favors when on lap 28, he sped on pit road during his first pit stop of the night under green. The pass through penalty put Dillon multiple laps down, a hole that he ultimately could not dig out of, ending his playoff run in the Round of 16. Dillon’s No. 3 also had a safety violation on lap 260.
- Kyle Larson showed speed early, but he was too fast on pit road on lap 133, part of a series of struggles that set Larson back to 32nd in the final running order.
- Larson was not the only Hendrick car tagged for speeding as William Byron got caught going too fast on lap 357, sending the No. 24 Chevrolet to the tail of the field. Byron wound up 12th at the end of the night.
- Hamlin got hit with three penalties, the most notable one coming on lap 384 for a loose wheel on the racetrack. Hamlin lost two laps in the race, and the No. 11 crew will have multiple members suspended when NASCAR’s penalty report comes out later this week. Those crew member suspensions could have an impact on the No. 11 team in the Round of 12, so keep an eye on their pit stops in the next two races.
Look Ahead to Next Week
The Cup Series begins the Round of 12 in New England with the running of the Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 21. Coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET on USA Network.
New Hampshire is very similar in length and configuration to World Wide Technology Raceway, the middle race of the Round of 16. Even before the Next Gen car, NHMS was a tough place to pass. Expect teams to put a big emphasis on qualifying and dictating their strategy to maximize track position.
Andrew Stoddard joined Frontstretch in May of 2022 as an iRacing contributor. He is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, the University of Richmond, and VCU. He works as an athletic communications specialist at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va.