Austin Dillon Wins Food City 300 at Bristol

A neck and neck contest in the final laps between NASCAR mainstays Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch knocked both contenders out of contention. As a result, Austin Dillon took advantage and claimed his first win Friday in the Xfinity Series Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

After the wreck between the top two contenders, the field was reset for a final showdown. Brad Keselowski, who clipped Kyle Busch, was able to stay out on the track. Unfortunately, he ran out of gas under caution on lap and finished in 12th. That set the stage for the Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon to push off out in front.

Austin Dillon chose the outside lane on the re-start and edged JR Motorsports’Justin Allgaier in the extended overtime session of the event.  The high lane was the fastest way around the .533 mile high-banked oval for most of the evening. Bristol Motor Speedways recent attempts to improve the speed of the lower groove appeared to pay off, but not quite enough for Allgaier. Dillon was ecstatic over his win and voiced it in the post-race interview.

“The more and more I learn about these races is kind of one of those battles. A war of attrition, just staying in it and giving yourself a chance to win,” said Dillon, who led the final four laps the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. I was actually just enjoying what was going on in front of me at that point. Bummer for Ty because he had a really good run going. Furthermore, we were a fourth place car and did what we had to do to win. I think we did our job.”

Brad Keselowski’s empty hot-rod was the last in a sequence of events that put Austin Dillon out in front. The Food City 300 was winding down when Keselowski was unwilling to give up his position. As a result, the speedster kept his momentum off the corner and bumped the right rear of Kyle Busch’s Camry. The decision sent both machines into the outside wall.

Kyle Busch blew a tire upon the contact and couldn’t continue, finishing in the 24th spot. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver also hit Ty Dillon in the melee. Dillon is the younger brother of the race winner. He also had led briefly after a re-start on Lap 287. Keselowski gave an explanation for his actions after the race was over.

“Kyle is really good at this track and he also was quite a bit faster,” Keselowski said. “I was just trying to hold him off anyway I could. He got a good run on the bottom, and the bottom groove was just a little bit faster in (Turns) 1 and 2 than it was in 3 and 4. Consequently, he knew that and made a really smart move and got up next to me, but I had a big run on exit and he wasn’t quite clear. He also knew he needed to come up and there just wasn’t enough room. I was already there and it clipped him in the right rear. I don’t really know what happened from there, but it was tough. We were battling really hard and definitely didn’t want to see it end that way.” 

Kyle Larson was in position to win his first race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The youngster led a race high 191 of the 308 laps turned. Unfortunately, pit strategy during a late caution allowed Brad Keselowski, Ty Dillon, Elliott Sadler, and Justin Allgaier into the top five ahead of Larson. The Chip Gnassi stud would finish his night in the third position.

The Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway took one hour and 56 minutes to complete. The average speed of the field was 84.872 miles per hour. The margin of victory was .227 seconds. There were eight cautions for a total of 54 laps. Elliott Sadler also extended his points lead to 51 over Daniel Suarez after his fourth place performance.

Final Results for the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway: