Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCARshort track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating.
In 2021, the race shifted to a dirt surface version of the track and was renamed the Pinty's Truck Race on Dirt. On January 25, 2021, NASCAR announced the stage lengths of all events in all three series. According to the stage lengths, it states the race will consist of 150 laps.
*Withdrew due to a crash in practice on Friday.[3]
Practice
1st practice
The 1st practice took place on Friday, March 20 at 3:58 EST. Raphaël Lessard would set the fastest time with a 19.384 and an average speed of 92.384 miles per hour (148.678 km/h).[4]
Many drivers would suffer incidents during the practice, with 11 spins counted.[4]
Final practice took place on Friday, March 21, at 6:28 PM EST for 50 minutes. Ben Rhodes of ThorSport Racing would set the fastest time, with a 20.703 and an average speed of 86.944 miles per hour (139.923 km/h).[5]
J. R. Heffner would suffer a major crash, leading him to be towed. The 3 team would eventually withdraw from the race.[3]
Originally, qualifying was scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 21. Qualifying was delayed, but eventually there was a break in the weather, and the first heat was started- but with overcast skies and a high chance of rain. Within a couple of laps, it started to rain, and every car in the heat except Mike Marlar (who started at the pole) had their windshields and grills covered by mud. The heat was stopped and eventually canceled.[6] As a result, the lineup was set by owner's points- which meant John Hunter Nemechek of Kyle Busch Motorsports won the pole.[7]
