Joey Logano wins historic NASCAR dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway

Joey Logano won NASCAR’s Cup Series dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway, a historic event that was delayed a day for rain, but ended in a cloud of dust.

“It’s definitely a big race to win, definitely one you want to have on your bucket list,” Logano, a 27-time Cup winner and former series champion, said. “Winning on dirt, that’s something special.”

Logano led the final 61 laps of the 253-lap race. He took the lead from Daniel Suárez before the end of the second stage, but still had to fend off Denny Hamlin late in the race as the Cup Series veterans worked through lapped traffic.

Hamlin slid high rounding Turn 2 and fell back, but a caution flag came out with five laps remaining in the race for a spin by Mike Marlar on the front stretch, which bunched the field up again.

Logano led the pack on a single-file restart for a two-lap shootout and held onto the top spot. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. passed Denny Hamlin for a second place finish before the checkered flag. Hamlin finished third.

Martin Truex Jr., who restarted third in the overtime shootout, fell all the way back to 19th — last on the lead lap — after equipment trouble. He won Sunday’s Truck Series race at the track, his first truck race since 2006.

NASCAR pulls off grand experiment

Before the racing even ended, NASCAR knew it was returning. Between the second and final stages, Bristol Motor Speedway president Jerry Caldwell announced over the loudspeaker at the track that NASCAR would run a dirt race at Bristol next spring.

“The dirt experience is unlike any other for NASCAR fans and could become a must-see event every season,” Caldwell said in a track release.

The announcement was met with cheers in the stadium, which was originally expected to host between 30,000 to 40,000 fans for a Sunday race.

Sunny skies during the day and a constant stream of track preparation before and during the race, which included a process of tilling, packing and even (really!) watering, helped dry the track over to a point where dust was the biggest issue in racing.

“I thought the racing was good,” Denny Hamlin said after the race. “It was almost like the old Bristol … I think a lot of the wrecks happened because of the dust and you couldn’t see anything.”

NASCAR heavily watered the track before the final stage after dust impaired driver visibility and caused multiple wrecks. By the end of the race, grip was limited, but Logano’s’ team adapted to maintain the lead. He becomes the seventh different winner in as many races.

Suárez shines with new team

Daniel Suárez delivered a highlight performance after nearly winning the first stage and leading his career-high number of laps in a Cup race. Suárez led 58 laps despite his limited dirt experience.

“I don’t even know what I’m doing,” Suárez jokingly told FOX during the race.

His first attempt on a dirt track came on Smoky Mountain Speedway six days ago in a late model car, but he still finished in fourth. He called Bristol one of his favorite racetracks, but said he wasn’t sure what to expect racing on dirt.

“In Mexico, we don’t have ovals in dirt, at least that I know,” said Suárez, a native on Monterrey, Mexico.

Suárez said he didn’t see his strong performance as a fluke either after leading a lap at Atlanta last weekend and running in the top-five before finishing in 17th. He credited his Trackhouse Racing team, an organization co-owned by industry expert Justin Marks and international music icon Pitbull. His team’s No. 99 Chevrolet has made quick progress in the series since joining this year.

“It’s the second week in a row that we’ve been running strong,” Suárez said. “I don’t see this as, ‘Okay, we’ve run good because we’re on dirt. I feel like everyone at Trackhouse Racing has done an incredible job to work hard on these cars, get them better.

Really a lot of support from RCR, engines and chassis and everything. I feel like we still have a long way to go from where we want to be, but we’re heading the right direction.”

Dirt experience doesn’t help

Meanwhile, dirt experience didn’t quite pay off for expert drivers Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell. They were sent both from contention early in the race when they made contact in Turn 2. Bell exited the race with damage to his No. 20 Toyota. Larson went multiple laps down in his No. 5 Chevy.

Instead, it was non-dirt racers Truex, Suárez and Logano who were the center of conversation, as much as the event itself and the unusual spectacle of Cup cars on a dirt track.

Logano said he didn’t at all consider himself a dirt expert after running only a handful of event beforehand in preparation for the race. He said the “very slick track and very dusty” conditions challenged all the drivers and spoke to the talent level in the top series. For more than one reason, Logano considered the event a success, but he looked at the big picture.

“You know what it showed us,” Logano said. “That you don’t have to be going 200 miles an hour to put on a great race.”

NASCAR Cup race at Bristol results

This story was originally published March 29, 2021 at 7:30 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription