It’s Bristol, baby.
NASCAR returns to the venue dubbed the Last Great Colosseum, the iconic short track in Bristol, Tennessee for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday, Sept. 19.
A longtime staple on the Cup Series schedule, a race at Bristol doesn’t need any extra bells or whistles to make it feel special, but this race will carry extra meaning in several ways.
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For starters, it’s the first trip to Bristol for the Cup Series without Kyle Busch, the late NASCAR driver who died at the age of 41 on May 21 due to complications from sepsis caused by presumed bacterial pneumonia.
Busch dominated at Bristol. He is the only driver in the history of NASCAR to win races in the Truck Series, O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Cup Series in the same weekend; and he did it twice — both at Bristol — completing sweeps in 2010 and 2017 while with JGR. Additionally, Busch’s 22 combined wins at Bristol are the most victories at any one track that a driver has ever achieved in NASCAR history.
On Saturday night, Ty Gibbs will pilot his No. 54 Toyota with a special paint scheme in tribute to Busch, as the car will be splashed with the M&M’s design that Busch piled up wins in from 2008 through 2022 while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. A closer look at the colorful candies on the car will reveal a mosaic of photos from memorable moments from Busch’s career.
Saturday will be the first race at Bristol not featuring a Busch — Kyle or his Hall of Fame brother Kurt — since August 26, 2000.
“It’ll just hit different because I grew up watching Kyle in that M&M’s car. It was a part of Kyle’s identity for so long as a driver,” Tyler Reddick told USA TODAY Sports recently. “That is a place where — Kyle made his name at a lot of racetracks — but he was just so good at Bristol. When you think of the greatest to ever do it at Bristol, he’s a part of that conversation.”
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This year’s Bristol race will also be full of tributes to the late legendary singer Dolly Parton, who died at the age of 80 on Aug. 25. She was born and raised about 100 miles southwest of Bristol in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. In a statement issued not long after her death, Jerry Caldwell, the president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway, called her an “extraordinary Tennessean.”
One of the ways Bristol is going to pay homage to Parton is by providing each NASCAR team and driver with race-ready pink butterfly decals for placement on their machines.
Bristol was the place where, in 2019, Reddick drove a car sponsored by Parton in the second-tier O’Reilly Series for Richard Childress Racing. His No. 2 Chevrolet — which placed second in that race — stood out from the rest of the field as it was splashed with a pink-and-white paint scheme and featured Parton’s face on the hood.
Of course, the race also carries extra stakes for the drivers as it is the third of 10 races in the postseason Chase. Regular season champion Denny Hamlin is still the points leader, but holds a slim nine-point advantage over Kyle Larson, who made a big jump in the standings after winning at Gateway last weekend. Christopher Bell — who won the Chase opener at Darlington — is third in points and 18 behind Hamlin, his JGR teammate.
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Ryan Blaney is fourth, Reddick is fifth, Gibbs is sixth, Joey Logano is seventh and Chase Briscoe is eighth, rounding out the drivers who are within 60 points of the top spot.
Gibbs won at Bristol in the spring, while Bell took the checkered flag in last year’s night race. If Gibbs can power his tribute car to Busch to victory lane, it will add an exclamation point to a meaningful weekend.
Also this weekend, NASCAR is implementing a change for its wet-weather-tire procedures. If NASCAR declares that a race will begin with wet-weather tires, it will be up to the individual team’s discretion when to change to slick tires or continuing racing on the wets under a caution flag. If NASCAR deems pit road as damp, any yellow-flag pit stops will be non-competitive. Positions will not change on pit road, as cars exiting pit road will be positioned behind cars that stayed out, if applicable. Green flag pit stops will remain competitive.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway:
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What time does the NASCAR Cup race at Bristol start?
The Bass Pro Shops Night Race is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 19, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee.
What TV channel is the NASCAR Cup race at Bristol on?
The Bass Pro Shops Night Race will be broadcast on USA Network. Pre-race coverage will start at 7 p.m. ET.
Leigh Diffey will have the call alongside analysts Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte, while Dale Jarrett will offer additional analysis from the pit box. Burton and Letarte will join host Marty Snider on pre- and postrace shows. Former Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne will be the pace-car analyst.
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Will there be a live stream of the NASCAR Cup race at Bristol?
Subscribers to YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV and Sling TV can watch through those services as well.
HBO Max will continue to provide live streams of in-car cameras, while PRN will carry the live radio broadcast.
Stream the Bristol Night Race on Sling
How many laps is the NASCAR Cup race at Bristol?
The Bass Pro Shops Night Race is 500 laps around the 0.533-mile concrete oval for a total of 266.5 miles. The race will have three segments (laps per stage) — Stage 1: 125 laps; Stage 2: 125 laps; Stage 3: 250 laps.
What is the current standings for the NASCAR Chase?
NASCAR Cup Series drive around Bristol Motor Speedway during the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Sept. 13, 2025 in Bristol, Tennessee.
Who won the NASCAR Cup race at Bristol last year?
Christopher Bell won last year’s Bristol Night Race, while Ty Gibbs took the checkered flag in the Cup Series’ first trip to Bristol earlier this season on April 12.
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In the Cup Series, Hall of Fame driver Darrell Waltrip has the most victories at Bristol with 12. Denny Hamlin is the leader among active drivers with four wins at Bristol.
What is the lineup for the Bristol Night Race?
Qualifying was canceled because of weather, so the starting lineup was set by procedures outlined in the NASCAR rule book, putting last week’s winner Kyle Larson on the pole.
With starting position, car number in parentheses, driver and car make. Chase drivers are designated by (C).
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(5) Kyle Larson (C), Chevrolet
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(22) Joey Logano (C), Ford
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(11) Denny Hamlin (C), Toyota
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(24) William Byron (C), Chevrolet
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(77) Carson Hocevar (C), Chevrolet
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(48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet
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(1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet
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(2) Austin Cindric (C), Ford
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(3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet
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(23) Bubba Wallace (C), Toyota
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(6) Brad Keselowski, Ford
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(20) Christopher Bell (C), Toyota
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(54) Ty Gibbs (C), Toyota
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(88) Connor Zilisch, Chevrolet
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(60) Ryan Preece (C), Ford
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(41) Cole Custer, Chevrolet
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(16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet
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(42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota
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(45) Tyler Reddick (C), Toyota
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(71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet
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(97) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet
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(17) Chris Buescher (C), Ford
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(34) Todd Gilliland, Ford
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(33) Austin Hill, Chevrolet
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(19) Chase Briscoe (C), Toyota
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(9) Chase Elliott (C), Chevrolet
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(7) Daniel Suarez (C), Chevrolet
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(12) Ryan Blaney (C), Ford
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(51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet
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(47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet
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(10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet
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(35) Riley Herbst, Toyota
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASCAR at Bristol start time, TV, streaming, lineup for night race
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