Both the day and night Bristol races used to sell out consistently. As a matter of fact, if you wanted a ticket to either race at one time, you had to be put on a waiting list. The story goes that people literally put tickets in their will so that if something happened to them, their family would inherit their Bristol seats.
Somewhere in the late 2000s, it feels like the spring date got swept under the rug. Today, I want to remind you why the spring race is so underrated and why, every once in a while, it ends up being better than the night race.
Here’s my opinion on the five best spring day Bristol races of all time, from 1961–2020 (and of course, 2024–2025).
5. The 1997 Food City 500
Being born in 2004, it always seemed like there wasn’t a Bristol spring race highlight without a clip from this one. As I got older, I understood why. The race had 20 cautions and 13 lead changes—classic Bristol, where everyone hugs the bottom, moves each other out of the way, and tempers flare.
Jeff Gordon led 125 laps, but Rusty Wallace dominated most of the race, leading 240 laps. With 22 laps to go, Wallace caught lap traffic, allowing Gordon to close in. After about 21 laps of patience—even allowing Terry Labonte to catch them—Gordon made his move on the final lap. He gave Wallace the classic bump-and-run to take the win, much to Wallace’s displeasure, in one of Bristol’s most iconic finishes.
4. The 2014 Food City 500
The 2014 high-horsepower, high-downforce package really shined at Bristol—literally. Rain plagued much of the race. After a two-hour delay, the race finally started, but after 119 laps, rain returned. What was supposed to be a day race turned into a night race.
Bristol saw passing both high and low. Normally, it’s hard to get cars side-by-side here, but in this race, even three-wide racing was possible. There were 20 lead changes and 12 cautions.
The race didn’t end without controversy. Carl Edwards was pulling away when the caution lights came on—but no official caution was immediately thrown by NASCAR. Eventually, a caution was declared to sort out the confusion, but rain fell again, ending the race and giving Edwards the win.
3. The 2013 Food City 500
The first Bristol race with the Gen 6 car featured a wide range of dramatic racing. While it had fewer cautions and lead changes than usual, tire falloff played a major role.
On lap 349, Denny Hamlin spun Joey Logano. With around 100 laps to go, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon had pulled away from the field until Gordon blew a tire, leaving Kenseth alone up front.
This set up a showdown between Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Busch. Kahne ultimately won that battle and the race.
Meanwhile, Logano was still furious about the earlier incident. After the race, he confronted Hamlin, sparking a feud that would last for years.
2. The 2006 Food City 500
Twenty years ago, Bristol hosted its final Gen 4 spring day race. An overcast sky set the tone for a race full of wrecks and chaos.
Tony Stewart dominated early, starting on the pole and leading 245 laps. But on lap 385, Kurt Busch moved Stewart up the track. After a caution, Matt Kenseth took the lead late in the race.
However, lap traffic became a factor. With five laps to go, Busch moved Kenseth out of the way and went on to win. Kenseth fell back to third, then fourth as the field came to the white flag. Entering Turn 1, Kenseth got into the back of Jeff Gordon and spun him around.
After the race, Kenseth attempted to apologize to Gordon, but it led to a confrontation—and eventually a rivalry that lasted over a year.
1. The 1990 Valleydale Meats 500
Back when Bristol was still asphalt and didn’t have grandstands all the way around—and before modern timing and scoring—this may be the most underrated race in track history.
The race featured 13 cautions and 11 lead changes, with only seven cars on the lead lap at the finish.
In the closing laps, Davey Allison led with Darrell Waltrip right behind him. With less than 20 laps to go, Waltrip had a tire going down and was forced to pit, going a lap down.
With 10 laps to go, Allison’s tires began to wear, bringing four cars into contention: Davey Allison, Mark Martin, Ricky Rudd, and Sterling Marlin.
On the final lap, Rudd got into Marlin, spinning him. Meanwhile, Martin made a move off Turn 4, leading to a photo finish at the line. It was so close that officials had to review footage for several minutes before declaring Davey Allison the winner.
There have been many great moments in the Bristol spring race. Other notable years include 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, and 2024.
Who knows—maybe we’ll see another classic Bristol finish soon.
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