Returning to what he considers his “home track”, Trevor Bayne and the No.6 Ford EcoBoost team left Bristol Motor Speedway with another top-10 finish; the 14^thof the season for the Tennessee native. Bayne ran consistently in the top-10 for the entirety of Friday night’s race at Bristol, eventually crossing the line in sixth.

“That’s better than the last time we were here,” said Bayne.  “We want to get a win at this place and run top-five, but that’s as close as you can be to a top-five, I guess.  We had to battle really, really hard tonight.  I felt like defense most of the night, but we were good enough to hold them off and my guys did a great job in the pits.”

Starting eighth for Friday night’s race, Bayne and crew chief Mike Kelley were looking for a little redemption after a tough run in the spring for the team.

From the drop of the green flag Bayne went to work in front of his hometown crowd, reporting in that his car would tighten up on longer runs. Crew chief Mike Kelley was waiting for the first caution to make the adjustments needed for Bayne.

On lap 65 the yellow flew and Bayne was called into the pits.  After four tires, two cans of fuel and a track bar adjustment, Bayne was sent out.

Bayne fought a  tight race car until midway through the race, when Kelley took a big swing at the car under a yellow flag pit stop.  Two rounds out, and left side tires only. The stop gained Bayne five positions on the track, moving him up to second.

Bayne reported in the adjustments had made the car too loose, but Kelley, a veteran crew chief, knew that the car would tighten up.  Bayne lost several positions on the restart, but  began his march back to the front once the car settled in.

The yellow flag flew once again on lap 158, which turned out to be the last time Kelley would get a chance to work on the car for his young driver.  A track bar adjustment and four tires and two cans of fuel was the call. 

Bayne continued to battle traffic and a tight racecar until the checkers flew, finishing in the sixth position.

“Mike Kelley worked on a package here this time that would turn and it actually did, so we’re going to get it better next time,” said Bayne.  “We were still too tight there and think we were on the splitter, but this Ford EcoBoost Mustang was definitely an improvement from last time and we can work from that.”

RFR PR

A race-long climb ended in a 23^rd-place finish for Landon Cassill in Friday night’s Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Cassill returned to the cockpit of the Flex Seal Chevrolet after a race absence.

He qualified 36^th but gained ground quickly and ran as high as 18^th late in the race.

 “It’s one of those tracks where it’s hard to pass, so any spots you can make up you usually have to really work for,” Cassill said. “We moved up through there throughout the night and came back with a decent finish.”

Kyle Busch dominated the race and won by .83 of a second over Brad Keselowski.

The Nationwide Series moves on to Atlanta Motor Speedway for its next race.

JD Motorsports PR

An adventurous Bristol Motor Speedway weekend for Mike Wallace ended with a 27^th-place finish in Friday night’s Food City 250.

Wallace had a rude welcome to the track in Friday practice. A mechanical malfunction shot his car into the second-turn wall, crunching the right side of the car. The JD Motorsports with Gary Keller team immediately went to a backup car, pulling the backup from the JD Motorsports No. 4 team off its transporter and prepping it for qualifying.

Driving a car fresh out of the box, Wallace qualified 35^th, putting him in a tough position for the 250-lap race.

From there, it was a slow climb. Wallace advanced to 24^th but wound up with a 27^th-place finish.

 “It was a tough weekend at a track where we just haven’t put everything together,” said Wallace, now 17^th in driver points. “We’ll move on and come back here in better shape.”

Kyle Busch led 228 laps on the way to a relatively easy victory.

JD Motorsports PR

RAB Racing and the No. 29 American Ethanol Toyota Camry with driver Kenny Wallace showed Friday night in the Food City 250 they never give up in adverse situations. Wallace, making his 897th career NASCAR start, was penalized by NASCAR for changing lanes before crossing the start/finish line on a restart half way through the event. Wallace and the No. 29 team never gave up after going multiple laps down and fought back for a top 20 finish.

With a one day only event it was important to utilize every moment of practice to find a setup that would work around "the world's fastest half mile." Wallace and crew chief Keith Hinkein were fast right off the trailer, setting the 2nd fastest time in the early stages of the team's only practice session. After finding speed the team utilized the rest of the practice time to work on long runs, and by the end of the session Wallace was extremely happy about the drivability of his American Ethanol Toyota Camry. A brief rain shower before qualifying washed all the rubber from practice off the track, creating a completely different track condition than what the team had in practice. Wallace complained of a tight condition in qualifying, and set the 19th fastest time.

Starting in the 19th position would prove difficult to overcome in the early stages as Wallace and team chased the handling of the race car and the new track conditions at night for the Food City 250. Two cautions and two pit stops into the race, Wallace and team found the balance they were looking for and marched back into the top-20 only to be struck with the pass through penalty from changing lanes on a restart. The mishap sent the No. 29 from 20th position to 28th, three laps down to the leader, but Wallace and the team never gave up. Through hard racing, Wallace made his way back up to 24th with forty laps to go in the event during a long green flag run, which is what the team worked on in practice. Then in the last forty laps of the event, Wallace took his American Ethanol Camry from 24th to finish in the 19th position.

Kenny Wallace: "What a day! I can't thank my RAB Racing crew enough for working so hard throughout the day and never giving up. My crew chief Keith Hinkein gave me the best handling Nationwide Series car I've had all season, and we were putting ourselves in position to get a good finish. I just barely changed my lane on that restart and with NASCAR that is a big no no and we were penalized for it, almost losing two laps to come in for a pass through penalty. The penalty was brutal for our chances at a good run but my team and pit crew never gave up, and in those closing laps we gave it everything it had to claw back to 19th position. I can't thank my friends at American Ethanol enough for coming aboard for their first primary race of 2013, I really enjoyed my good looking white and green car and can't wait to have them back on board in the future. Well we took about the tenth fastest race car in the field and finished 19th with it, so its definitely a little disappointing but atleast we know the speed is there and with any luck, we'll get the finish we deserve. I will be back in the American Ethanol Camry very soon, so stay tuned for my 898th NASCAR start!"

RAB Racing PR

Entering Friday night's Food City 250 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway Parker Kligerman and his Toyota Racing team led the NASCAR Nationwide Series with laps completed and had been running at the finish of all 22 races. After battling a loose-handling Camry and going a lap down in the early stages of the 250-lap event, the Connecticut native was taking care of his equipment as crew chief Eric Phillips and crew made adjustments with each stop and were beginning to get the car dialed in for the second half of the race as he fought to get back on the lead lap.

Unfortunately, while running 14^th on lap 165, Brian Vickers got into the outside of the Turn 4 wall and just as it appeared that Kligerman was going to make it past him unscathed, Vickers shot down off the wall and clipped the right-rear of  the No. 77 machine. The contact sent Kyle Busch Motorsports' (KBM) young driver hard into the frontstretch wall and then he went caroming into the inside wall and came to rest at the entrance of Turn 1. With major damage to both the front and rear end, the No. 77 was unable to continue and relegated to a season-worst 35^th-place finish. It was the first time in 2013 that the team was not running at the finish of a race.   

""We fell a lap down early -- Kyle (Busch) was setting such a fast pace and we were able to fight back and run just outside the top-10, although a lap down," Kligerman said. "Felt like we had a car that we could get back in the top-10 and just biding our time trying to get back on the lead lap. The 7 (Regan Smith) went up and wrecked the lap before in the wall -- in (turns) three and four and then for whatever reason the 5 (Kasey Kahne) and the 20 (Brian Vickers) had the same thing happen to them. It was like there was something on the race track. My spotter was yelling to go low and I went as low as I could and the 20 clipped us in the right-rear. Pretty hard hit, but thanks to Butler seats for their safe seats and all my guys at Kyle Busch Motorsports for building safe race cars -- we'll go get them next week."

Kligerman earned the 10^th starting spot for the 23^rd race of the season, but in the early stages reported that his Camry was extremely loose as he fell back to the 15th spot by lap 15. While the young driver was battling an ill-handling Toyota, his owner, Kyle Busch, was setting a blistering pace and put the No. 77 team a lap down on lap 58. Shortly after, debris on the backstretch slowed the field for the first time and gave Phillips his first opportunity to improve the handling of his Camry.

When pit road opened, Kligerman brought his Toyota to the attention of the over-the-wall crew who administered a four-tire and fuel stop while making both trackbar and wedge adjustments. The KBM machine returned to the track scored one lap down in the 15^th position for the lap-72 restart.

During the next green-flag run, the young driver reported minor gains to the handling of his Camry, "Better in the center, but still loose off." He ran in the 15^th spot battling to be in position for the "Lucky Dog," but came up just short when the next caution flew on lap 105. This time around Phillips elected for a two-tire stop in an effort to gain track position and once again made both wedge and trackbar adjustments.

Kligerman took the ensuing restart from the 14^th spot, once again he reported gains to the handling, but he remained 14^th one spot away from being in "The Lucky Dog" position when the next caution occurred on lap 153. When pit road opened, the over-the-wall crew gave their young driver four fresh tires and a full tank of fuel and returned him to the track scored one lap down in the 14^th position.

Four laps later as the battles on the track intensified, Regan Smith appeared to have cut a tire in a three-wide battle. The field scrambled as he slowed on the track and hit the wall one lap later. Vickers also hit the wall just behind Smith and when he was unable to hold it against the wall, came down into Kligerman's path and ended the No. 77 Toyota Racing team's night.

Busch picked up his 60^th career Nationwide Series win, his sixth at "The World's Fastest Half-Mile" and 120^th across NASCAR's top three divisions. Brad Keselwoski finished 0.831 seconds behind Busch in the runner-up spot. Austin Dillon finished third, Justin Allgaier fourth and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five finishers.

There were four caution periods totaling 32 laps. Two drivers led a lap, exchanging the lead twice. Six drivers failed to finish the 23^rd event of 2013.

Kligerman remains 10^th in the Nationwide Series championship standings with 23 of 33 races complete, 105 points behind series points leader Austin Dillon. The Kyle Busch owned No. 77 lost one position and now ranks 13^th in the owner's championship standings, 213 points behind the series-leading No. 22 team.

Kligerman and his No. 77 Toyota Racing team head to Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga. Aug. 31 for the Great Clips - Grit Chips 300. Live television coverage of Saturday's 195-lap event begins with NASCAR Countdown at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN 2.

KBM PR

The NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) took to Bristol Motor Speedway for a Friday night race under the lights at the .53-mile track.  Roush Fenway Racing’s Travis Pastrana and the No. 60 team battled hard for 250 laps, ultimately crossing the finish line in 13^th.

“I kept the car off the wall and out of trouble at both visits to the bull ring,” said Pastrana.  “I picked up my qualifying by a lot and finished a few spots better this time around.  I still have a lot to learn about the concrete tracks, but this was a big step in the right direction.”

The NNS visited Bristol Motor Speedway for the second time of the season.  Teams only had one practice session on Friday to prepare for the race.  Pastrana qualified his Ford Mustang 11^th for the race.

On the opening run, Pastrana was silent on the radio as he negotiated his way through traffic, hanging solid in the top-15 for the majority of the run. 

When the first caution flag of the day waved on Lap 65, Pastrana informed the crew that the car was free all the way through the corner.  Crew Chief Chad Norris called Pastrana down pit road for right side tires and fuel, with no adjustments.

Pastrana restarted 14^th and settled into the top-20 on the next run.  The spotter for the No. 60, Jason Hedlesky directed Pastrana through traffic, as Norris read off lap times.  When the caution waved again on Lap 104, Pastrana radioed that the car lacked forward bite.

The No. 60 Ford Mustang visited pit road for the second time to take four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment on Lap 106.  Pastrana had to reverse before exiting the pit stall, due to a car pitting in front of him.  On Lap 109, he restarted 25^th, beginning a focused march to the top-15.

On Lap 159, the No. 60 visited pit road for the final time, taking four tires, fuel and no adjustments.  Pastrana was happy with the handling of his Mustang.  He restarted 15^th after the No. 60 pit crew gained two positions on pit road.

Pastrana continued to avoid the carnage that Bristol Motor Speedway is known for, and ran solid laps, working his way up to 13^th by the time the checkered flag flew.

RFR PR

The NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) made its second and final stop of the 2013 season at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) for racing underneath the Friday night lights. The one-day show meant a long day for Justin Allgaier and the BRANDT racing team with a two hour, 50 minute practice session to start Friday morning. After running 146 laps in the only practice session of the weekend, Allgaier finished second on the practice chart. Qualifying for the Food City 250 began in the afternoon on Friday. After a short delay due to rain, Allgaier laid down a lap time of 15.382 seconds which put him in the fourth starting position for the 250-lap race and continued his streak of all top-10 starts in the fall race at BMS. After four cautions, three pit stops and staying in the top-10 all night, Allgaier brought his No. 31 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet Camaro home in the fourth position for Turner Scott Motorsports.   

Allgaier took the green flag on Friday night as the sun was setting over the 0.533-mile track. He wasted no time working his way up to the second position on lap 2 in the No. 31 BRANDT Chevy. While Allgaier maintained the second position, on lap 22 he reported to crew chief Scott Zipadelli that his BRANDT Chevy was free into the corner and tight late in the center. Allgaier continued to hold onto the second position for the first long green-flag run of the race until the caution came out at lap 65. Zipadelli made the call for Allgaier to come down pit road for Sunoco fuel, four Goodyear tires, an adjustment and to clean the grille. After the pit stop, Allgaier restarted in the third position on lap 71. After a few laps of green-flag racing, Allgaier relayed to Zipadelli on lap 74 that his No. 31 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro was really tight. After reporting his tight condition, Allgaier maintained the fourth position until the second caution of the race came out at lap 103. Zipadelli brought Allgaier down pit road for fuel, four tires and an adjustment. Allgaier restarted seventh on lap 109 after other competitors only took two tires on pit road.

On lap 115, Allgaier slipped back to the 10th position but was able to work his way back through traffic, and on lap 119 he moved into the fifth position. On lap 124, Allgaier reported to crew chief Scott Zipadelli that his car was very good. Allgaier took his good car and moved into the fourth position on lap 143 after he passed Trevor Bayne. The third caution of the race came out at lap 153 and Zipadelli made the call for Allgaier to stay out on the track, and he restarted third on lap 163. After a short green-flag run, the fourth caution came out at lap 167 for an accident on the frontstretch. Zipadelli brought Allgaier down pit road for the final time in the 250-lap race. The No. 31 BRANDT pit crew changed four tires, added fuel and made an adjustment. Allgaier restarted eighth on lap 178 after several competitors did not come down pit road. With fresh tires, Allgaier steadily worked his way through traffic, and at lap 210 he was in the fourth position. Allgaier maintained the fourth position until the checkered flag waved at the 250-lap race. With Allgaier's fourth-place finish in his No. 31 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet Camaro, he moved into fifth-place in the NNS Driver Point Standings. Friday night's fourth-place finish was also Allgaier's best fall finish at BMS.

"We had a really, really good BRANDT Camaro tonight at Bristol [Motor Speedway]," said Allgaier. "We moved up a spot in the point standings which is great and overall we had a good race. Everyone at Turner Scott Motorsports has been working really hard and been giving me great race cars. My crew guys worked hard all day in practice and during qualifying, and we had great pit stops tonight. My teammate, Kyle [Larson] finished right behind; it's nice to have two Turner Scott cars in the top five. I have to thank all of the fans who came out for the race too. I hope they enjoyed the night."

The NNS heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway next Saturday night for the Great Clips/Grit Chips 300. Television coverage begins with NNS Countdown on ESPN2 at 7:00 p.m. EDT. 

TSM PR

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch brought the No. 54 Monster Energy program to victory lane Friday night, for the team’s ninth win of the season, sweeping both 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) events at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The win gives Busch his 60th career visit to the checkered flag podium in 261 starts, a series record. Taking home the trophy Busch captured his sixth victory and 15th top-10 finish in 13 Nationwide Series starts at what is known as the ‘Last Great Coliseum.’ The 28-year old has set a new track record for the most NASCAR national series wins at Bristol with 15. In addition, the win gives Busch 120 NASCAR national series wins – the second most all-time victories behind NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty’s 200.

During initial on-track activity Friday morning at ‘The World’s Fastest Half Mile,’ the race team was immediately challenged when they discovered a broken brake line in the car. They spent the majority of practice replacing the line, but in the last hour of practice were able to dial the No. 54 machine in, for what they believed would be a fast setup to tackle the famous 0.533-mile oval.

And the team’s prediction was fulfilled. During the series’ qualifying session, Busch posted a 124.971mph, 15.354-second lap earning the No. 54 team a front row, pole-starting position. It was Busch’s sixth pole of the year and the team’s seventh, as they had one additional first-place qualifying effort completed with driver Drew Herring in Iowa. The placement would ultimately provide Busch the opportunity to win from the first-place starting position, an accomplishment he and the JGR team have achieved six times this year in the Nationwide Series. Additionally, Busch has also won from the pole, once this season, with his No. 18 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series JGR team.

Upon green flag, Busch wasted no time extending his lead at the front of the field, at one point holding a 5.8-second lead over second place. On lap 10, the driver reported early to his crew, “I’m a little bit loose, rear lateral.” Busch’s veteran spotter Tony Hirschman replied back, “10-4, everyone looks loose right now, just stick with it.”

At lap 17, the team heard Busch comment on his exploration of the high and low lines around the short oval. Spotter Hirschman commented back, “You were about the same when you dropped down low, from high.” Busch continued his strong pace and when the event’s first of four caution periods waved on lap 65, the team chose to remain on track and not visit pit road, while other competitors began their fuel strategy with a pit stop.

It was during the second event caution, when the No. 54 team did visit pit road for what would become their only stop of the night. On lap 106, they replenished Sunoco fuel and replaced four Goodyear tires. This pit stop would provide the one main challenge of the evening for the No. 54 team, who entered pit road in first place, then exited and would restart the race in fourth place. The reason for the decline was the No. 32 of Kyle Larson did not pit and remained on track to become the new race leader. Additionally, the No. 6 of Trevor Bayne only took two fresh tires and the No. 22 of Brad Keselowski conducted a slightly faster pit stop than the Monster Energy team.

It wouldn’t take Busch long, however, to advance his position once again. The green flag restart occurred on lap 109. At lap 113, the Monster Energy Camry was back into second place and at lap 129 Busch regained the race lead. A third event caution period waved on lap 152 and the Camry team’s crew chief reminded his talented driver, “Easy on the fuel and take care of your tires.”

What transpired on the radio next was interesting as the driver and crew chief conducted dialogue about the necessity for another pit road visit. Busch reported, “The car is good out front, but in traffic I’m tight.” To pit or not to pit, that was the question and it was a difficult one to answer. “Some of these cars are staying out, if you go back to fifth or sixth, can you get back to the front?” Busch’s reply, “We’d have to pass the No. 22 (Keselowski).” The crew chief relied on the team’s spotter Hirschman, who had a bird’s eye view of what the No. 22 car would do, to make the decision. Ultimately the No. 54 did not visit pit road, and neither did their closest competition, the No. 22 Ford.

One final event yellow waved on lap 166, but there was no dialogue needed about a further pit road visit. The ‘bed was made’ and the team held tight while they watched their winning driver hold first place over the final 87 laps. The NASCAR veteran celebrated once again at Bristol, by taking the checkered flag with a great smoke show and his famous bow.

When interviewed post-race about the strength of the No. 54 team this year, the confident driver described, “I think that stems first off from the shop and Adam Stevens (crew chief) and the guys being able to put together a really good piece and bring together a good race car here. From there, it’s just practice. We worked on the car and being able to try and achieve what I’m looking for out of the car. I felt like we did a good job of that today. Adam and the guys made some good changes. We had a moment there where we had to change the brake line and caliper because we had an issue. Took some time out and fixed that and then went back to practice and it was good. It showed tonight. Certainly, 250 laps around here at Bristol will go by in a hurry, but our car being out front certainly makes that a little bit easier for us and having some racing there with Kyle Larson again, that was fun. Kind of boxing through some lapped traffic there and then just being able to hold Brad Keselowski off behind us -- he’s good here, we know that. It seems to be a battle between the No. 54 and No. 22 (Keselowski) week in and week out, and it may continue on that way through the rest of the year. We’re working hard at trying to capture those ‘W’s’ and when we can do it, we certainly cherish them.”

Busch continued his remarks regarding the team’s strength at Bristol, “It comes from preparation, it comes from the shop, and it comes from practice here. Adam (Stevens, crew chief) and I we work real well together. The team worked hard. Today we just had a great car and a great job by these guys putting together such a strong Monster Energy Camry. It was a lot of fun tonight. It’s cool when you can start up front, lead laps like that, but yet you have some battles with holding off the No. 22 (Brad Keselowski) and having to pass the No. 32 (Kyle Larson) – it was just a fun day. The Toyota Camry was awesome so I can’t say enough about JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) engines, Nationwide Insurance, and the fans. Whether you’re cheering or booing me, it doesn’t matter. We’re here to win races, take trophies home and that’s what we’re going to try to do tomorrow night too.”

This week Busch accomplished victory in two NASCAR national series already in the ‘Bristol bowl,’ the Camping World Truck Series race Wednesday night and last evening’s Nationwide Series event. When asked if he can complete the ‘sweep’ for the second time in his career at Bristol Motor Speedway, he replied, “I don’t know. It’s going to be tough tomorrow (Saturday) that’s for sure. You always save the best and hardest one for last, but I feel like we had a good car today in practice and there were some times where we showed some speed. A lot of cars could run the same speed. We see that all the time. Over here in the Nationwide Series car I felt like I had a little bit better car in practice and it sort of showed in the race. Starting deep in the field like that Saturday, I’m going to have to be patient, but can’t be too patient or the leaders will be bearing down on you if you get stuck in traffic and can’t go anywhere. That’s what Bristol is all about. We’ll just have to continue to cut through traffic and hopefully the bottom works. If I get a good handling car on the bottom then I can make some hay down there. It’s going to be a train around the top for sure.”

The seasoned Bristol lap leader recorded a race high 228 of 250 laps led over two segments. Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Justin Allgaier and Larson completed the top-five finishers. There were four caution periods for 32 laps of the race along with two lead changes across two drivers.

The No. 54 Monster Energy Camry owned by J.D. Gibbs remains second in the Owner’s Point standings, now only 16 points from the lead. 

The next event on the NNS schedule is the Great Clips/Grit Chips 300 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway with the race television broadcast starting at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN2. Busch will make his 18th start of the season behind the wheel of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Monster Energy Camry.

KBM/JGR PR

After finishing second in the spring race, Kyle Larson and his No. 32 Cottonelle team traveled to Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) with high hopes for the NASCAR Nationwide Series' second and final trip of the 2013 season to the 0.533-mile track. Larson was consistently fast, setting the fifth-fastest time in practice and qualifying in the top five for Friday night's event. The 21-year-old spent the entire 250-lap race in the top 10, leading 22 laps before finishing the Food City 250 in the fifth position.

Larson took the green flag for Friday night's Food City 250 from the fifth position. After falling back a few spots in the opening laps, Larson began to work his way back towards the front of the field while running the fastest lap times on the track in his No. 32 Cottonelle machine. He battled through heavy lap traffic in the race's opening green-flag run and was running fifth when the first caution flag waved on lap 65 for debris. Larson came to pit road for four tires and fuel and restarted the race from the fifth position after a solid pit stop by his Turner Scott Motorsports crew.

When the caution flag was displayed again on lap 104, for an accident in Turn 4, crew chief Trent Owens made the call to keep Larson and the No. 32 Cottonelle Chevrolet out on the race track. Under the caution, Larson explained that his car was really good after it came to him, but that he was struggling with a tight condition on the opening laps of each run. When the race went back to green, Larson restarted in the first position. He continued to hold the top spot and led 22 laps before relinquishing the lead. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender was running in the third position when the caution was displayed again on lap 153.

After Larson radioed to say his car was pretty good, but he wanted his entry to be more secure, Owens again brought Larson to pit road for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. Larson restarted in sixth and was running seventh when the final caution flag waved just five laps later. Despite restarting in seventh on lap 178, it took Larson just one lap around the short track to return to the top five. Larson continued to battle with lap traffic and held off some hard charging competitors in the race's closing laps, receiving the checkered flag from the fifth position. The rookie's strong finish at BMS marked his sixth top five and 13th top 10 of the season and moved him one spot forward to eighth in the Drivers Point Standings.

"I would have liked to finish a little better tonight, but anytime you can leave Bristol with a top-five finish is a good night," said Larson. "My car was pretty much the same all night. We were good, but it took our Cottonelle Chevy a few laps to come in, so I was tight on the initial laps of each run. I made a mistake and got in the speedy dry on one restart, which cost us a few positions. I think we really had a top-three car tonight, but I'm happy with our fifth-place finish and have to thank my guys for all of the hard work. I'll go to Atlanta and try to do better next week."

The NASCAR Nationwide Series heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway to celebrate Labor Day weekend with the Great Clips/Grit Chips 300 on Saturday, August 31. Television coverage will begin at 7:00 p.m. EDT on ESPN2. You can also listen to the race live on PRN Radio or SiriusXM Satellite Radio, channel 90.

TSM PR

Jeff Green and the No. 14 Hefty®/Reynolds® Race team finished 16^th in Friday night’s Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway after starting the race from the 29^thposition.  With this finish, the team advanced three positions to 22nd in the NASCAR Owner Standings.

Starting the race from the 29^th position, Green quickly began maneuvering his way through the field, and by lap five, he was running in the 25^th position.  Although the car’s handling changed multiple times during the first green-flag run, Green was able to hold on to the 25^th position.  A welcomed caution on lap 65 allowed the team to make several adjustments in hopes of helping the handling on the No. 14 Hefty®/Reynolds® Camry.  The team changed four tires, added fuel, and made air-pressure, track-bar, and wedge adjustments.  Despite the long stop, Green was able to maintain his position when the race resumed on lap 71.

As the race continued, the car’s handling showed significant signs of improvement and as a result, Green was able to advance to the 23^rd position before the event’s second caution flag waved on lap 104.  Needing a little more of the same type of adjustment, the team took advantage of this caution period to bring the orange and blue Camry to pit road where they added fuel and made a track-bar adjustment.  Once the stop was complete, Green returned to the track for the lap 109 restart in the 19^th position, where he remained through the halfway point of the event.

When the field was slowed once again on lap 153, Green had worked his way up to the 17^th position.  Happy with the car’s balance, the team decided to make no adjustments during the routine four tire and fuel service.  What looked to be a clean pit stop that was going to advance Green’s position in the running order quickly turned sour when he was blocked in by another competitor who was several laps down to the race leader.  After backing up to allow more room to exit the pit stall, Green was not able to advance his position for the restart.  Despite the pit road mayhem, Green quickly advanced two positions and looked to be on pace to scoring a top-15 finish when he brushed the wall in turn three on lap 191.  Although Green was able to continue, he lost one position as a result of the incident and crossed the finish line in the 16^th position.

Driver, Jeff Green Quotes:

“We had a solid car tonight.  We missed it just a bit in qualifying so we had to start further back than we would’ve liked.  The guys made great adjustments to the car during the race and we were able to have a decent finish.  I again can’t thank Hefty® and Reynolds® for the opportunity to fill-in for Eric (McClure) as he recovers from his illness.”

TMI PR