Traditionally, the Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway is an action-packed thriller that features a number of Sprint Cup regulars.
And after Wednesday night’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 Truck Series race at the World’s Fastest Half-Mile, anticipation is growing.
The race featured an on-track skirmish between Kyle Busch and Elliott Sadler – both of whom are in the Food City 250 Friday night. Contact between Sadler, who drives for Kevin Harvick Inc., in the Nationwide Series, and Busch sent the latter into the wall. Busch then retaliated, crashing Sadler, who had been leading the race. Busch and Harvick, who battle each other in Sprint Cup, Nationwide and the Truck Series, have had a long-standing feud.
“He did (crash him on purpose),” said Busch, when asked if Sadler intentionally hit him . “Where’s his paycheck come from?”
Sadler, who finished 30th, said he simply was racing and Busch had forced him into the wall previously.
“Earlier in the race he ran me high and he ran me into the wall early in the race and I let him,” said Sadler, who was driving for Joe Dennette Motorsports in a truck prepared by KHI. “That time I honestly think his spotter just didn’t tell him I was on the outside and he came up and I mean I was there. I mean, I didn’t even have time to check up or anything.
“I think it’s more between him and his spotter. He just wrecked himself. I hate that he thinks it’s my fault and I hate that he came and wrecked us and tore up a good truck. I know he’s mad, but I wish he’d watch the tape and see what happened.”
While Sadler finished ninth, Harvick won the race, capturing his third straight Truck win and his first at BMS. Harvick was anything but pleased with Busch after the race.
“That shows you how smart Kyle Busch is,” he said. “Sadler wasn’t even driving for us tonight. … We can get as dirty as Kyle Busch wants.”
Along with Busch, other Sprint Cup drivers participating in the Food City 250 are Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, and Kasey Kahne, all of whom are former BMS winners. Others taking part are Joey Logano, David Reutimann and Joe Nemechek.
Full-time Nationwide Series drivers, including Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and former BMS winner Justin Allgaier, also are contenders.
Stenhouse Jr. started on the pole in the Scotts EZ Seed 300 last March and ended up finishing 14th. The top seven were Sprint Cup drivers, led by race winner Busch. Stenhouse Jr., however, isn’t intimidated by the Cup drivers on the half-mile oval.
“It’s just hard racing and I feel like it’s a driver’s racetrack,” he said. “We were really fast there last time. We sat on the pole and we were the only one that could run with Kyle for 160 laps until we made a mistake and got a penalty on pit road (under caution).
“I’m just really looking forward to getting back there. I think we’ve made our cars better since the last time we were there and I think we’ve got a really good shot at winning that race this time.”
Stenhouse Jr. enters the Food City 250 atop the Nationwide Series point standings with 816, followed by Reed Sorenson in second with 806. Sadler is third with 792 points, with Aric Almirola fourth (746 points) and Allgaier (736), who won 2010 March event, is fifth.
Qualifying for the Food City 250 takes place Friday at 3:40 p.m., followed by the green flag that evening at 7:30 p.m.
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