While the NASCAR Cup Series hosts its third race in the Chase this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway with the annual Night Race, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be competing in its first postseason event on Thursday night. Ryan Blaney is currently the highest ranked Ford driver in Cup (fourth) while Layne Riggs leads the way in Trucks.
THE SCHEDULE
- Thursday, September 17 – NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 8 p.m. ET (FS1)
- Saturday, September 19 – NASCAR Cup Series, 7:30 p.m. ET (USA)
UP TO SPEED
FORD DRIVERS IN THE CHASE
4th – Ryan Blaney (-33 behind leader Denny Hamlin)
6th – Joey Logano (-51)
12th – Austin Cindric (-108)
13th – Chris Buescher (-111)
14th – Ryan Preece (-113)
BLANEY LOOKING TO REBOUND
Ryan Blaney was one of many drivers to suffer brake issues last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway and his 35th place finish dropped him one spot to fourth in the NASCAR Chase standings with eight races remaining in the season. Blaney, who went from 16 points behind leader Denny Hamlin to 33, will be making his 20th career start at Bristol Motor Speedway and has a streak of four straight finishes of sixth or better. He’s coming off a second place effort in the spring race, an event in which he won the pole, led 190 laps and finished third or better in all three stages.
LOGANO CUTS DEFICIT
Joey Logano had one of the dominant cars last weekend before eventually finishing third. After winning the pole, the Team Penske driver took the first stage and was second in stage two as he scored 54 points. That enabled him to move up two spots in the standings (sixth) and cut his deficit from 72 to 51. Logano is a two-time winner of the Bristol Night Race and in 32 career starts has 12 top 10 finishes and seven top five results.
LOOKING BACK
BUESCHER NETS FIRST RFK WIN
Chris Buescher earned the first win for the rebranded Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing in 2022 as he and teammate/owner Brad Keselowski spent much of the night in front of the field. The two drivers combined to lead 278-of-500 laps with Buescher leading a race-high 169. That included the final 61 circuits when he and his team opted for two tires on their final stop, which enabled the No. 17 Ford Mustang Dark Horse to get off pit road with a lead it never lost.
LOGANO WINS BACK-TO-BACK NIGHT RACES
Joey Logano held off a hard-charging Kevin Harvick over the final 25 laps to win the Bristol Night Race for the second consecutive year in 2015. Logano led four times for 176 laps, including all but four of the final 147 laps and that was because he pitted when the caution came out with 71 laps to go while Penske teammate Brad Keselowski opted to stay out for track position. Even though Keselowski had the lead on the ensuing restart, Logano’s four fresh tires enabled him to get the lead immediately and he held on over the final 64 circuits to post his 11th career victory.
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES
FOUR F-150 DRIVERS SET FOR CHASE
Ford Racing has four F-150 drivers competing for this year’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, led by No. 1 overall seed Layne Riggs. The Front Row Motorsports driver leads the series with six victories and is in the midst of a career year that has seen him surpass his career victory total from the previous two seasons combined (5). In addition, Riggs has won the pole in four of the last five series events. Chandler Smith starts the postseason third while Ty Majeski is sixth and Ben Rhodes ninth.
FORD DRIVERS IN THE CHASE STANDINGS
Layne Riggs – 1st
Chandler Smith – 3rd (-35)
Ty Majeski – 6th (-50)
Ben Rhodes – 9th (-65)
EIGHT IS GREAT
Ford Racing’s eight NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series wins this season is the most since 2006 when the manufacturer also won eight times. During that season, Mark Martin was the dominant driver as he went to Victory Lane six times for owner Jack Roush, similar to what Layne Riggs has done this year with Front Row Motorsports. Riggs has six victories, including five of the last nine overall.
FRONT ROW AT THE FRONT
The Front Row Motorsports duo of Layne Riggs and Chandler Smith have combined to win three of the last four NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races at Bristol Motor Speedway. Riggs, in fact, is going for his third straight victory in this event while Smith captured the spring event in 2025. A year ago, Riggs only led once, but it was the final 110 laps as he beat fellow F-150 driver Ben Rhodes to the finish line by .759 seconds. Ty Majeski ended up fourth as Ford placed three drivers in the top five.
FORD’S NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS AT BRISTOL (DOES NOT INCLUDE DIRT)
1963 – Fireball Roberts and Fred Lorenzen
1964 – Fred Lorenzen (Sweep)
1965 – Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett
1966 – Dick Hutcherson (1)
1968 – David Pearson (Sweep)
1969 – David Pearson (2)
1970 – Donnie Allison (1)
1971 – David Pearson (1)
1988 – Bill Elliott (1)
1990 – Davey Allison (1)
1991 – Alan Kulwicki (2)
1992 – Alan Kulwicki (1)
1993 – Mark Martin (2)
1994 – Rusty Wallace (2)
1996 – Rusty Wallace (2)
1997 – Dale Jarrett (2)
1998 – Mark Martin (2)
1999 – Rusty Wallace (1)
2000 – Rusty Wallace (Sweep)
2001 – Elliott Sadler (1)
2002 – Kurt Busch (1)
2003 – Kurt Busch (Sweep)
2004 – Kurt Busch (1)
2005 – Matt Kenseth (2)
2006 – Matt Kenseth (2)
2007 – Carl Edwards (2)
2008 – Carl Edwards (2)
2014 – Carl Edwards and Joey Logano
2015 – Joey Logano (2)
2018 – Kurt Busch (2)
2020 – Brad Keselowski (1) and Kevin Harvick (2)
2022 – Chris Buescher
FORD’S NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES WINNERS AT BRISTOL (DOES NOT INCLUDE DIRT)
1995 – Joe Ruttman
2004 – Carl Edwards
2006 – Mark Martin
2014 – Brad Keselowski
2015 – Ryan Blaney
2024 – Layne Riggs (2)
2025 – Chandler Smith (1) and Layne Riggs (2)
