The Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway ended almost 24 hours after it was originally supposed to start. Withrain in the area Saturday night the green flag was delayed well past the eight pm starting time, after drying the track the Sprint Cup drivers ran just 38 laps before the rain returned and brought the event to a standstill. NASCAR tried to get the race in, drying the track again, only to run 10 more laps before the wet weather reappeared and washed out the Saturday night shootout. Racing was scheduled to resume Sunday at 1 pm, but Mother Nature refused to cooperate as the track was still shrouded in showers. Finally, the clouds cleared and the race restarted. A light sprinkle paused the action with just under 70 laps to go, NASCAR persisted and managed to get the entire 500 laps in as Kevin Harvick took the checkered flag.Ford teams ran well with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finishing 2nd, Chris Buescher taking 5th, and Joey Logano coming in 10th. Logano, Kurt Bush, and Brad Keselowski were battling for the lead with approximately 100 laps to go when Bush lost control and collected Keselowski in a wreck that knocked both cars out of contention.Buescher’s 5th place finish was enough to move the Ford Fusion driver into the top 30 in points and with his win at Pocono he is currently qualified for the playoffs, if he can maintain that position. David Ragan is 13 points behind Buescher with just 3 races left until the Chase for the Cup begins. Trevor Bayne, in the Roush Fenway Racing Ford, placed 12th and moved to 17th, just 1 position out of the top sixteen playoff qualifying spots. Unfortunately, Bayne is 35 points behind Ryan Newman who holds down the final non-winner playoff position. With the Fords of Logano and Keselowski safely in and Buescher holding on, it may take a win by another Ford in the top 30 for the Blue Oval to be represented by more than 3 driver’s in this year’s Chase.Next week, Michigan. Look to the Lasco Press for on-site coverage of the NASCAR Series return to the beautiful Irish Hills. Tickets are still available, come down and watch the excitement live as the Pure Michigan 400 is sure to factor into this year’s field of Chase for the Cup playoff contenders.
