2011 Jeff Byrd 500

Report

Background

As a tribute to the late president of the Speedway who died in 2010, longtime race title sponsor K-VA-T Food City, which celebrated the 20th year of race sponsorship in 2011 (as of 2013, the longest continuous sponsorship deal in NASCAR for a race), named the race in his memory.

The track, Bristol Motor Speedway, is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races, the others being Richmond International Raceway, Dover International Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, and Phoenix International Raceway. The standard track at Bristol Motor Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is 0.533 mi long. The track's turns are banked from twenty-four to thirty degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked from six to ten degrees. The back stretch also has banking from six to ten degrees.

Before the race, Tony Stewart was leading the Drivers' Championship with 113 points, tied with Kyle Busch in second. Carl Edwards and Juan Pablo Montoya followed in third and fourth with 106 points, three ahead of Ryan Newman and ten ahead of Paul Menard in fifth and sixth. Martin Truex Jr. in seventh had 95, the same number of points as Denny Hamlin in eighth. They were one point ahead of A. J. Allmendinger in ninth, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. was tenth with 91. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Ford was leading with 21 points, three ahead of Toyota in second. Chevrolet was placed in third with 16 points, while Dodge followed with 11. Jimmie Johnson was the race's defending winner from 2010.

Practice and qualifying

Three practice sessions were held before the race; the first on Friday, which lasted 90 minutes. The second and third were both on Saturday afternoon, and lasted 45 minutes each. Edwards was quickest with a time of 14.912 seconds in the first session, 0.076 seconds faster than Johnson. Greg Biffle was just off Johnson's pace, followed by Kasey Kahne, Menard, and David Ragan. Kyle Busch was seventh, still within a second of Edwards' time.

Forty-four cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could qualify for the race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Edwards clinched the 9th pole position of his career, with a time of 14.989 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Biffle.

In the second practice session, Stewart was fastest with a time of 15.364 seconds, more than six hundredths of a second quicker than second-placed Reutimann. Martin took third place, ahead of Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch and Jeff Burton. In the third and final practice, Martin was quickest with a time of 15.472 seconds. Brian Vickers followed in second, ahead of Hamlin and Joey Logano. Stewart, who was first in the second practice, was fifth quickest, with a time of 15.570 seconds. Montoya, Gordon, Truex, Menard, and Kurt Busch rounded out the first ten positions.

Race

The race, the fourth of the season, began at 1:00 p.m. EDT and was televised live in the United States on Fox. Mike Rife, reverend of the Vansant Church of Christ, began pre-race ceremonies with the invocation. Actor and country music singer Billy Ray Cyrus performed the national anthem, while Claudia Byrd, Christian Byrd and Belton Caldwell gave the command for drivers to start their engines.

Results

Qualifying

Race results

Standings after the race

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for the driver standings.

References

Series = Sprint Cup Series| Season = 2011 | Previous_race = 2011 Kobalt Tools 400 | Next_race = 2011 Auto Club 400 |

References

1. "Sprint Cup Series Schedule".
2. (March 18, 2011). "Edwards claims Bristol Cup pole". inRacing.
3. "2011 Official Race Results: Jeff Byrd 500". NASCAR.
4. "The Jeff Byrd 500". Rotoworld.
5. Hinton, Ed. (March 19, 2011). "Jeff Byrd 500 a fitting tribute to the man". ESPN Internet Ventures.
6. "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR Media Group.
7. "NASCAR Tracks—The Bristol Motor Speedway". Bristol Motor Speedway.
8. "2011 Official Drivers' Standings: Kobalt Tools 400". NASCAR Media Group.
9. "Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site – 2011 Manufacturers Championship Standings". ESPN Internet Ventures.
10. "2010 Food City 500". [[Yardbarker]].
11. "Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site – Sprint Cup Race Info / Rundown Page". ESPN Internet Ventures.
12. "Practice One Speeds". NASCAR Media Group.
13. "Qualifying Entry List". NASCAR Media Group.
14. "Race Lineup: Jeff Byrd 500". NASCAR Media Group.
15. "Edwards lights up Bristol with sub-15-second pole". NASCAR Media Group.
16. "Practice Two Speeds". NASCAR Media Group.
17. "Practice Three Speeds". NASCAR Media Group.
18. "Lap-by-Lap: Bristol".
19. "Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site — Bristol Sprint Cup Qualifying Order/Results, Lineup". Jayski's Silly Season Site.
20. "2011 Official Driver Standings: Jeff Byrd 500". NASCAR.
21. "Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site – 2011 Manufacturers Championship Standings". ESPN Internet Ventures.