Food City Dirt Race Gets Competition Adjustments After Meeting With Teams, Goodyear

Some of the unknowns of the highly-anticipated Food City Dirt Race became apparent during the two NASCAR Cup Series practice sessions on Friday afternoon.

After consulting with teams, drivers, Bristol Motor Speedway, and Goodyear, NASCAR has opted to make some minor tweaks to Sunday’s race.

While the race will remain at 250 laps, NASCAR has opted to change the Stage lengths. Stage 1 will now end on Lap 100, adding another 25 laps from the previously published finish at Lap 75. Stage 2 will end on Lap 200, adding another 50 to the original stage finish.

Additionally, NASCAR will add two competition cautions at Lap 50, and Lap 150, marking the halfway point of Stage 1 and 2 respectively. This will give teams more chances to pit and adjust their cars as needed, and give the sanctioning body more time to prep the track for the continuation of the race.

Finally, NASCAR will increase the tire allotment for the teams. Each team will receive one additional set of Goodyear tires, bringing the grand total to six. One set is to be used for qualifying, and the remaining five “sticker” sets are to be used for the race. The change comes as the tire wear from Friday’s two Cup Series practice sessions became much more prevalent than initially anticipated.

As far as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Saturday, NASCAR has not made any established plans to change the format of the race.

Fans can tune into the Food City Dirt Race on Sunday, March 28th, at 3:30 PM EST on FOX and the FOX Sports App.