The 2012 Food City 500 was the fourth stock car race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It was held on March 18, 2012 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee before a crowd of 102,000. The 500-lap race was won by Brad Keselowski of the Penske Racing team after he started from fifth position. Matt Kenseth finished second and Martin Truex Jr. came in third.
Greg Biffle won the pole position and maintained into the first corner, as A. J. Allmendinger, who started in the second position of the grid, was passed by Jeff Gordon on the first lap. After a competition caution that started on lap 40, Allmendinger became the leader of the race. After the final pitstops, Keselowski took over the first position from Matt Kenseth. He maintained the first position to lead the most laps of 231, and to win his first race of the 2012 season. There were five cautions and thirteen lead changes among seven different drivers during the course of the race.
The race was Keselowski's first win of the season, and the fifth of his career. The result kept Biffle in the lead of the Drivers' Championship with 157 points, nine ahead of Kevin Harvick and twelve ahead of Kenseth. Ford took over the lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, and bumped Chevrolet to second place with 24 points. Toyota followed in third with 21 points, while Dodge remained in fourth with 18. The race attracted 7.307 million television viewers.
Background
The 2012 Food City 500 was the fourth of thirty-six scheduled stock car races of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It took place on March 18, 2012, in Bristol, Tennessee, at Bristol Motor Speedway, a short track which holds NASCAR races. The standard track at Bristol Motor Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is 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.
One team chose to replace their regular driver with a substitute. Michael Waltrip Racing chose to replace Mark Martin with Brian Vickers for six races during the season. Team owner Michael Waltrip said, "Brian Vickers is a veteran driver with almost 10 years experience, but he hasn't even turned 30 yet. He's shown he can win at this level and we have every confidence he'll run well with us."
Before the race, Greg Biffle led the Drivers' Championship with 125 points, followed by Kevin Harvick on 113. Denny Hamlin was third in the Drivers' Championship with 113 points, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was fourth with 107 points, and Matt Kenseth was in fifth with 102 points. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 21 points, four points ahead of their rivals Ford for second place. Toyota, with 17 points, was eight points ahead of their rivals Dodge in the battle for third. Kyle Busch was the race's defending champion.
Entry list (R) - Denotes rookie driver.
(i) - Denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points. DriverTeamManufacturer1Jamie McMurrayEarnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet2Brad KeselowskiPenske RacingDodge5Kasey KahneHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet7Robby GordonRobby Gordon MotorsportsDodge9Marcos AmbroseRichard Petty MotorsportsFord10David ReutimannTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet11Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota13Casey MearsGermain RacingFord14Tony StewartStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet15Clint BowyerMichael Waltrip RacingToyota16Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord17Matt KensethRoush Fenway RacingFord18Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota20Joey LoganoJoe Gibbs RacingToyota22A. J. AllmendingerPenske RacingDodge23Scott RiggsR3 MotorsportsChevrolet24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26Josh Wise (R)Front Row MotorsportsFord27Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet29Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet30David StremmeInception MotorsportsToyota31Jeff BurtonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet32Ken SchraderFAS Lane RacingFord33Brendan GaughanRichard Childress RacingChevrolet34David RaganFront Row MotorsportsFord36Dave BlaneyTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet37Timmy Hill (R)Max Q MotorsportsFord38David GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord39Ryan NewmanStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet42Juan Pablo MontoyaEarnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet43Aric AlmirolaRichard Petty MotorsportsFord47Bobby LabonteJTG Daugherty RacingToyota48Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet49J. J. YeleyRobinson-Blakeney RacingToyota51Kurt BuschPhoenix RacingChevrolet55Brian VickersMichael Waltrip RacingToyota56Martin Truex Jr.Michael Waltrip RacingToyota74Reed Sorenson (i)Turn One RacingChevrolet78Regan SmithFurniture Row RacingChevrolet83Landon CassillBK RacingToyota87Joe Nemechek (i)NEMCO MotorsportsToyota88Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet93Travis KvapilBK RacingToyota98Michael McDowellPhil Parsons RacingFord99Carl EdwardsRoush Fenway RacingFordOfficial entry list
Practice and qualifying
Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—one on Friday and two on Saturday. The first session lasted 90 minutes. The Saturday morning session lasted 45 minutes, and the final practice session lasted 60 minutes. During the first practice session, Carl Edwards was the fastest driver, placing ahead of A. J. Allmendinger in second and Marcos Ambrose in third. Joey Logano took fourth position and Ryan Newman placed fifth. Jeff Gordon, Regan Smith, Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch rounded out the top ten fastest drivers in the session.
Forty-six drivers entered the qualifier on Friday afternoon; due to NASCAR's qualifying procedure, forty-three were allowed to race. Each driver ran two laps, with the starting order determined by their fastest lap times. Biffle clinched his first pole position of the season, with a time of 15.324. He was joined on the grid's front row by Allemdinger. Newman qualified third, Jeff Gordon took fourth, and Keselowski started fifth. The driver that failed to qualify was Timmy Hill, and Robby Gordon withdrew because of issues with his car's engine. After the qualifier Biffle said, "I got in the gas fairly early [through Turns 1 and 2] and was a little worried about making the rest of the corner, It got loose up off of both ends because I went in the gas so early in the middle of the corner, just pushing the envelope as much as I could."
On Saturday morning, Allmendinger was fastest in the second practice session, ahead of Kyle Busch in second, and Newman in third. Biffle was fourth quickest, and Truex took fifth. Kahne managed sixth. Aric Almirola, Hamlin, Kenseth and Jeff Burton followed in the top ten. Jimmie Johnson spun during the session and Paul Menard hit the left-rear of Johnson, causing the Hendrick Motorsports driver to sustain light damage to his car. Later that day, Newman paced the final practice session, ahead of Kyle Busch in second and Reutimann in third. Keselowski was fourth fastest, ahead of Kahne and Ambrose. Clint Bowyer was seventh fastest, Truex eighth, Jeff Gordon ninth, and Johnson tenth. Towards the end of the session, Travis Kvapil hit the wall but avoided major damage to his car.
Qualifying results Grid Driver Team Manufacturer 1 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 15.324 125.215 2 22 A. J. Allmendinger Penske Racing Dodge 15.325 125.207 3 39 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 15.331 125.158 4 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 15.340 125.085 5 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 15.367 124.865 6 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 15.373 124.816 7 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 15.385 124.719 8 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 15.389 124.687 9 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 15.392 124.662 10 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 15.430 124.355 11 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 15.432 124.339 12 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 15.433 124.331 13 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 15.425 124.178 14 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 15.461 124.106 15 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 15.461 124.106 16 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 15.474 124.002 17 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 15.480 123.953 18 10 David Reutimann Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 15.491 123.866 19 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 15.491 123.866 20 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 15.495 123.834 21 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 15.516 123.666 22 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 15.532 123.538 23 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 15.541 123.467 24 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Ford 15.547 123.419 25 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 15.547 123.419 26 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 15.566 123.269 27 51 Kurt Busch Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 15.577 123.182 28 30 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Toyota 15.589 123.087 29 83 Landon Cassill BK Racing Toyota 15.594 123.047 30 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 15.601 122.992 31 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 15.604 122.968 32 33 Brendan Gaughan Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 15.617 122.866 33 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 15.628 122.780 34 93 Travis Kvapil BK Racing Toyota 15.638 122.701 35 36 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 15.646 122.638 36 47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 15.648 122.623 37 26 Josh Wise Front Row Motorsports Ford 15.679 122.380 38 74 Reed Sorenson Turn One Racing Chevrolet 15.691 122.287 39 98 Michael McDowell Phil Parsons Racing Ford 15.732 121.968 40 49 J. J. Yeley Robinson-Blakeney Racing Toyota 15.750 121.829 41 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 15.765 121.713 42 23 Scott Riggs R3 Motorsports Chevrolet 15.809 121.374 43 32 Ken Schrader FAS Lane Racing Ford 15.907 120.626 Did not qualify 44 37 Timmy Hill Rick Ware Racing/Max Q Motorsports Ford 15.953 120.278 WD 7 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge – – WD 40 Tony Raines Joe Falk/Mike Hillman Toyota – – #7 team had to withdraw before Qualifying because of electrical issues with the engine.Source:
Race The race began at 1:00 p.m. EST and was televised live in the United States on Fox. Around the start of the race, weather conditions were overcast; an 80% chance of rain was also forecast, although some rain had fallen on the morning of the race. Mike Rife of the Vansant Church of Christ began pre-race ceremonies by giving the invocation. The McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base H4 Quartest performed the national anthem, and a group of Food City store managers gave the command for drivers to start their engines. NASCAR announced a competition caution would take place on lap 50.
Greg Biffle maintained the pole position lead into the first corner. Behind him, Jeff Gordon passed A. J. Allmendinger for second place. Ten laps later, Allmendinger passed Gordon to take the second position. By lap 14, Biffle had built up a 1.4-second lead. Four laps later, Ryan Newman moved up third after passing Gordon. The first caution came out on lap 24 for a multi-car crash on the front stretch that collected Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Marcos Ambrose, Carl Edwards, and Kyle Busch. Pit road was open on lap 40, taking the place of the competition caution. This allowed most of the leaders to make pit stops. Allmendinger took the lead during pit spots and held it on the lap 47 restart.