The 2023 Bass Pro Shops Night Race was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 16, 2023, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Contested over 500 laps on the short track, it was the 29th race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, the third race of the Playoffs, and the final race of the Round of 16.
Report
Background
The Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes the driver ineligible for series driver points. (P) denotes playoff driver. (OP) denotes owner's playoffs car.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Ross Chastain (P) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick (P) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 5 Kyle Larson (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Brad Keselowski (P) RFK Racing Ford 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 8 Kyle Busch (P) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9 Chase Elliott (OP) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Team Penske Ford 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 17 Chris Buescher (P) RFK Racing Ford 19 Martin Truex Jr. (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Christopher Bell (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Harrison Burton Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano (P) Team Penske Ford 23 Bubba Wallace (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 24 William Byron (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 34 Michael McDowell (P) Front Row Motorsports Ford 38 Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Ryan Preece Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 42 Carson Hocevar (i) Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 45 Tyler Reddick (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (P) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Ryan Newman Rick Ware Racing Ford 54 Ty Gibbs (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 77 Ty Dillon Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing ChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice Kyle Larson was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 15.186 seconds and a speed of .
Practice results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 5 Kyle Larson (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 15.186 126.353 2 17 Chris Buescher (P) RFK Racing Ford 15.262 125.724 3 23 Bubba Wallace (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 15.333 125.142 Official practice results
Qualifying Christopher Bell scored the pole for the race with a time 15.109 of and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 20 Christopher Bell (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 15.111 15.109 2 11 Denny Hamlin (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 15.062 15.117 3 24 William Byron (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 15.107 15.187 4 34 Michael McDowell (P) Front Row Motorsports Ford 15.189 15.202 5 19 Martin Truex Jr. (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 15.220 15.210 6 6 Brad Keselowski (P) RFK Racing Ford 15.106 15.233 7 9 Chase Elliott (OP) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 15.338 15.239 8 54 Ty Gibbs (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 15.160 15.239 9 23 Bubba Wallace (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 15.305 15.241 10 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 15.255 15.274 11 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Team Penske Ford 15.230 — 12 45 Tyler Reddick (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 15.245 — 13 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 15.252 — 14 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15.264 — 15 8 Kyle Busch (P) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 15.282 — 16 42 Carson Hocevar (i) Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 15.293 — 17 41 Ryan Preece Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15.306 — 18 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 15.312 — 19 31 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 15.343 — 20 17 Chris Buescher (P) RFK Racing Ford 15.345 — 21 4 Kevin Harvick (P) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15.354 — 22 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 15.362 — 23 1 Ross Chastain (P) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 15.365 — 24 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 15.367 — 25 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (P) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 15.372 — 26 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15.372 — 27 51 Ryan Newman Rick Ware Racing Ford 15.414 — 28 22 Joey Logano (P) Team Penske Ford 15.416 — 29 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 15.427 — 30 38 Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 15.433 — 31 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 15.494 — 32 21 Harrison Burton Wood Brothers Racing Ford 15.538 — 33 77 Ty Dillon Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 15.538 — 34 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet 15.610 — 35 15 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 15.793 — 36 5 Kyle Larson (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 15.942 —Official qualifying results
Race
Race results
Stage results
Stage One Laps: 125
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 20 Christopher Bell (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 102 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 93 23 Bubba Wallace (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 84 24 William Byron (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 75 45 Tyler Reddick (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 66 1 Ross Chastain (P) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 57 6 Brad Keselowski (P) RFK Racing Ford 48 5 Kyle Larson (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39 19 Martin Truex Jr. (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 210 54 Ty Gibbs (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1Official stage one results
Stage Two Laps: 125
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 20 Christopher Bell (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 102 54 Ty Gibbs (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 93 5 Kyle Larson (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 84 11 Denny Hamlin (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 75 42 Carson Hocevar (i) Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 06 34 Michael McDowell (P) Front Row Motorsports Ford 57 17 Chris Buescher (P) RFK Racing Ford 48 24 William Byron (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39 41 Ryan Preece Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 210 9 Chase Elliott (OP) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1Official stage two results
Final Stage results
Stage Three Laps: 250
Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 2 11 Denny Hamlin (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 500 472 36 5 Kyle Larson (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 463 1 20 Christopher Bell (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 500 544 20 17 Chris Buescher (P) RFK Racing Ford 500 375 8 54 Ty Gibbs (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 500 426 4 34 Michael McDowell (P) Front Row Motorsports Ford 500 367 7 9 Chase Elliott (OP) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 318 6 6 Brad Keselowski (P) RFK Racing Ford 500 339 3 24 William Byron (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 3810 25 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (P) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 500 2711 16 42 Carson Hocevar (i) Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 499 012 17 41 Ryan Preece Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 499 2713 13 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 499 2414 9 23 Bubba Wallace (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 499 3115 12 45 Tyler Reddick (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 499 2816 30 38 Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 499 2117 18 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 499 2018 26 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 499 1919 5 19 Martin Truex Jr. (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 498 2020 15 8 Kyle Busch (P) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 498 1721 24 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 498 1622 11 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Team Penske Ford 498 1523 23 1 Ross Chastain (P) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 498 1924 31 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 497 1325 10 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 497 2126 35 15 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 495 027 14 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 495 1028 32 21 Harrison Burton Wood Brothers Racing Ford 495 929 21 4 Kevin Harvick (P) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 495 830 22 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 491 731 34 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet 490 032 29 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 488 533 33 77 Ty Dillon Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 263 434 28 22 Joey Logano (P) Team Penske Ford 262 335 19 31 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 261 236 27 51 Ryan Newman Rick Ware Racing Ford 260 1Official race results
Race statistics Lead changes: 10 among 6 different drivers Cautions/Laps: 6 for 53 laps Red flags: 1 for 14 minutes Time of race: 2 hours, 48 minutes, and 20 seconds Average speed:
Media
Television USA covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Kim Coon, Dillon Welch and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.
USABooth announcersPit reporters Lap-by-lap: Rick AllenColor-commentator: Jeff BurtonColor-commentator: Steve LetarteColor-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dave BurnsKim CoonDillon WelchMarty Snider
Radio PRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race from the booth when the field races down the frontstretch. Rob Albright called the race when the field races down the backstretch. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan, Alan Cavanna, and Wendy Venturini handled the duties on pit lane.
PRNBooth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters Lead announcer: Doug RiceAnnouncer: Mark Garrow Backstretch: Rob Albright Brad GillieBrett McMillanAlan CavannaWendy Venturini
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 3 1 William Byron 3,036 11 2 Martin Truex Jr. 3,036 (–0) 3 Denny Hamlin 3,032 (–4) 3 4 Kyle Larson 3,023 (–13) 4 5 Chris Buescher 3,021 (–15) 1 6 Kyle Busch 3,019 (–17) 3 7 Christopher Bell 3,016 (–20) 6 8 Tyler Reddick 3,014 (–22) 1 9 Ross Chastain 3,011 (–25) 5 10 Brad Keselowski 3,011 (–25) 5 11 Ryan Blaney 3,008 (–28) 2 12 Bubba Wallace 3,000 (–36) 2 13 Joey Logano 2,071 (–965) 2 14 Kevin Harvick 2,071 (–965) 15 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 2,068 (–968) 16 Michael McDowell 2,059 (–977)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 1,070 2 Toyota 1,007 (–63) 3 Ford 994 (–76)
Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
References