The 2010 Food City 250 was a NASCAR Nationwide Series race held at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee on August 20, 2010. The race was the 29th iteration of the event and the 24th race of the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series. Elliott Sadler won the pole but it would be Kyle Busch who would dominate the race, leading the most laps and winning the race after he spun Brad Keselowski for the lead.
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 #DriverTeamMake 0 Brad Teague JD Motorsports Chevrolet 01 Mike Wallace JD Motorsports Chevrolet 1 Ryan Newman Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 04 Jeremy Clements JD Motorsports Chevrolet 05 Willie Allen Day Enterprise Racing Chevrolet 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (R) Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7 Josh Wise JR Motorsports Chevrolet 09 John Wes Townley RAB Racing Ford 10 Jason Leffler Braun Racing Toyota 11 Brian Scott (R) Braun Racing Toyota 12 Justin Allgaier Penske Racing Dodge 15 Michael Annett Germain Racing Toyota 16 Brian Ickler Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 22 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 23 Robert Richardson Jr. R3 Motorsports Chevrolet 24 Eric McClure Team Rensi Motorsports Ford 26 Dennis Setzer K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge 27 Danny O'Quinn Jr. Baker Curb Racing Ford 28 Kenny Wallace Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 32 Reed Sorenson Braun Racing Toyota 33 Elliott Sadler Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 34 Tony Raines TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 35 Jason Keller TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 36 Jeff Green Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet 38 Kasey Kahne Braun Racing Toyota 39 Sean Caisse Go Green Racing Ford 40 Mike Bliss Key Motorsports Chevrolet 42 Parker Kligerman Team 42 Racing Dodge 43 Drew Herring Baker Curb Racing Ford 49 Mark Green Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 52 Chris Lawson Means Racing Chevrolet 56 Kevin Lepage Mac Hill Motorsports Chevrolet 60 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 61 J. J. Yeley Specialty Racing Ford 62 Brendan Gaughan Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 66 Steve Wallace Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 70 Shelby Howard ML Motorsports Chevrolet 73 Derrike Cope Stratus Racing Group Dodge 76 Ryan Hackett Ray Hackett Racing Ford 81 Michael McDowell MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. JR Motorsports Chevrolet 89 Morgan Shepherd Faith Motorsports Chevrolet 90 Chase Miller D'Hondt Humphrey Motorsports Chevrolet 91 David Gilliland D'Hondt Humphrey Motorsports Chevrolet 98 Paul Menard Roush Fenway Racing Ford 99 Trevor Bayne Diamond-Waltrip Racing ToyotaOfficial Entry list
Qualifying Elliott Sadler won the pole for the race with a time of 15.934 and a speed of 120.422. The biggest surprise was when Willie Allen qualified the Day Enterprise Racing No. 05 car in 7th on the grid. Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed 1 33 Elliott Sadler Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 15.934 120.422 2 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 15.962 120.210 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 15.978 120.090 4 12 Justin Allgaier Penske Racing Dodge 15.986 120.030 5 66 Steve Wallace Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 15.988 120.015 6 10 Jason Leffler Braun Racing Toyota 16.010 119.850 7 05 Willie Allen Day Enterprise Racing Chevrolet 16.014 119.820 8 21 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 16.023 119.753 9 1 Ryan Newman Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 16.038 119.641 10 60 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 16.055 119.514 11 32 Reed Sorenson Braun Racing Toyota 16.063 119.455 12 39 Sean Caisse Go Green Racing Ford 16.093 119.232 13 22 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 16.094 119.225 14 98 Paul Menard Roush Fenway Racing Ford 16.102 119.165 15 81 Michael McDowell MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 16.107 119.128 16 28 Kenny Wallace Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 16.116 119.062 17 99 Trevor Bayne Diamond Waltrip Racing Toyota 16.119 119.040 18 35 Jason Keller TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 16.119 119.040 19 26 Dennis Setzer K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge 16.148 118.826 20 04 Jeremy Clements JD Motorsports Chevrolet 16.149 118.819 21 27 Danny O'Quinn Jr. Baker Curb Racing Ford 16.152 118.796 22 73 Derrike Cope Stratus Racing Group Dodge 16.154 118.782 23 15 Michael Annett Germain Racing Toyota 16.164 118.708 24 90 Chase Miller D'Hondt Humphrey Motorsports Chevrolet 16.169 118.672 25 62 Brendan Gaughan Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 16.180 118.591 26 91 David Gilliland D'Hondt Humphrey Motorsports Chevrolet 16.182 118.576 27 36 Jeff Green Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet 16.191 118.510 28 49 Mark Green Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 16.202 118.430 29 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 16.210 118.371 30 11 Brian Scott (R) Braun Racing Toyota 16.213 118.349 31 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (R) Roush Fenway Racing Ford 16.216 118.328 32 7 Josh Wise JR Motorsports Chevrolet 16.219 118.306 33 70 Shelby Howard ML Motorsports Chevrolet 16.254 118.051 34 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. JR Motorsports Chevrolet 16.269 117.942 35 0 Brad Teague JD Motorsports Chevrolet 16.278 117.877 36 16 Brian Ickler Roush Fenway Racing Ford 16.325 117.538 37 38 Kasey Kahne Braun Racing Toyota 16.358 117.300 38 34 Tony Raines* TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 16.358 117.300 39 09 John Wes Townley* RAB Racing Ford 16.424 116.829 40 23 Robert Richardson Jr.* R3 Motorsports Chevrolet 16.559 115.877 41 40 Mike Bliss* Key Motorsports Chevrolet 16.671 115.098 42 01 Mike Wallace* JD Motorsports Chevrolet — — 43 42 Parker Kligerman Team 42 Racing Dodge 16.285 117.826Failed to Qualify, withdrew, or driver changes 44 56 Kevin Lepage Mac Hill Motorsports Chevrolet 16.290 117.790 45 24 Eric McClure Team Rensi Motorsports Ford 16.315 117.610 46 43 Drew Herring Baker Curb Racing Ford 16.326 117.530 47 89 Morgan Shepherd Faith Motorsports Chevrolet 16.354 117.329 48 76 Ryan Hackett Ray Hackett Racing Ford 16.473 116.482 49 61 J. J. Yeley Specialty Racing Ford 16.552 115.926 50 52 Chris Lawson Means Racing Chevrolet 16.655 115.209Official Starting grid
* - Made the field via owners points.
Race Outside pole sitter Joey Logano took the lead from pole sitter Elliott Sadler and Logano led the first lap of the race. On lap 31, Kyle Busch took the lead from his teammate. The first caution of the race flew on lap 56 for debris in turn 3. Kyle Busch won the race off of pit road but Brad Keselowski did not pit and Keselowski led the field to the restart on lap 62. On the restart, Busch took the lead from Keselowski immeadietly. On lap 82, a big and strange crash would occur in turn 1. It started when Justin Allgaier went to pass a lap car in Robert Richardson Jr. but Allgaier got stuck in the middle in between Trevor Bayne and Kasey Kahne. Allgaier made contact with Bayne which barely shot him up into Kahne and Allgaier squeezed Kahne into the outside wall on the frontstretch to a point where Kahne's right side tires climbed onto the wall and Kahne's car rode the wall all the way through turn 1 bringing out the second caution of the race. The race would restart on lap 91. On lap 117, the third caution would fly when Ryan Newman blew a right front tire and hit the outside wall in turn 2. Kyle Busch won the race off of pit road but Carl Edwards, Elliott Sadler, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Parker Kligerman, and Michael McDowell did not pit and Edwards led the field to the restart on lap 124. On lap 129, Elliott Sadler took the lead from Edwards. On lap 135, Kyle Busch attempted to take the lead from Sadler but failed to get in front of him. Busch tried again on lap 143 but ended up losing second and third in the process.
Final laps On lap 155, Clint Bowyer took the lead from Sadler. One lap later, Joe Nemechek hit the wall in turns 1 and 2 after he got bumped by Mike Bliss and had right rear damage and was slow. Two laps later on lap 158, Nemechek got hit in the side off of turn 4 by Sean Caisse and both Nemechek and Caisse crashed on the frontstretch right in front of Bowyer who hit Mike Wallace from behind and turned Wallace towards where Nemechek and Caisse crashed and gave Bowyer right front damage. This also brought out the 4th caution of the race. Bowyer came in and pitted to fix the fender and gave the lead to Brad Keselowski and Keselowski led the field to the restart on lap 166. On lap 187, the 5th caution flew when Justin Allgaier crashed in turns 3 and 4 after he made contact with Jason Keller while also collecting Josh Wise in the process. The race would restart on lap 193. At around 40 laps to go, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski fought hard for the lead. Busch attempted to pass Keselowski multiple times until with 32 to go when he got in front of Keselowski in turn 2. Busch attempted the slide job which looked like it paid off for him. However, Keselowski did not lift and ran into the rear of Busch and put him in the wall on the backstretch and Keselowski took it back. This flustered Kyle and Busch decided to immediately take out his frustrations on Keselowski and Busch retaliated by hitting Keselowski's left rear corner panel enough that caused Keselowski to spin in turn 4 and slap the left front into the outside wall and bring out the 6th caution of the race. Keselowski was the points leader coming into the race 347 points ahead of Carl Edwards while Busch was in 3rd 503 back. Busch was the new leader and he never gave it up as the race restarted with 26 laps to go. With 25 to go, a stack up occurred on the frontstretch bringing out the 7th caution. It started when Jason Leffler bumped Joey Logano from behind off of turn 4 and caused Logano to spin. Others checked up but ran into each other causing others to crash and spin like Michael Annett, Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, Reed Sorenson, Brendan Gaughan, Steve Wallace, and Paul Menard. 9 cars were involved in the accident. The race restarted with 17 laps to go. With 16 to go, the 8th and final caution flew when Reed Sorenson and Brian Scott made contact that sent Scott up in front of Brendan Gaughan where Gaughan bumped Scott in turn 2 turning Scott around before Gaughan got spun after he got bumped by Willie Allen. The race would restart with 10 laps to go. Kyle Busch took the lead and held onto it as Busch would win his 10th race of the 2010 season. Jason Leffler, Elliott Sadler, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Carl Edwards rounded out the top 5 while Trevor Bayne, Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson, Parker Kligerman, and Joey Logano rounded out the top 10. As soon as Busch got out of his car after doing his burnouts, fans in the stands immeadietly boo'd him and Busch gestured back at them first putting his arms out and then doing a crybaby sign back at the fans before getting the checkered flag. When asked about spinning Keselowski, Busch did admit he dumped him on purpose because Keselowski did not do a "Earnhardt crossover move" and instead ran into the back of him. Busch also quoted "you play that game, I'll play it back. So I dumped him."