Hamblin wins Food City 500 at wild afternoon in Bristol

Denny Hamlin won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, passing Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. in the final laps for his fourth victory at Bristol. Hamlin also won last September’s race in Bristol. Tire conservation was the name of the game Sunday with only 5 cars finishing on the lead lap. Goodyear made a rare statement during the race saying testing last year at Bristol was designed to provide more tire wear, but said this outcome was “too drastic”. Goodyear released one extra set of tires to each team during the race. The tire issues created a new short track record, though, with a total of 54 lead changes during the race. Christian Eckes held off a late charge to win the Truck race on Saturday.