The drivers of the Sprint Cup Series will return to the track on Saturday night for the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Kevin Harvick clinched a berth in the Chase last time out with a win in the Carfax 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Harvick now has three wins on the season, and he’s in first place in the driver standings by 293 points on Jeff Gordon.
Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Juan Montoya, Martin Truex Jr., Elliott Sadler, and Joey Logano rounded out the Top 10 at Michigan. Gordon ended up back in 27th place.
Hamlin, Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Edwards, Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch, Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Biffle, and Clint Bowyer make up the rest of the current Top 12 in the driver standings. Mark Martin is 35 points back of Bowyer for the final Chase berth.
Johnson won the Food City 500 at Bristol earlier this year, while Kyle Busch won both races on the track during the 2009 season. Kyle Busch also won the Food City 500 back in 2007, while brother Kurt has won five Cup races at Bristol in his career.
Gordon also has five career Cup wins at Bristol, and Edwards, Martin, and Kenseth have each won twice on the track. Harvick, Stewart, Burton, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have all taken one checkered flag at Bristol.
After racing at Bristol the drivers of the Sprint Cup Series will move on to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Emory Healthcare 500 on September 5. The pre-Chase schedule then ends with the Air Guard 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 11.
