Background

The track, Bristol Motor Speedway, is a four-turn short track oval that is 0.533 miles (0.858 km) long.^[13] 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.^[13] The track has a seating capacity of 160,000 people.^[13] The race consisted of 500 laps, equivalent to a race distance of 266.5 miles (428.9 km).^[13] The 2013 winner was Kasey Kahne.

Entry list

The entry list for the Food City 500 was released Monday, March 10 at 10:24 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-five drivers were entered for the race.

First practice

Kurt Busch was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 14.784 and a speed of 129.789 mph (208.875 km/h). His younger brother Kyle Busch was among four drivers who wrecked their primary cars during the session.^[14] Danica Patrick slid, hit the wall in turn 4, ricocheted into Parker Kligerman and sent him into the wall.^[14] Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle were involved in a similar situation in the same session,^[14] while Justin Allgaier bounced off the turn 1 wall, having believed he had blown a right-front tire.^[14]

Qualifying results

Final practice

Casey Mears was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 15.240 and a speed of 125.906 mph (202.626 km/h). Landon Cassill broke the rear-end housing and hit the wall hard during the session. He was forced to roll out his backup car and started from the rear because the change took place after qualifying.

First half

Second half

The race restarted on lap 193, and Kyle Busch took the lead from Bowyer, on lap 195. He held the lead for the next stint of the race, until Kasey Kahne took the lead on lap 268. Two laps later, Kyle Busch made an unscheduled stop after making contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr. which he felt had caused a flat tire. The seventh caution of the race flew on lap 276 after Ryan Truex hit the wall in turn 2, after a right-front tire blowout. Kahne swapped the lead with Hamlin on pit road, but Kahne exited pit road as the leader. The race restarted on lap 285 and Kahne lost the lead to Matt Kenseth. Kenseth maintained the lead throughout the next stint, before the eighth caution of the race flew on lap 332 after Michael McDowell turned David Ragan exiting turn 4. Kenseth traded the lead with Hamlin on pit road, but left pit road as the leader.

The race restarted on lap 339, and like the previous stint, Kenseth led throughout until the next caution flag – the ninth of the race – flew on lap 394 after Kyle Busch had a left-side tire go flat and spun out in turn 4, and was just clipped by his brother Kurt, which caused a similar puncture on his car. Travis Kvapil also hit the wall trying to avoid Kyle Busch. Once again, Kenseth and Hamlin traded the lead on pit road, but on this occasion, it was Kevin Harvick who would exit as the leader for the restart with 97 laps to go. The tenth caution of the race flew with 78 laps to go after Martin Truex Jr. cut down his left-rear tire, spun through 360 degrees and came to a stop at the exit of turn 2. Carl Edwards chose not to pit and assumed the lead for the restart with 71 laps to go. The eleventh caution of the race flew with 50 laps to go after Harvick had a broken gear that sent his car into the wall hard in turn 1. Keselowski hit the back of McMurray as both were trying to avoid hitting Harvick.

Race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 20 among different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 12 for 95
• Red flags: 1 for 3 hours, 19 minutes and 0 seconds
• Time of race: 3 hours, 11 minutes and 23 seconds
• Average speed: 84.051 miles per hour (135.267 km/h)

Television

Radio