With no traditional garage stalls at Bristol Motor Speedway, teams work on their cars on pit road. (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

Heaven for NASCAR fans: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

The incumbent: Carl Edwards, in a Ford, captured this race a year ago. Kyle Busch drove a Toyota to victory in the Food City 500 on March 22.

Big guns: Edwards, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne.

Long shots: Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Juan Pablo Montoya, Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, Elliott Sadler, Jeff Burton, Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The hunch here: Kurt Busch.

Just the facts, please

Thirty-seven different men have combined to win the 97 previous Cup races at Bristol.

Combining what NASCAR considers its “three national touring series” (Cup, Nationwide, Truck), this is Mark Martin’s career start No. 1,000.

Kyle Busch is 70 points outside the Chase cutoff (12th place) with three races remaining in the regular season. In 2005, Matt Kenseth made the Chase after being 104 out entering the final three races.

Not one driver in the current top 12 has a Bristol average finish in single digits. Jeff Gordon’s is the best at 11.3.
    
Snappy quotes

“I just don’t want to be that upset because I didn’t win.”—Brian Vickers, attempting to differentiate himself from rival Kyle Busch.

“It’s a moving target all the time. We’re throwing darts at something that’s moving back and forth on the wall. Sometimes you’ve got it perfect, and sometimes you’re off and never hit it.” – Greg Biffle.

“I’m not so confident with our luck, but I’m confident with our performance.” – Mark Martin.

“You almost felt like you could leave there and have a beer with the guy, which was interesting.” – Jimmie Johson, on meeting Pres. Obama.

“I think we’ve got very good momentum in our sight.” – Juan Pablo Montoya.
 

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