NASCAR is heading to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend with the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 geared up to kick off on Sunday, April 13, at the Bristol Motor Speedway. The race will begin at 3:00 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on FS1, with radio coverage available on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
This high-banked, half-mile bullring in Bristol, Tenn., nicknamed “The Last Great Colosseum,” will see William Byron, with 315 points, go into the race weekend in the lead of the NASCAR Cup Series standings. Denny Hamlin takes the second spot with 266 points, and Christopher Bell is a close third with 263 points.
All the Action NASCAR Fans Can Expect at Bristol
The 2025 Food City 500 brings short-track racing back into the spotlight, with Bristol being a 266.5-mile race that requires 500 laps to complete. With the NASCAR 2025 Cup Series season nine races done with Bristol, here’s what fans need to know about the practice groups and race qualifying order :
NASCAR insider Bob Pockrass took to X to share all the information about the upcoming Cup race this weekend:
With seating that wraps around the entire track like a stadium, NASCAR fans will be treated to an up-close view of the battles that Bristol is known for. Short-track practice and qualifying procedure will be in effect at Bristol, meaning that cars are split into two groups for a 50-minute practice session with 25 minutes given to each group. This is followed by qualifying, which is two laps, one round.
Earlier this week, NASCAR released the practice groupings and qualifying order for the Bristol race. The groups and qualifying order are based on NASCAR’s Performance Metric, which combines the previous race finish by the car number associated with the car owner plus the car’s current ranking in the NASCAR Cup Series Owner Points.
Last week’s finish holds 70% weightage in the metric score, while the owner points ranking holds 30% weightage.
According to NASCAR’s performance metrics, the bottom 20 drivers and teams will be in practice Group 2. Josh Bilicki’s No. 66 team will be the first to take to the track in qualifying this weekend.
Defending Bristol winner, as well as the winner of the last two Cup races, Hamlin, with a metric score of 1.3, has earned the final slot in the qualifying order. This puts him at a bit of an advantage in securing pole position for Sunday’s race, as he will have a clear idea of the time to beat.