FanHouse Food City 500

It's been a long time coming for Joe Gibbs Racing at Bristol Motor Speedway, but Sunday afternoon driver Kyle Busch dusted off a tough run of bad luck for the team at the track to score his second victory of 2009 in the Food City 500.

Where: Bristol Motor Speedway
Time: Sunday 2pm/EDT
TV/Radio: FOX Sports, PRN Radio
Forecast: Sunny, 68
Distance: 500 laps (266.5 miles)
Pole Winner: Mark Martin
2008 Winner: Jeff Burton


If you need a better idea of how racing is being impacted by the economy look no further than Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol. For 13 straight years, the 165,000-seat facility in quiet, rolling hills of east Tennessee has been mecca for race fans -- and sold out each of its two Sprint Cup events without batting an eye.

Friday afternoon, ESPN's David Newton drafted a story with Sprint Cup Series veteran and pole-winner for Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway talking about how he wanted to hang around as a full-time NASCAR driver in 2010.

Mark Martin, back in his first full-time gig after choosing to go for a part-time schedule in the past few years, apparently wanted to take what was originally a plan for going back to part-time in 2010 and make it a plan to run the whole 36-race schedule.

But after winning the pole for Sunday's race, Martin again met with the media and downplayed -- or denied -- such a plan was in place to go full time for Hendrick Motorsports again in 2010.

Less than five races into the 2009 season, the talk regarding Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief Tony Eury Jr. has already reached the front burner.

And if we're lucky, the talk will subside sometime after the 2009 season ends -- barring two things: Earnhardt wins the championship or Eury Jr. finds a new role.

But Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway, Earnhardt Jr. made one thing crystal clear ahead of Sunday's Food City 500: crew chief Tony Eury Jr. isn't going anywhere.

Mark Martin must have been tired of not winning poles in the Sprint Cup Series.

Just two weeks after Martin scored his first pole in 7 years -- remember that lap at Atlanta made the 50-year-old Martin feel like a rookie? -- the driver from Batesville, Ark., scored his second-straight pole Friday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway for Sunday's Food City 500.

Martin's lap of 125.773 mph gave him the top spot on the same weekend that news indicated he wants to stay in No. 5 full-time in 2010, rather than a partial schedule as was originally expected.

A little off-week fishing turned into a big headache -- or rib-ache, if you will -- for Roush Fenway Racing's driver Greg Biffle.

Biffle, slated to drive in both the Sprint Cup Series' Food City 500 on Sunday and the Nationwide Series' Scotts Turf Builder 300 on Saturday for RFR, will now sit out the Saturday event to rest a sore set of ribs after the No. 16 Ford driver fell awkwardly -- he termed it a "freak accident" -- while trying to get off a boat Tuesday night.

Judging from his remarks Friday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway's half-mile, Biffle wasn't too proud of the way he injured himself.

We wonder ... Is Robby Gordon Motorsports reading AOL's NASCAR Fanhouse?

The Fanhouse recently offered them some unsolicited advice suggested that RGM take advantage of Gordon's vacant hood space by promoting one of their own ventures.

A week later ... Voilà!

RobbyGordonOffRoad.com was announced as the primary sponsor the #07 Ford Fusion, which carried a black Robby Gordon Signature Series Wheel on the hood, for the Food City 500.

We don't know if the Fanhouse was the inspiration, but we'd like to think it was more than just a coincidence!

Kasey Kahne is his owner's success story of the day.

Last season, Kahne made it into the Chase for the Championship by the skin of his teeth.

Today, he performed under pressure once again and made his way into the Top 35 in owner points--again by the skin of his teeth. He salvaged a 19th-place finish after cutting a tire on Clint Bowyer's splitter and watching three laps go by while making repairs.

Kahne is now tied with Johnny Sauter for 34th position in owner points.

Not exactly the start he was looking for, but he'll take it. This week's outlook would be a whole lot worse if he was looking at having to qualify on time in Martinsville.

Awkward Moment Avoided
Kahne did do himself a favor by keeping himself out of Bristol's spring race victory lane and being forced to share the same air space with Miss Food City 500, his ex-girlfriend Britney Hagy, and run the risk of her making a stink. Rumor has it they haven't cleared the air between them.

In the fairly uneventful COT debut, Kyle Busch was able to hold Jeff Burton off for change and he set a few milestones today:

• First win of the season, fourth career Nextel Cup win;
• First series win at Bristol Motor Speedway;
• First driver to win in the new Chevy Impala SS;
• 200th NASCAR win for Rick Hendrick Motorsports;
• 600th NASCAR win for Chevrolet;
• 2nd consecutive win for a driver not ranked by the Fanhouse. This week, let my omissions serve as clues to who will be race winner. (I once had a much better track record.)

Shrub gained 8 spots in the points standings and now sits in 6th place behind Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick.

Food City 500 Results

Bristol Motor Speedway has seen its fair share of wrecks. Here are a couple from the spring Food City 500s: a one-car crash and a multi-car pileup.

April 7, 1990: Michael Waltrip - Worst Single Car Crash in NASCAR History