There are 40 cars entered for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.
Driver intro songs for the Bristol night race
Getty Images
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Here are the songs Cup Series drivers were introduced with before tonight’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
In order from last to first place.
Ross Chastain – “Watermelon Crawl” by Tracy Byrd
Kyle Weatherman – “All About that Bass” by Meghan Trainor
Reed Sorenson – “Georgia on my Mind” by Ray Charles
JJ Yeley – “Raining Blood” by Slayer
Josh Bilicki – “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons
Quin Houff – “Levels” by Avicii
BJ McLeod – “Fuel” by Metallica
Landon Cassill – “Hang on Sloopy” by The McCoys
Kyle Busch – “Lights Come On” by Jason Aldean
Jimmie Johnson – “Enter Sandman” by Metallica
Chris Buescher – “Evil Like You” by Red Sun Rising
Michael McDowell – “The Floor is Lava” by Blake Rules and Netherfriends
Matt Tifft – “Cleveland Rocks” by The President of the United States of America
Corey LaJoie – “Brand New Man” by Brooks & Dunn with Luke Combs
Paul Menard – “Baby Shark” by Leo Moracchioli
Ty Dillon – “Gold” by Imagine Dragons
Ryan Preece – “Girls, Girls, Girls” by Mötley Crüe
Bubba Wallace – “Into Despair” by Currents
William Byron – “Fortunate Sun” by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Clint Bowyer – “God’s Country” by Blake Shelton
Austin Dillon – “Cowboy Baby” by Kid Rock
Daniel Suarez – “El Mariachi Loco”
Daniel Hemric – “Lose Yourself” by Eminem
David Ragan – “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone” by Anna Kendrick
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – “Ain’t No Grave” by Johnny Cash
Ryan Newman – “These Are My People” by Rodney Atkins
Brad Keselowski – “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple
Ryan Blaney – “Living the Dream” by Sturgill Simpson
Joey Logano – “Circle of Life” by Elton John
Alex Bowman – “Bow Down” by I Prevail
Erik Jones – “The One I Loved Back Then” by George Jones
Kevin Harvick – “The Git Up” by Blanco Brown
Matt DiBenedetto – “Gonna Fly Now” by Bill Conti (song made famous by the movie “Rocky”)
Chase Elliott – “Beer Never Broke My Heart” by Luke Combs
Aric Almirola – “Give Me the Green Light” by Pit Bull
Kurt Busch – “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC
Martin Truex Jr. – “Drinkin’ Hours” by Cole Swindell
Kyle Larson – “Money in the Grave” by Drake
Denny Hamlin – “Some of It” by Eric Church
Kevin Harvick’s rear tire changer sidelined by cancer treatment
Photo: Dustin Long
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Daniel Smith, rear tire changer for Kevin Harvick’s team, left a hospital Saturday afternoon after surgery this week as part of his cancer treatment.
Smith, who had the planned surgery Thursday, told NBC Sports through a team spokesperson that he should be back in four to six weeks. The Cup playoffs begin in four weeks at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
It was shortly before the Bristol night race last year that doctors discovered Smith had testicular cancer. He spent the day before that race undergoing scans, blood work and other tests to determine if the cancer had spread. Doctors found that the cancer had infected two lymph nodes in his lower abdomen and also saw a spot on his lung that was concerning.
Two days after last year’s Bristol night race, Smith had surgery to remove the tumor in his testicle. After a few weeks to heal, he began chemotherapy treatments. Each round consisted of one week in a hospital and two weeks of recovery. He had four rounds (12 weeks) of treatments. Smith returned to the track to watch Harvick compete in the championship race in Miami last year and then was back to changing tires at Daytona in February.
Thursday’s surgery is expected to be the final one Smith needs. Tonight’s race (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN) is the first he’s missed this season. He stated through a team spokesperson that he walked a mile in the hospital Friday and again on Saturday before his release.
Harvick, who won last weekend at Michigan, starts eighth in tonight’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Matt DiBenedetto focused on winning as he looks for 2020 ride
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Looking for a ride for next season, Matt DiBenedetto enters tonight’s Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway focused on one goal.
“I want to win in Cup,” says the driver whose family moved from California to North Carolina when he was a teen to help his racing career, who ran start-and-parks at one time in the Xfinity Series to keep in the sport and who has 13 races left in what is the best ride of his five-year Cup career.
DiBenedetto found out this week that he would not return to Leavine Family Racing after this season. DiBenedetto said that “I don’t want to say I was blindsided” but said he held out hope that “my performance behind the wheel (would) do the talking and hope that that would prevail over everything.”
Instead, business matters prevailed. With Erik Jones near an extension to remain at Joe Gibbs Racing — keeping all four driver spots there filled — Toyota and JGR needed a place to move Christopher Bell from the Xfinity Series to Cup. Leavine Family Racing’s alliance with JGR makes it the natural spot for Bell. While Bell said this week nothing is set, all signs point to him driving the No. 95 car next year.
Despite his disappointment, DiBenedetto remains grateful to Leavine Family Racing for the chance to run the No. 95 this year.
“I want everyone to know, fans especially and social media and stuff, is to be easy on our team and Toyota and (Joe) Gibbs and everything because they’re all still great people and they gave me this opportunity,” he said.
Still, about a year after DiBenedetto left his ride with Go Fas Racing and unsure of where he’d land, he’s again looking for a ride for the upcoming season.
“I don’t want to retire yet because I’m only 28 years old,” said DiBenedetto, who starts seventh in tonight’s race (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN). “Just getting started, but I want to win in the Cup Series. That’s what I’ve said and that’s my goal. I’m here to keep on climbing the ladder, not go backwards.”
As for what he might do next year, he’s not sure.
“I have no irons in the fire per se, yet, but this all just happened just this week,” he said.
One question is if it might be possible for him to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing’s Xfinity program — DiBenedetto made his Xfinity debut with JGR in 2009 as a development driver and he will drive the team’s No. 18 Xfinity car in the upcoming race at Road America.
“I don’t think there is that opportunity or as of now, there’s not,” he said. “Not that I’m aware of. I’ve talked to the Toyota folks and stuff and I don’t foresee any opportunities within the camp, I don’t think. Just going to have to really pursue everything, but the main goal is to keep proving myself behind the wheel, which I’ve shown I’m here to win and run up front.”
Maybe something good will happen to him tonight. Bristol is where he scored his first Cup top 10 in 2016, placing sixth for an underfunded BK Racing team. He and his family celebrated that finish on pit road after the race.
Alex Bowman, who also drove for underfunded teams before working his way up to a ride at Hendrick Motorsports, is rooting for DiBenedetto to remain in Cup next season.
“I think he does a really good job in the race car,” Bowman said. “Obviously, he has shown that he continues to deserve (a Cup ride). He’ll land on his feet. Everything happens for a reason. I was pretty bummed when I lost my gig. It all ended up working out for the better.”
Tonight’s Cup race at Bristol: Start time, lineup and more
Getty Images
With the playoffs looming in a few weeks, the Cup Series returns its short-track roots tonight for a rumble under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The duo of Kurt and Kyle Busch have won the last four races in “Thunder Valley.” Who can claim the Bristol throne from the brothers?
Here’s all the info you need for tonight’s race.
(All times are Eastern)
START: The command to start engines will be given at 7:41 p.m. by Johnny Morris, founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops; Richard Childress; Bill Dance, legendary fisherman; Becky Humphries, National Wild Turkey Foundation CEO; Nick Wiley, Director of Conservation Ducks Unlimited; R. Joseph Hamilton, QDMA Founder and Senior Advisor; John Eastman, QDMA Senior Director of Operations. The green flag is scheduled to wave at 7:46 p.m.
PRERACE: Garage opens at 1:30 p.m. Driver/crew chief meeting is at 5:30 p.m. Driver introductions are at 7 p.m. The invocation will be given at 7:30 p.m. by Ronda Paulson, Founder and Executive Director of Isaiah 177 House. MRO Kids will perform the National Anthem at 7:31 p.m.
DISTANCE: The race is 500 laps (266.5 miles) around the .533-mile short track.
STAGES: Stage 1 ends on Lap 125. Stage 2 ends on Lap 250.
TV/RADIO: NBCSN will televise the race. Coverage begins at 6 p.m. with NASCAR America. Countdown to Green begins at 7 p.m. The Performance Racing Network’s radio broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m and also can be heard on goprn.com. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry PRN’s broadcast.
FORECAST: Wunderground.com forecasts clear skies, a temperature of 86 degrees with no chance of precipitation at the race start time.
LAST TIME: Kurt Busch won this race last year over Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott. Kyle Busch won in the spring over Kurt Busch.
STARTING LINEUP: Click here for the starting lineup
