NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol dirt race results: Kyle Busch steals a win after a last-lap wreck

Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe made contact in the last turn of the race allowing Busch to take the win

The NASCAR Cup Series' youth movement was put on hold again thanks to an absolutely stunning finish at Bristol in the Food City Dirt Race, where Kyle Busch stole a win after Chase Briscoe wrecked Tyler Reddick as he attempted a slide job in Turn 3. 

As Briscoe and Reddick spun, Busch snuck through to take the checkered flag just a fraction before Reddick was able to get his car righted to finish second. It's the 60th career Cup Series win for Kyle Busch and ties the No. 18 driver with Richard Petty's record of 18 straight seasons with a Cup Series win.

Before Busch's win, William Byron (24 years old) had kept a trend of young gun drivers' winning going, and they have claimed seven of the nine races so far. Denny Hamlin (41), who won on April 3 in the Toyota Owners 400, is the other old guard driver to win. 

While this is the second year of the Food City Dirt Race, this is the first trip around the Last Great Colosseum on dirt in the Cup Series Next Gen car. Dirt track aces Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell, who both displayed some flashes throughout the race, wound up finishing in the top 10.

Food City Dirt Race unofficial top 10

1. #18 Kyle Busch
2. #8 Tyler Reddick
3. #22 Joey Logano
4. #5 Kyle Larson
5. #12 Ryan Blaney
6.  #48 Alex Bowman
7. #20 Christopher Bell
8. #9 Chase Elliott
9. #34 Michael McDowell
10. #42 Ty Dillon

"We got one. ... It doesn't matter how you get 'em, it's all about getting 'em," Busch told Fox Sports after the race. "I don't know why just we couldn't fire off after the rain. ... Both times it just would not fire and it took it about 20 laps to get going. 

"Overall, just real pumped to be back, real pumped to get a win. This one means a lot. I can win on any surface here at Bristol, bring it on baby!" 

Here's a look at how Busch wound up with the win -- also, the only time he led the race was at the very end of that final lap:

Tyler Reddick, who was leading the race didn't have anything negative to say about Chase Briscoe, who came up to the No. 8 driver and apologized during his post race interview on pit road. 

"I don't think I did everything right ... Briscoe was able to run me back down there," Reddick said. "You're racking on dirt, going for the move on the final corner ... it's everything that as a driver you hope to battle for in his situation, and it made it really exciting for the fans. It does suck, but we were able to finish second still and, if I'm being honest, I should have done a better job and pulled away so he wasn't in range to try to make that move. That's how I look at it."

After sliding around on dirt around a short track, next up for the Cup Series  is the biggest and fastest track in the sport -- Talladega Superspeedway. Brad Keselowski won the spring race at Talladega last year and Bubba Wallace won a rain-shortened fall race there in 2021. 

The green flag is set to fly for the Geico 500 at 3 p.m. ET on April 24 with TV coverage on Fox, and you can stream the race on fuboTV (try for free).

[Apr 17, 2022 at 10:32 pm ET · Andrew Julian]

Fifteenth Caution

No incidents this time, just a bit more rain and NASCAR has pulled the cars off the track. We had a lengthy delay after Stage 2 when enough moisture rolled in that the race went under a red flag. Tyler Reddick is the leader with Kyle Busch second. The drivers are still in their cars along pit road. Once the rain stops, it would be at least 20 minutes before the race could restart so that the track could be taken care of and gotten back in racing conditions.

[Apr 17, 2022 at 10:23 pm ET · Andrew Julian]

Fourteenth Caution

Austin Dillon's No. 3 car lost power and in the fray of him trying to get out of the way, Kurt Busch ends up in the outside wall with a hard, head on hit in turn 1. Dillon's day is over, while the No. 45 is in the pits for repairs. Tyler Reddick leads with Kyle Busch hot on his tail with 35 to go.

[Apr 17, 2022 at 10:06 pm ET · Andrew Julian]

Twelfth Caution

The flagman is getting a workout as this race has become a war of attrition. The No. 38 car of Todd Gilliland caused this latest yellow flag after losing the back end of his ride. He'll stay on track as the race now has just 70 laps to go until the finish.

[Apr 17, 2022 at 10:01 pm ET · Andrew Julian]

Eleventh Caution

Erik Jones got together with Ricky Stenhouse and got into the wall. Heavy damage to his front and nose. 80 laps to go under yellow.