Food City 500

 

Thanks for joining us for today's Food City 500. Stay logged on for more coverage from Bristol and mark your calendars now for the Auto Club 400 from Auto Club Speedway next Sunday (Coverage begins 2:30 p.m. ET live on FOX).

This is Kahne's 15 career win. It is team owner Rick Hendrick's 211th Sprint Cup vitory.

CHECKERED FLAG - KASEY KAHNE WINS!

WHITE FLAG - Kahne leads!

5 laps to go: Kahne leading still.

Lap 492: Denny Hamlin bouncing off the wall and dropping further back.

10 laps to go: Kahne leads! Kurt Busch is to the inside of Clint Bowyer and takes fourth

Lap 487: Keselowski is alongside Busch for P2 - and they have a pack of cars behind them waiting to attack.

Lap 481: Kurt Busch is alongside Denny Hamlin in the battle for fifth.

Lap 478: Kyle Busch is still having to fight off the challenge of Brad Keselowski - which has allowed Kasey Kahne to extend his lead to 1.3 seconds up front.

Lap 475: Joey Logano was in the mix earlier, but has drifted back to 18th on this run.

Lap 472: Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Clint Bowyer are stacked up in battle for second.

Lee Spencer says on Lap 470: Kurt Busch predicted a top 10 this morning - he's 9th right now.

Lap 469: Keselowski gets loose and has to back off on backstretch - and Clint Bowyer goes on the attack for third place.

Lap 465: Kasey Kahne has the lead and is pulling away slightly, but there are a lot of drivers in position to challenge him for the slot.

Rea White says on Lap 463: Clint Bowyer moves into the mix as well. the race is truly up for grabs at this point.

Lap 460: Keselowski had a slow restart and Kasey Kahne takes the lead! Kyle Busch jumps to second.

RESTART - Lap 459: Keselowski leads.

Don't look now, but Joey Logano will restart right behind Denny Hamlin who spun him earlier.

Pit road is open: Kurt Busch pits from ninth, a few others behind him as well - but the leaders stay out.

CAUTION - Lap 455: Jimmie Johnson blows a tire and slams the wall to bring out the yellow.

Lap 454: Kasey Kahne is making up ground again, closing in as they storm through Turn 3.

Lap 449: WHOA! Kasey Kahne almost lost it as he tried to take the lead on the low side, he recooperates, but lost a lot of ground.

Lap 448: Kahne got caught behind lap-down traffic and Keselowski capitalizes to take the lead again!

Lap 445: Kasey Kahne FINALLY gets on the outside of Keselowski and completes the pass to take the lead!

Lap 444: Did I say three-car tango? It's now four cars battling for the lead as Kyle Busch has caught up.

Lap 437: As Kez and Kahne fight for the lead, Denny Hamlin is catching up and it's about to become a three-car tango for the lead with laps winding down.

Lap 432: Kahne keeps trying, but he cannot complete the pass on Brad K. for the lead.

Lap 431: Clint Bowyer is inside of Jimmie Johnson in the battle for fifth.

Lap 426: Up front, Kasey Kahne is chasing after Keselowski - swerving side-to-side as he tries to find a spot to make the pass for the lead.

Rea White notes on Lap 425: Worth noting, Joey Logano is seventh. Denny Hamlin, who tagged Logano and made him spin earlier, is third.

Lap 424: Joey Logano looks low and moves around Paul Menard for seventh.

Lap 423: The no-pitting strategy isn't working that well for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He's plummeted to 11th already.

Lap 415: Paul Menard drops from second to fourth as Kahne and Hamlin pass him.

Lap 412: Oh by the way - Joey Logano is up to ninth after his earlier incident. He is a man on a mission.

Lap 411: Denny Hamlin to the inside of Kasey Kahne for third.

Lap 407: Up front, Keselowski has been able to pull away from Menard and the rest of the field. He's already in a tight points battle with Jimmie Johnson. Will this pit call give him the edge?

Lap 405: Three wide for fifth - Jimmie Johnson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch

Lap 403: Keselowski leads, but Paul Menard is right on his bumper.

NASCAR on FOX driver chatter: "I really hate that we collected Matt Kenseth" - Jeff Gordon. Kenseth: "There was not a lot either one of us could do about that."

RESTART - Lap 402: Keselowski leads.

Top 10 after the pit stops - Keselowski, Menard, Stenhouse (none pitted), Kahne, Johnson, Hamlin, Biffle, Kyle Busch, McMurray and Newman.

Rea White notes on Lap 398: This is Bristol: A fair number of the cars on the track look a little worse for the wear already.

Lap 397: Pit road is open and leaders come down for service. Brad Keselowski stayed out - he is one of a handful of drivers who didn't pit.

Lee Spencer says on Lap 395: The good news is the 20 team likely would not be using that car again until Dover.

Rea White says on Lap 394: Gordon sitting in his car, helmet on, as the team works diligently on his car. It's admirable that in a crash like that, Gordon's question was about Kenseth.

There is A LOT of damage on Kenseth and Gordon's cars. Gordon went straight into the garage - Kenseth's car going there via a tow truck.

CAUTION! Matt Kenseth has big damage! So does race leader Jeff Gordon! Gordon looked to have blown a right front tire, turns sharply into the wall and Kenseth ran right into him. Kenseth had nowhere to go.

Lap 385: Joey Logano is up to 17th after bringing out the most recent caution. He's trapped behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Paul Menard, unable to make up much ground yet.

In case you missed it, or want to see it again - Watch Hamlin punt Logano a few laps ago

Lap 379: Kasey Kahne still has a close-up view of Matt Kenseth behind him, but has managed to hold onto second.

Lap 374: Jeff Gordon puts Tony Stewart yet another lap down. Stewart, 34 laps off the pace, is enduring a frustrating day.

Lap 371: Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth and now Jimmie Johnson are battling for second place.

Lap 363: Matt Kenseth is trying to get past Kasey Kahne. He's riding right in his tracks, trying to pick his moment.

Lap 362: Keselowski's car seems to be getting better and better as the laps wear down.

Lap 361: Kurt Busch is driving back into the lead pack. He's ninth now.

Rea White says on Lap 357: Drivers are starting to bottle up in the turns deeper in the field. They three wide in the turns as drivers battle for position. As fast as cars are getting lapped today, nobody wants to be at the back anymore.

Lap 356: Jeff Gordon is off and running, with Kasey Kahne and Matt Kenseth fighting for second behind him.

Lap 354: WHOA! Denny Hamlin got loose, goes on the apron and almost spins out. Great save! Drops from second to sixth.

RESTART - Lap 354: Gordon leads.

Get ready folks - business is about to start picking up with less than 150 laps remaining.

Will we see teams gambling? A few cars pitted under this caution - and a few think it may be their last stop of the day.

Remember, Logano and Hamlin had a little twitter spat after Daytona - think they'll have a go at each other after today's race?

CAUTION! Joey Logano wrecks from P2! He got tapped from behind by former teammate Denny Hamlin who was fighting position.

Lap 347: The fight between Logano and Gordon has allowed Hamlin to catch up and now it is three drivers battling for the lead.

Lap 345: Joey Logano gets a solid run and inside of Jeff Gordon, but has to back off as they approach Tony Stewart's damaged car.

Lap 343: Joey Logano can get inside of Jeff Gordon in turn 1, but he simply cannot complete the pass at this point - even with four fresh tires versus two on Gordon's car.

Lap 337: Oh by the way - remember how no JGR cars were in the top five at the latest restart? Hamlin is now third and chasing down the leaders.

Lap 334: Logano is now alongside Gordon for the lead!

Lap 329: Gordon jumps out to the lead up front and begins to pull away - being in the lead on the restart is proving to be a HUGE advantage and maybe worth the gamble on just two tires.

RESTART - Lap 328: Gordon leads - but remember, he only took two fresh tires. Can he stay up front?

This is the first time today that a JGR car isn't in the top five. Will that last?

Top 10 after pit stops: Gordon, Kahne, Harvick, Logano, Keselowski, Hamlin, Kenseth, Johnson, Bowyer and Biffle.

Lap 324: Big strategy play here - Jeff Gordon takes only two tires and takes the lead coming out of the pits! The rest of the leaders took four tires.

Lap 323: Cars come down pit road for service under this caution.

That was a hard single car hit.

CAUTION! Dave Blaney hits the Turn 1 wall hard to bring out the yellow. He rides the wall down the backstretch and limps onto pit road.

Rea White says on Lap 321: It's been a while since a leader wove his way through traffic this well today. Usually lapped traffic throws the leader into the second-runner's clutches. Not this time.

Lap 319: Kenseth puts 20th-place Ricky Stenhouse Jr. a lap down.

Lap 317: Matt Kenseth storms to the outside of Casey Mears to put him a lap down. Kenseth is running as close to the wall as anyone.

Lap 315: Vickers finished third in the Nationwide Series race on Saturday, but he's not faring as well today.

Lap 309: Brian Vickers is trying to get past Marcos Ambrose, putting him in race leader Matt Kenseth's grasp. It's a frantic group of drivers battling to stay on the lead lap with Matt Kenseth on their bumper.

Lap 303: Race leader Matt Kenseth is heading toward a group of drivers that remain on the lead lap. It will be harder to fight past those drivers. He's one car from Brian Vickers, who is running 23rd and the final car on the lead lap at this point.

Rea White says on Lap 298: Brad Keselowski is really on a run here. He's fifth and fast.

Lap 295: How are the rookies faring? Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is 17th while Danica Patrick is 29th.

Lee Spencer says: Drivers that have completed every lap this year include Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Paul Menard. Mark Martin and Aric Almirola were on the list when the day began. Martin opted not to run Bristol as part of his part-time schedule and Almirola cut a tire and then wrecked just past halfway.

Lap 291: Kenseth finally clears Edwards, but Kahne is now right on his bumper.

Lap 290: Matt Kenseth is trying to get by Carl Edwards. Although Edwards is already a lap down, he's still difficult to get by.

Lap 286: A shout out to Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who started at the rear of the field today and is up to 14th right now.

Lap 284: And Keselowski completes the pass and breaks into the top five.

Lap 281: Keselowski has caught Denny Hamlin and the fight for fifth place is on!

Lap 279: Race leaders Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne are approaching lapped traffic.

Lap 275: Brad Keselowski gets by Jimmie Johnson for sixth.

Lap 269: Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are trading 10th back and forth.

Lap 265: Logano completes the pass and is now P4.

Lap 264: Joey Logano is looking inside and outside of former teammate Denny Hamlin for P4.

Kenseth shot out of a cannon on the restart and is out front with the lead.

Almirola gets evaluated and released from the infield care center.

RESTART - Lap 257: Kenseth leads. Hamlin, Johnson, Kahne, Biffle, Harvick, Bowyer, Logano, Gordon and Keselowski are your top 10.

Radio chatter on Lap 256: Crew chiefs are checking with drivers about how their tires feel.

A few stragglers, including Kurt Busch who skipped a stop earlier, hit pit road under this yellow flag.

Brian Vickers will get the lucky dog free pass and get back on lead lap under this caution.

Rea White says on Lap 252: Almirola is walking to the care center, escorted by a NASCAR official, after his spin.

Radio chatter on Lap 251: Danica Patrick: "(The car is) still tight, still tight in the center. ... I don't know if this is an opportunity to try to help it, but it's still tight."

CAUTION! Almirola came back out on track, but spins in Turns 3-4 to bring out the yellow.

Lap 250 - HALFWAY.

Lap 245: Aric Almirola is limping onto pit road after hitting the wall - appears to have cut a tire.

Lap 242: Kenseth pulls away out front - just like his teammates Hamlin and Busch have done earlier on restarts. Gibbs cars are ALL running well today.

RESTART - Lap 241: Kenseth leads. Kurt Busch took the wavearound and is back on the lead lap in 22nd place.

Lap 239 - top 10 after pit stops (still under caution): Kenseth, Johnson, Hamlin, Kahne, Harvick, Biffle, Logano, Bowyer, Gordon, Dale Jr.

Kasey Kahne and Kevin Harvick side by side coming into the turn on pit road!

To go back to Kurt Busch's issue earlier - his team though it had a flat right side tire.

Teams are on pit road during this caution.

CAUTION! Landon Cassill slams the wall to bring out the yellow.

Lap 233: After that pit stop, Kurt Busch drops down to 28th, 1 lap down. He was two laps down, but just passed Kasey Kahne to get his lap back.

Radio chatter on Lap 229: "We can go at least 50 more laps" No. 2 team to Brad Keselowski

Lap 224: Kurt Busch dives onto pit road.

Lap 218: Matt Kenseth now moves to the outside of Kyle Busch to battle for the spot. He is alongside Busch. Now Kenseth goes three wide with Jimmie Johnson and David Stremme to take the spot.

Rea White says on Lap 215: There are a lot of drivers among the leaders who would really like to see the caution flag come out right now. Kyle Busch to get tires, Denny Hamlin to clear up concerns that he might have a loose wheel.

Lap 212: Kasey Kahne, meanwhile, has a huge lead for a short track. He's 2.288 seconds ahead of Denny Hamlin a this point.

Lap 211: Kurt Busch completes the pass and is now up to third.

Lap 208: The Busch Brothers are two- and three-wide battling for third place!

Lap 208: Kasey Kahne is passing Danica Patrick, trying to put her a second lap down.

Lap 203: NASCAR on FOX shows a graphic that shows JGR's dominance - that group has led 173 of 203 laps today.

Radio chatter on Lap 199: Denny Hamlin tells his crew "I think it's the right rear." (He reported earlier that he had a loose wheel)

Lap 198: Dale Earnhardt Jr. moves up to p14.

Lap 194: Scott Speed to the garage.

Krista Voda reports that Denny Hamlin is saying he has a loose tire - just as Kasey Kahne passed him for the lead.

Lap 191: Denny Hamlin is working his way through traffic, and suddenly has Kasey Kahne looming large behind him once more.

Lap 187: David Reutimann kissed the wall, but he avoided creating an accident as he slowed and reached pit road safely.

Rea White says on Lap 185: One can only imagine how frustrated Tony Stewart must be. He's 41st, 28 laps down - and well off the pace.

Lap 179: Race leader Denny Hamlin has already hit lapped traffic again.

Radio chatter on Lap 178: Brad Keselowski: "I ain't happy, but we're better"

Rea White notes on Lap 176: Brad Keselowski is making a comeback as well. He's 14th and fast, riding on the bumper of Paul Menard.

Lap 172: Jeff Gordon is suddenly feeling the heat from most recent winner Matt Kenseth. Kenseth is battling Gordon for sixth.

Lap 171: Out front, Denny Hamlin is pulling away again. But it won't be long until he's in traffic again.

Lap 169: WOW! Kurt Busch with a great move to pass Jimmie Johnson and takes over P4 - right behind brother Kyle.

Lap 167: Kahne finally gets past Kyle Busch and takes over P2.

Lap 165: Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne and wheel-to-wheel fighting for P2!

Lap 160: Bobby Labonte is slowing and his car is smoking - he's on pit road and straight into the garage.

Lap 160: Hamlin got a GREAT jump on the restart and is out front by himself.

RESTART - Lap 159: Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch lead.

Top 10 after the pit stops: Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Kahne, Johnson, Gordon, Kurt Busch, Menard, Truex, Kenseth and McMurray.

We are seeing strategy in play here - remember that Kyle Busch took four tires the last round of pit stops while everybody took two, so now we saw the opposite.

WOW! Denny Hamlin just edges teammate Kyle Busch (who only took two tires this pit stop) to get the lead out of the pits.

Lap 154: Pit road is open and we have A LOT of activity as the leaders come in for service.

CAUTION! David Gilliland slams the wall in Turn 2 to bring out the yellow.

Lap 150: Kasey Kahne goes three wide trying to lap traffic! A bold move for the race leader

Lap 149: Kurt Busch dropping back a few spots as he is pinned on the low side and drivers pass him up high.

Lap 147: Kahne completes the pass and takes the lead! Jeff Gordon pulls up rught on the rear of Kasey Kahne and tries to complete the pass on Hamlin as well.

Lap 146: It's Hamlin and Kahne side-by-side for the lead!

Lap 141: Kasey Kahne to the outside of and around Kurt Busch for second. But Kurt Busch is not going away.

Lap 136: Joe Gibbs Racing was dominant earlier, but now it's the Hendrick Motorsports camp showing its muscles - Kasey Kahne is third, Jeff Gordon fourth, Jimmie Johnson fifth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. is ninth.

Lap 134: Kurt Busch is closing the gap on Denny Hamlin as Hamlin still fights to get by Carrl Edwards.

Lap 131: Kyle Busch has fought his way up to 14th. Expect him to be back among the leaders, too, before this afternoon is done.

Lap 129: Danny Hamlin is stil working on Carl Edwards, who really needs a caution to get out of this.

Lap 125: And just like Gordon did to him earlier, Kahne passes Gordon as he was fighting with Kurt Busch for P2.

Lap 124: Denny Hamlin is now working on Carl Edwards, who had gotten away briefly. Jeff Gordon is back on the rear of Kurt Busch.

Lap 115: There are still 35 cars on the lead lap, but Hamlin is probably getting ready to start changing that fast. He is coming up on Carl Edwards, who is struggling on the lead lap after getting damage in the incident with Jeff Burton.

Lap 110: Drivers have settled into a mostly single-file run around the track. Spotters are constantly giving updates, though, on where competitors are - and where on the track they are running.

Rea White says on Lap 105: Kyle Busch is SLOWLY trying to make back up lost ground. He's 16th now.

Lap 99: By fighting Kurt Busch for second, Kasey Kahne opened the door for Gordon to pass him.

Lap 97: Jeff Gordon is back in the mix. He's fourth and riding on teammate Kasey Kahne's bumper. Kahne would like to get past Kurt Busch but he cannot make a pass. He's riding in his tracks, seemingly waiting to make his move.

Lap 91: Nice save! Greg Biffle was in the middle of Danica Patrick and David Stremme and looked like he was going to slide, but held on.

Lap 89: Remember when Kyle Busch got a speeding penalty on pit road and had to start 32nd a little while ago? He is up to 19th and fighting for position with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. right now.

Lap 86: Fellow rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is running 18th. He dropped to the rear at the start with an engine change.

Lap 82: Danica Patrick has recovered nicely from her opening run. She earned the free pass and is now running 22nd.

Lap 78: Kurt Busch jumps up to second!

RESTART - Lap 78: Hamlin leads.

Rea White says: Earnhardt Ganassi was having a good day, then things just went awry really quickly. Montoya is firing his car back up. Team tells Montoya the car sounds good to go. They push him out to pit road.

Lap 75: Montoya's team is changing out fuel cell on 42.

Your top 10 at the restart: Hamlin, Kahne, Truex, Kurt Busch, Johnson, Gordon, Menard, Harvick, Logano and Kenseth.

Lap 73: Montoya goes behind the wall.

Lap 72: A handful of cars hit pit road during this caution period.

CAUTION! Jamie McMurray spins out on the fronstretch! He was running third before his spin. He simply got too high on the track and slipped around.

Lap 68: Kurt Busch, a five-time Bristol winner, is up to fifth.

Lap 65: Jamie McMurray is now third on the track, with Martin Truex Jr. looking inside him, but dropping back into line

Lap 64: Denny Hamlin storms past Kasey Kahne and claims the lead back for the Joe Gibbs Racing contingent.

RESTART - Lap 63: Kasey Kahne leads, Denny Hamlin second. Former leader Kyle Busch is 32nd.

Lap 60: To compound Kyle Busch's problems - he was caught speeding on pit road and will restart from tail end of the field.

Lap 56: A slew of cars pit, including the race leaders. Kyle Busch goes in, takes four tires and comes out - but he'll be further back in the field as a lot of cars took only two tires, including Kasey Kahne who is now your race leader.

Lap 55: The caution is good news for Danica Patrick, who gets the lucky dog free pass and will be back on the lead lap.

CAUTION! Jeff Burton got hit hard and slams the wall. He was hit by Carl Edwards and slammed the wall. Burton radios to his crew that his foot got stuck on the throttle.

Rea White says on Lap 53: With Kyle Busch coming, the mid-pack cars seem to be fighting hard for position early in the race.

Lap 50: Joey Logano passes Brad Keselowski and is into the top 10 now.

Lap 44: Danica Patrick just went a lap down.

Why is Tony Stewart struggling? Watch his early spin.

Rea White says on Lap 39: Cars are almost single file all over the track as Kyle Busch picks his way through the traffic, Kasey Kahne on his bumper and watching for an opening.

Lap 37: Second-place Kasey Kahne has caught up to Kyle Busch and is right behind him now as Busch fights with lap-down traffic.

Lap 34: Remember how we said the JGR cars were fast? Kyle Busch leads right now, Denny Hamlin is fourth, Matt Kenseth is fifth.

Lap 31: Kyle Busch puts Tony Stewart down another lap.

Lap 29: Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick side by side.

Lap 25: Michael McDowell, who spun earlier, is well off the pace and is pitting again.

Lap 23: Tony Stewart is back on track

Lap 16: Juan Pablo Montoya and Kurt Busch fighting for 15th

RESTART - Lap 15: Kyle Busch leads. Brian Vickers was second, but he was slow to start, allowing Kasey Kahne to take back second place.

FOX TV replays show that Stewart made contact with Martin Truex Jr. to cause the tire issue that caused his spin.

Radio chatter on Lap 12: Drivers are checking with their crew chiefs trying to assess what happened

Lap 10: Although he didn't make contact with Stewart, Michael McDowell spun out as cars avoided the No. 14 during that last caution too. But McDowell's car appears to be OK.

Lap 10: Tony Stewart's team is frantically working on his car during the caution.

CAUTION! Tony Stewart spins out and hits the wall! Smoke cut a left front tire but was caught on the outside line and couldn't get onto pit road - he kept making laps but spun out.

Lap 7: The JGR cars were the three fastest in practice on Saturday - Kyle Busch leads now, Denny Hamlin battling Brian Vickers for second and Matt Kenseth is in 9th.

Lap 3: How quick is Kyle Busch? After 3 laps, hsi lead is 0.722 seconds - it takes about 15.4 seconds to complete a lap at Bristol.

Lap 1: Kyle Busch stormed out to the lead - he has already pulled away!

GREEN FLAG! Kyle Busch leads the field at the start of today's 500-lap race!

Ricky Stenhouse and David Ragan dropping to the rear at the start of the race for engine changes.

1:10 p.m. ET: Cars are on track for the warm-up laps -- strap in and get ready!

But don't forget, the defending winner of this race is defending Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski - the only driver to earn a top-five finish in every Cup race this year.

Kyle Busch is already off to a hot start this weekend. Can it continue? He was fastest in both Saturday practices, won the pole position and won the Nationwide Series race.

Prerace radio chatter: Danica is checking pit lane commitment procedure with her crew

What will be the winning strategy today? NASCAR RaceDay's Matt Clark gets the scoop.

1:04 p.m. ET: "Drivers, start your engines!"

Rea White says: There's a green river, drivers have danced through intros, a variety of music has been showcased - it's an unusual race cay already, and the cars aren't even on the track yet. Must be Bristol!

Rea White says: It's overcast but dry here at Bristol Motor Speedway right now.

1:01 p.m. ET: We are minutes away from the race and Jeff Gordon's car has just cleared inspection and is being rushed out to the grid by his crew. Ryan Newman's car rolled through during the national anthem

1 p.m. ET: Prerace festivities have just concluded - it's time to go racin'! Make sure to tune in to FOX now and stick around with us to follow along.

12:26 p.m. ET: Polesitter Kyle Busch comes out to "Rowdy Busch" and says, "I may not be no Darrell Waltrip but I sure as heck don't need no introduction." Busch has 10 wins at Bristol Motor Speedway after winning the Nationwide race on Saturday,

12:35 p.m. ET: Denny Hamlin, carrying his daughter, rolls out to the tune of "Big Poppa"

12:35 p.m ET: Brian Vickers, taking over the No. 55, comes out to "Love and Memories"

12:33 p.m. ET: Sliced Bread Joey Logano comes out to "Peanut Butter and Jelly"

12:32 p.m. ET: Jeff Gordon comes out dancing with his daughter.

12:32 p.m. ET: There you go - Matt Kenseth comes out to the "Star Wars" theme.

12:31 p.m. ET: Jimmie Johnson: "Gimme three steps" - and introduces his daughter first.

12:30 p.m. ET: Juan Pablo Montoya intro song: "For those about to rock"

Prerace intros: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: "Yes guys, she's taken."

12:25 p.m ET: Dale Earnhardt Jr. comes out to "Hard Charger" sung by ... Dale Earnhardt.

12:22 p.m. ET: Drivers are being introduced with music they have chosen. Quite a wide array of tunes.

12:15 p.m. ET: NASCAR officials are busy. The race start is nearing, but cars still lined up going through inspection.

12 p.m. ET: The sun is shining here at Bristol Motor Speedway. Rain showers still in the forecast, but not until later tonight now.

Welcome to the FOXSports.com coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Race coverage begins on FOX at 12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, with the green flag shortly after 1 p.m. ET.

Kyle Busch will start the race from the pole position. Check out the full lineup here.

Busch not only won the pole position for the race, but he's been fast all weekend at Bristol. Check out the practice updates here.

Missed anything from Bristol this weekend? Here are some items to help you catch up:

• Check out the best images from the race weekend.
• Kyle Busch is off to hot start, holding off Kyle Larson for Nationwide Series win.
• Watch highlights.
• Charlie Daniels is excited to perform for NASCAR fans at Bristol. His take
• Think you know Bristol? Get a history lesson on the track here.
• What is defending champion Brad Keselowski's role in the sport? He weighs in.

Rain fell early at the track, but by 9 a.m. ET the jet dryers had been out for some time and fans were starting to file into their seats. According to weather.com, the area should be clear until at least 3 p.m. ET, when there is a 30 percent chance of a "few showers."