Food City 500

Event Name	Food City 500
Location	Bristol, Tennessee
Capacity	146,000
Owner	Speedway Motorsports
Operator	Speedway Motorsports
Opened	1961
Major events	NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

Food City switched back to Asphalt in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series, after giving the drivers three years of Dirt Racing experience. Food City will be the first race held at the Bristol Motor Speedway. The 2025 Food City 500 will be the second race in April in the 2025 Cup Series season. The Food City 500 race has always been affected due to some rain. Bristol has been a track famous for its duels and amazing achievements. It was at this track, Cale Yarborough led all 500 laps of a race for the first time in NASCAR history.

The Food City 500 is one of the only races on the NASCAR calendar, which has not seen the dominating masterclass of Richard Petty. Richard Petty has won almost all NASCAR races five times throughout his career but he was only able to gather two victories at the Bristol Speedway. The Food City 500 races have produced exciting spectacle with three winners in three years at the dirt track.

Food City 500's history

The first Food City 500 race was held in 1961, and won by Joe Weatherly of Bud Moore Engineering. The race was held on asphalt for the majority of its years till 1992. In 1993 Bristol Motor Speedway changed its track surface to concrete. The Food CIty 500 was the first venue to host the 5th Generation NASCAR premiership race cars. The Food City 500 event has always witnessed interruptions due to natural influences like rain and snow.

In 2008, Jeff Byrd, the manager of Bristol Motor Speedway requested a change in schedule to avoid the interruptions. Byrd died in October 2010, but it wasn’t until 2015 that his request was accepted. The 2011 Food City 500 was renamed as Jeff Byrd 500 in his honor. In 2024, Denny Hamlin won the Food City 500 race for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Food City 500 2025 schedule

The Food City 500 2025 NASCAR Cup Series will be held on Sunday, April 13th, as per NASCAR's official website. The race will start at 3:00 PM Eastern Time. There will be a practice and qualifying Session for setting the grid of Sunday’s race. The race will be held in three stages, as per the regular NASCAR format. The initial stages of the race will be of 125 laps each whereas the final stage will be of 250 laps.

Food City 500 2025 venue

The Food City 500 race will be held at the Bristol Motor Speedway located in Bristol, Tennessee, United States. The track will revert to its original concrete layout after three years of dirt racing. Bristol is one of the shortest NASCAR tracks with a total track length of 0.533 miles. The race will cover a total distance of 266.5 miles. The banking at Bristol Motor Speedway is 36 degrees during turns. The Backstretch and Frontstretch have a banking of 4-8 degrees and 5-9 degrees respectively. The lap record at Bristol is held by Kyle Larson who set a time of 0:14.945 in 2018 Food City 500.

Drivers with the most wins in the Food City 500

Rusty Wallace leads the wins tally in the Food City 500 race. He has six wins to his name in the famed event, as of February 2025. Kyle Busch, who has secured five victories in the Food City 500 is the driver with the most wins in the 2025 NASCAR grid at the event. Hendrick Motorsports has the most victories at the Food City 500 race with eight wins to their name as of the 2024 season.

Where to watch the Food City 500 2025?

According to NASCAR's official website, the broadcast rights of Food City 500 2024 are handed over to FS1 network and radio coverage will be handled by PRN and SiriusXM radio.

Food City 500's start times in different time zones