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The NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Bristol Motor Speedway next for the 2025 Food City 500 on April 13. While the track is known for chaos and contact, it has also been the unlikely site of first-time Cup Series victories that changed careers.
Bristol quickly became a fan-favorite for its stadium-style layout and steep banking. Over the years, it has become a staple on the calendar, hosting two NASCAR Cup races annually. The half-mile concrete track in Tennessee is prone to wrecks and pileups but has also served as a launchpad for some of NASCAR’s most iconic names.
Here are five drivers who have carved their names in history after winning their maiden Cup Series race at Thunder Valley.
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#5 Kurt Busch: (March 24, 2002)
In his second full-time season with Roush Racing, Kurt Busch finally found his maiden victory in the 2002 Food City 500. Driving the #97 Ford, Busch started the race in the 14th row and was yet to find a win after 47 NASCAR Cup Series starts.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. led for a race high 181 laps and dominated initially but Busch capitalized on a contact between Jeff Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. to take the lead and held off Jimmy Spencer to get the first of his six victories at the bullring.
#4 Elliott Sadler: (March 25, 2001)
Elliott Sadler pulled off one of the greatest upsets in the history of Bristol Motor Speedway in the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup spring race. He held off racers like John Andretti, Jeff Gordon, and Kevin Harvick on old tires after a bold pit call.
He led 70 of the 500 laps in the Food City 500 with a bruised hand to give Wood Brothers their first win since 1993. This remains the only win for Sadler on the track, which helped cement his status as the underdog that season.
#3 Ernie Irvan: (March 25, 1990)
Ernie Irvan won the Busch 500 in 1990 after leading the last ninety laps under the lights. He saw off a challenge from Dale Earnhardt to get his maiden career win. This would be the only win of the season for the Morgan-McClure Motorsports #4 Kodak Film Chevrolet racer.
He started the race in the third row and led a total of 120 laps. The win helped him finish within the top ten for the first time in the Cup. He would go on to win 15 more NASCAR Cup races and briefly carry the legacy of Davey Allison at Robert Yates Racing before his 13-year-long career was cut short by injury. Still, that breakthrough moment in 1990 remains one of Bristol’s most defining underdog stories.
#2 Rusty Wallace: (April 6, 1986)
Rusty Wallace has nine wins at the Bristol Motor Speedway, the second most in the track's history, in addition to 13 top-five finishes. He has also led a total of 3,744 laps on the track, but the first win of his Cup career is perhaps the most significant.
Driving the No. 27 Alugard Pontiac for Blue Max Racing, Wallace capitalized on mechanical woes from the front-runners and kept his car clean through a wreck-filled race. It was just his 72nd Cup start, and he managed to outlast Dale Earnhardt, leading a race high 174 laps to get the win.
#1 Dale Earnhardt: (April 1, 1979)
Dale Earnhardt’s legendary career took shape after his first NASCAR Cup win in his Bristol track debut. In just his 16th career start, the Intimidator drove the No. 2 Osterlund Chevrolet to the front of the pack, holding off legends like Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip to score his maiden Cup victory.
Dale Earnhardt would win eight more times at Bristol and become one of the most feared short-track racers in the sport. However, it all began at a worn-out, half-mile coliseum in East Tennessee in 1979 for the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion.
