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Ty Gibbs wins first Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway

  • Nick Bowden
  • Apr 12
  • 2 min read

TY Gibbs earns his first NASCAR Cup Series win at Bristol, April 2026 (Photo by Chris Graythen, Getty Images)


Bristol, TN - Ryan Blaney led the NASCAR Cup Series field to green Sunday afternoon for the Food City 500. It was Blaney’s 13th career pole and second pole at Bristol Motor Speedway. 


The first caution of the day came on lap 63, Brad Keselowski spun after contact from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Kyle Larson would go on to lead the rest of Stage 1 and secure his first stage win of the season.


Stage 2 did not start well for Christopher Bell. Bell received a speeding penalty on pit road after getting up to second place. On lap 145, Bell hit the outside wall, resulting in a broken toe link and taking him out of contention. 


On lap 160, several drivers were involved in a wreck including Alex Bowman, who was making his first start since leaving his race car at COTA due to vertigo. Shane van Gisbergen and John Hunter Nemechek were also involved in the wreck. Bowman would suffer damage to the nose of his No. 48 Chevrolet.


Kyle Larson was able to hold off a surging Ryan Blaney and sweep the first two stages. Blaney had difficulty trying to get by the No. 7 of Daniel Suarez, who was trying to stay on the lead lap. 



After Riley Herbst brought out the final caution, sending the race into overtime, Ty Gibbs was able to hold off Ryan Blaney to capture his first NASCAR Cup Series win. Ryan Blaney, who was on four fresh tires on the final restart, could not get past the No. 54, who stayed out and did not take tires—a gamble that paid off for Crew Chief Tyler Allen and Ty Gibbs.


Ryan Blaney had this to say after the race, after battling pit road troubles all afternoon:


”Before the last yellow, I was side-by-side for the lead and I slipped into 3 and it cost us a shot to get it. Disappointed we didn’t win, but overall proud of the effort.”


Top 10 at Bristol:


  1. Ty Gibbs

  2. Ryan Blaney 

  3. Kyle Larson

  4. Tyler Reddick

  5. Chase Briscoe 

  6. Todd Gilliland

  7. Joey Logano

  8. Ryan Preece

  9. Denny Hamlin

  10. Carson Hocevar



NEXT UP: The NASCAR Cup Series will head to Kansas Motor Speedway for the AdventHealth 400 next Sunday at 2PM. 


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