NASCAR playoff race at Bristol: How to watch, starting lineup and weather forecast

The first cutoff race of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs has arrived as the grid heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for another night of short-track racing this Saturday. The Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race is this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on NBCSN.

The field of 16 playoff teams will be reduced to 12 after the 267-mile race based on wins and points. So far, Kevin Harvick (win at Darlington), Brad Keselowski (win at Richmond) and Denny Hamlin (points) are locked into the Round of 12, which starts next week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Almost half of the playoff drivers are on the points bubble with only three points separating Clint Bowyer, who’s in the final spot to advance, and William Byron, the first driver to miss the next round based on points. In addition to Byron, Cole Custer (-8), Matt DiBenedetto (-25) and Ryan Blaney (-27) are sitting below the cutoff, while Aric Almirola and Kurt Busch are tied seven points above the cut line in the top-12.

Bristol could change any bubble team’s fate, however, and Blaney and DiBenedetto are seeking that turnaround. Both drivers have had a rough start to the postseason at Darlington and Richmond, and said they’re planning to race aggressively in an attempt to get enough points or a win to make it through.

Blaney said his team has brought a fast car to Bristol in the past, but he’s not feeling added pressure now because drivers are constantly trying to prove themselves on the track.

“It’s an opportunity to go out there and perform and show that your group and yourself that you belong here and you belong to move on in the round,” Blaney said. “So I always see opportunity here and just (in) proving how strong a group this is. A little bit of adversity never hurts anybody.”

But Blaney said he knows his season’s on the line and that he and the No. 12 team have to “step it up,” and as Penske teammate Keselowski put it after Richmond, “just go win the damn thing.”

“Or come close to it,” Blaney said.

DiBenedetto similarly said he’s looking ahead to the opportunity at Bristol rather than dwelling on the past frustrations. The No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing driver won the All-Star Open at Bristol to advance to the All-Star Race, where he finished in 13th. Blaney finished sixth in that race.

DiBenedetto, who is nearing the deadline at the end of the month for his team to determine whether its picking up his contract option for next year, said he wants to remain at Wood Brothers Racing next season and is optimistic about building his future there. He said he feels like the team has “barely scratched the surface” in terms of its progress this year.

“I’m glad we made the playoffs and all that, but it’s never enough,” DiBenedetto said.

Keselowski won the last points race at Bristol in May, while Chase Elliott won the All-Star Race at the track at the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile.”

Saturday’s Cup race will be 500 laps of beating and banging with stage breaks on laps 125, 250 and 500. The race will be preceded by an Xfinity race on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. on NBCSN. A Truck Series race was held Thursday night, which was won by 17-year-old Sam Mayer.

FANS AT BRISTOL

Fans will be allowed at the speedway at reduced capacity for both Friday’s Xfinity race and Saturday’s Cup race. Bristol Motor Speedway president Jerry Caldwell said that the track expects slightly less than 30,000 people to attend the Cup Series race and that tickets have sold out for the event. He said that up to 20,000 fans are permitted to attend the Xfinity race, and as of Wednesday, tickets were not sold out for the race.

In July, Bristol Motor Speedway hosted the most fans at a sporting event during the COVID-19 era with around 20,000 spectators in attendance. COVID-19 cases increased in Tennessee’s Sullivan County, where the track is located, in the weeks following the race, but health officials said they did not find a link between the NASCAR event and a local increase in positive coronavirus cases.

“We as a sport, and as a company at Speedway Motorsports, have been willing to step forward to (host fans) in a very safe and responsible way,” Caldwell said. “Back in June when we found out we were going to host the All-Star Race, we knew that was such a tremendous opportunity to do that, but it came with tremendous responsibility.”

Caldwell said the speedway will undergo a deep cleaning between events, including sanitizing all high touch-point areas in addition to implementing the protocols that have become standard at all tracks allowing fans during the pandemic. Those protocols include mandating masks, checking guest and employee temperatures before entering the speedway and banning coolers on-site. A full list of protocols can be found on the speedway website.

The Xfinity race, the Food City 300, is the final regular-season race before the Round of 12 starts for the series at Las Vegas next week, while the Truck Series enters its first playoff race in the Round of 10 at Bristol.

WEATHER AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Even as Hurricane Sally makes its way through the Southeast, chances of rain at the track are low Friday and Saturday. Although light rain hit the track shortly before Thursday’s Truck Series race, the forecast as of Friday morning clears to partly cloudy skies with a six percent chance of rain during the Xfinity race, according to AccuWeather.com. That drops to a three percent chance of rain on Saturday for the Cup Series race.

HOW TO WATCH NASCAR RACES AT BRISTOL

• Cup race: Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race

• Distance: 267 miles, 500 laps (stages end on lap 125, 250, 500). The track is 0.5 miles.

• When: Saturday 7:30 p.m.

• TV: NBCSN (broadcast starts at 7 p.m.)

• Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

• Xfinity race: Friday 7 p.m. on NBCSN (broadcast starts at 6:30 p.m.)

• Trucks race: Thursday 7:30 p.m. on FS1 (broadcast starts at 7 p.m.)

NASCAR CUP RACE AT BRISTOL STARTING LINEUP

* indicates a playoff driver