Food City 500 schedule & staring grid

Kyle Busch broke through and won the checkered flag last week in Texas to culminate an outstanding five-race run. He looks to continue his charge on Sunday at the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee, the eighth race of the 2018 NASCAR season.

Busch followed up finishes of second, second, third and second with a victory at the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 last Sunday at Fort Worth, his third win in the last six years at that race. He enters Sunday as the NASCAR points leader.

“Aside from his Texas win, Kyle Busch’s last five races were all spectacular, so you’ve got to believe the confidence is there,” said Fox analyst Larry McReynolds. “He celebrated that win, but I guarantee you that if he doesn’t win at Bristol, he will be miserable again. But that’s Kyle Busch, and that’s what we love about him.”

Busch is a three-time winner of the Food City 500, though he hasn’t won this race since 2011. He has the pole on Sunday, narrowly beating out his brother Kurt in qualifying on Friday.

This is the second of two races this season at Bristol Motor Speedway, with NASCAR returning for the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race on Aug. 18.

Jimmie Johnson is a two-time winner of the Food City 500 and the defending champion at Bristol, but his 2018 season has been disappointing to date. A ninth-place finish in Fontana was his only top-10 this year, and last week in Texas crashed with 155 laps and was unable to finish, ending up 35th.

Fox will televise the action from Bristol on Sunday beginning at 2 p.m. ET, with Mike Joy calling the race and joined by analysts Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon and Larry McReynolds. The race will be streamed online by Fox Sports Go.

Food City 500 info

Location: Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tenn.

Race coverage: 2 p.m. ET

Green flag: 2:13 p.m.

TV: Fox

Radio: SiriusXM channel 90, and Performance Racing Network

Online streaming: Fox Sports Go

NASCAR news & notes

Chase Elliott and his crew were sanctioned for violations during last week’s race in Texas:

NASCAR officials determined the car Elliott drove to an 11th-place during Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway did not have a rear window that remain rigid. It is the same infraction found on the car drove to victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last month.

In addition to NASCAR suspending Gustafson for upcoming races at Bristol Motor Speedway (Sunday) and Richmond Raceway (April 21), the crew chief was fined $50,000. Elliott also was docked 20 driver points, with Hendrick losing 20 owner points.

21-year-old Erik Jones finished fourth last week in Texas, with his teammate Kyle Busch getting the win. Jones has high hopes for Bristol:

“Hopefully one day we can get up there and challenge him for one of these wins,” Jones said. “Along the way you always learn something. The way (Busch) was driving the track was a little bit different than myself. Felt like I learned something for when I come back.”