Haas Factory Team
Bristol Motor Speedway
NASCAR Cup Series Notes
Race Information
● Event: Food City 500 (Round 8 of 36)
● Date/Time: Sunday, April 12 | 3 p.m. ET
● TV/Radio: FS1 / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (channel 90)
● Location: Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee
● Layout: .533-mile concrete oval (corner banking ranging from 24 to 28°)
● Laps/Miles: 500 laps/266.5 miles
Notes of Interest
● The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Bristol, Tennessee, this weekend for the 128th time, and the first of two race weekends this season.
● Nicknamed “The Last Great Colosseum”, Bristol Motor Speedway has been a fixture on the NASCAR schedule since it first opened in 1961. Built on a former dairy farm in northeast Tennessee, the original track was a half-mile oval with 22 degrees of banking and seating for just over 18,000 fans.
● Bristol Motor Speedway features Colossus TV, the world’s largest outdoor, center-hung, 4-side video display, comprised of four massive high-resolution screens and a half-million watt, 485-speaker sound system. Each of Colossus’ four custom-built screens is approximately 30 feet tall by 63 feet wide. In total, the system hosts nearly 54 million LEDs and 18 million pixels. At 6mm pitch, the pixels are grouped tighter than the large-scale outdoor displays in Times Square. The result: a glimmering visual experience capable of offering 281 trillion different color combinations, and one that’s 23 times brighter and 25 percent sharper than the typical home HD TV.
● The first NASCAR race at Bristol was held on July 30, 1961, and won by Jack Smith with relief from Johnny Allen.
● Each team gets 11 sets of Goodyear Racing Eagle tires for the race (10 new race sets plus one set transferred from qualifying). Each team will also receive four wet-weather sets of tires, should conditions warrant.
By the Numbers
● Custer makes his seventh Cup Series start at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend, where he has a 26.0 average finish. In the 2025 spring race, he finished 29th.
● The Ladera Ranch, Calif., native has started inside the top-15 twice in his career at Bristol, and started a career-best P11 in the fall of 2022. His average starting position is 21.7.
● Custer finished top 10 in six of eight career O’Reilly Series starts at Bristol, including a victory in 2024 after starting P2. He also has three career poles in the O’Reilly Series at ‘The World’s Fastest Half-Mile’.
No. 41 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Driver and Crew Chief
Driver: Cole Custer
Hometown: Ladera Ranch, California
Crew Chief: Aaron Kramer
Hometown: Wellsville, New York