Bristol Motor Speedway at night….an annual tradition in NASCAR as the summer swing comes to a close. Always a drama-producing show (for lack of a better term), cages were rattled and moustaches were almost punched off faces like Mr. Potato Head. The 2026 race weekend was no slouch by any means.

The ARCA Menards Series ran their second to last race of the season, while the ARCA Menards Series East crowned a champion in Tristan McKee. In the Craftsman Truck Series, Layne Riggs had an incredibly bad end to his night, and has a minimal point lead. In O’Reilly, Sheldon Creed continued to have a strong Chase run by winning for the second time in the Chase schedule.

Annnd…..the Cup Series, Joey Logano scored yet another Chase win while Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar decided to have their own WWE match post-race. (you can see a cheeky little clip of the fight here) I will let you draw your own opinions here without interjecting…there’s been enough fights for one weekend. The cause of the fight is included in a short here.

Next weekend? The national ARCA Menards Series, Craftsman Trucks, and Cup Series follow the yellow brick road to Kansas.

 

BUSH’S BEST 200

Winner: Carson Brown

Pole: Carson Brown

#15 JADE AVEDISIAN

A young Toyota prospect quietly made her mark in the ARCA Menards Series event in Bristol. As she continues her development path, Jade Avedisian has been one of the more consistent new comers in ARCA this season, proving she has the speed. Bristol, if anything, showcased how much Avedisian has learned over the course of the 2026 campaign. In this case, it’s not the finish that’s the story…but how the finish unfolded in caution-marred event.

THE STORY

Making her sixth ARCA Menards Series start of 2026, Avedisian was behind the wheel of the #15 Nitro Motorsports Toyota for this event. Carrying the purple and white Yahoo! colors, the #15 Toyota qualified decently in 11th (in a field of 35 cars). While Carson Brown dominated and led all 200 laps (surprise surprise), Avedisian took a car that was lacking speed a bit, kept it clean, and brought home a 7th-place finish.

Photo Credit: Jade Avedisian Instagram page

While Avedisian has admitted the car was not the fastest, she still can stand tall on this performance. Finishing 7th in an under performing car, she was still one of only nine cars to finish on the lead lap. That if anything exemplifies how much she had learned and absorbed during the course of the season. She has also now finished top ten in five of her six starts in the ARCA national series this season.

UNOH 250 presented by OHIO LOGISTICS

Winner: Jake Garcia

Pole: Layne Riggs

#98 JAKE GARCIA

Finally! After debuting full-time in trucks in 2023, and coming oh so close so many times…Jake Garcia finally made it to victory lane. Debuting with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in a limited schedule in 2022, and racing full-time in 2025 for MHR, Garcia took a leap of faith and moved over to the Ford camp and ThorSport Racing in 2024.

Spending ’24-’25 in ThorSport’s #13 Ford, Garcia moved to teammate Ty Majeski’s #98 team this season (Majeski moved to the ThorSport #88 Ford). In that time, Garcia has made 94 starts, with six top five finishes and 28 top ten finishes. This stat got a major boost in Bristol.

THE STORY

While the Front Row Motorsports’ teams dominated stages one and two, Garcia’s #98 Ford had the Jaws theme playing in both stages, finishing 4th in both. As stage 3 began, it looked to be an easy Layne Riggs win…until it all unraveled into a mess that started with a down tire for Riggs. As bad luck and continued to plague Riggs (he ultimately finished 32nd, some seven laps down), the #98 was laying in wait.

Photo Credit: Jayski and Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

Sniffing the lead mid-race (leading 37 laps mid-race), Garcia inherited the eventual point from Riggs on lap 230. Never looking back, Garcia held a charging Bayley Currey to score his first career CTS win. Garcia’s previous best this season was a pair of 6th-place finishes in the first Bristol race, and Richmond.

FOOD CITY 300

Winner: Sheldon Creed

Pole: Jesse Love

#00 SHELDON CREED

Haas Factory Team and driver Sheldon Creed make yet another appearance this week…and rightfully so. From a driver that has spent years in NOAP Series competition chasing that first win, to now a driver who suddenly sits atop the point standings in a matter of months on the back of  three wins….what a season it has suddenly become for Creed.

THE STORY

Creed and his #00 Chevrolet team have suddenly come to life as the chase begins. Spending the majority of 2026 knocking on the door of victory lane, Creed finally broke through early in the season in Atlanta. Weeks went by and the HFT team kept Creed in the hunt throughout the summer…then the chase began. Another win came in Darlington came just two weeks ago. Then came Bristol…and the 00 sat in victory lane again.

Photo Credit: Jayski and Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

Creed showed speed to start the weekend immediately, qualifying second. Staying in the top 10 in both stages one and two. Assuming the lead on a late caution with a handful of laps to go, the #00 Chevrolet stayed up front, and led the final three laps on the way to win number three in 2026. The bigger story though, lies within the fact that Creed also now sits atop the points. Bad luck from JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier (who has dominated the season), now sits 11 points out of first. Creed now stands a good chance of claiming the chase if these good runs continue.

BASS PRO SHOPS NIGHT RACE

Winner: Joey Logano

Pole: Kyle Larson

#54 TY GIBBS

Typically a driver for Joe Gibbs Racing like Ty Gibbs would not be considered for this series, but Ty Gibbs’ run in the Bristol night race deserves major recognition. Not only for nearly winning the event (thank you Carson Hocevar again), but the beautiful paint scheme paying homage to the late Kyle Busch. The wrap on the 54, not only calling back to a former Busch JGR scheme and sporting former sponsor M&M’s, highlighted the numerous moments of Busch’s career.

THE STORY

The special scheme apparently lit a fire under Gibbs for this race, and the JGR driver had a very Kyle Busch-esque race that saw him lose what looked to be a win in the closing laps. Starting 13th, Gibbs quickly moved through the field and was 5th by the end of stage one. As the stages and race continued on, Gibbs found himself leading for the second time late in the going, leading 57 laps late.

A full image of the JGR #54 scheme run at Bristol. Photo Credit: Jayski and Joe Gibbs Racing

The several restarts late allowed Carson Hocevar to have a chance at wrecking anyone near him, and the two made contact in the closing laps, ending the chance at a win for both. Gibbs would recover to finish 5th, having led 120 of 500 laps total.