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The Bristol night race is one of the most anticipated races of the season. If you win the Bristol night race then you have accomplished something that you’ll be remembered for years to come. The race was scheduled to be a night race but after mother nature showed her hand, the race was rescheduled for Sunday afternoon. Although the sun was shining, it was still considered the Bristol night race.

Kevin Harvick had one win to his record at “The Last Great Coliseum” but that came 11 years ago in 2005. Since then, Harvick has come close but couldn’t seal the deal. On Sunday, Harvick dominated the latter half of the race leading 128 laps en route to his second career victory at Bristol Motor Speedway. This was also his 33rd career win in NASCAR’s top series.

It’s one thing to win at Bristol Motor Speedway, but to win it for your team and for your boss, who is making his last Bristol start, makes it even more special. After the race had concluded, a great moment occurred on the parade lap. Race winner, Kevin Harvick, and soon to be retired, Tony Stewart, celebrated Stewart Haas Racing’s victory at Bristol by performing donuts together on the front-stretch in front of all of the fans that waited out the rain. A truly unique moment for race fans and a moment Smoke will cherish for the rest of his life.

Below are highlights and turn by turn action from the Bass Pro Shops NRA 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Race recapped by Last Lap Insider.

Lap 1/500 – Denny Hamlin gets a dynamite start passing his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards for the lead. Edwards started on the pole.

Lap 4/500 – Chase Elliott started 6th but has already made his way up to the 2nd position.

Lap 10/500 – Chase Elliott takes the lead away from Hamlin. Kyle Busch has made his way up to 2nd.

Lap 20/500 – The top 10: 24, 18, 11, 21, 19, 20, 78, 88, 2, 22.

Lap 27/500 – Kyle Busch leads followed by Elliott and Blaney. Trevor Bayne was attempting to pass Matt Dibenedetto but ended up making contact with Dibenedetto’s rear quarter panel. Bayne has a little bit of front end damage.

Lap 32/500 – The first caution of the race has come out for precipitation. Clint Bowyer gets the lucky dog. After a few caution laps NASCAR decided to bring the field on to pit lane and wait out the rain.

Race Postponed – NASCAR decided to postpone the race until Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET, due to the amount of rain that was being dumped on Bristol Motor Speedway Sunday night. Although the race was scheduled for 1 p.m., the rain was still falling in Bristol Tennessee. Fans, drivers and teams had to wait an additional three and a half hours before the rain would finally come to a halt. After almost a 20 hour rain delay, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bass Pro Shops NRA 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway could finally resume.

Lap 50/500 – The red flag has ended and the race gets back underway, under yellow flag conditions. Drivers are going around the track while the jet dryers and air titans dry off pit lane.

Lap 61/500 – On the restart, Kyle Busch takes off as Chase Elliott loses numerous positions.

Lap 75/500 – The top 5: 18, 21, 78, 42, 24.

Lap 86/500 – Competition caution has been waved bringing out the second caution of the race. David Ragan is the free pass recipient. Kyle Busch wins the race of pit road with Ryan Newman on his bumper. Ryan Blaney came in for his pit stop running 2nd but had a slow stop causing him to come off pit road 11th. Kyle Larson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. get snagged for speeding. They will have to start at the rear of the field.

Lap 93/500 – Greg Biffle and Brian Scott stayed out on this recent caution so they are the new leaders. After a few laps, Ryan Newman has passed Brian Scott for the lead.

Lap 103/500 – Kyle Busch flies by Ryan Newman on the high side for the lead.

Lap 114/500 – The top 15: 18, 88, 31, 11, 19, 24, 78, 2, 20, 4, 41, 21, 5, 44, 16.
Kyle Larson is in the 26th position after having to serve a penalty for speeding on pit road.

Lap 158/500 – Regan Smith brings out the third caution of the race by scraping the wall exiting Turn 2. Carl Edwards beats his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate off pit road for the lead. Kyle Busch comes out 2nd.

Lap 165/500 – On the high side, Carl Edwards leads on the restart with Jeff Gordon taking 2nd away from Rowdy.

Lap 170/500 – Gordon suddenly loses control scraping the wall with his back end. Fortunately, the 4-time champion was able to keep his foot on the throttle and not spin out. Gordon was running 3rd but is now back to 16th. Edwards still leads.

Lap 186/500 – After starting 24th, Kevin Harvick has worked his way up to the 4th spot. Edwards, Ky. Busch and Hamlin continue to battle for the lead.

Lap 193/500 – Rowdy Busch takes the lead from Carl Edwards.
Deeper in the field, Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson battle for position as Kahne slides up making slight contact with the wall.

Lap 209/500 – Joey Logano has radioed to his team that his power steering is failing. As of now, Logano runs 20th.

Lap 227/500 – Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick are all battling for the top spot while working through thick lapped traffic.

Lap 245/500 – Top 15: 18, 19, 4, 42, 78, 41, 21, 1, 11, 24, 48, 31, 34, 22, 2.
Jeff Gordon runs 18th and Tony Stewart 34th, 4 laps down. Stewart had a tire going down and had to make an unscheduled green-flag pit stop.

Lap 255/500 – The fourth caution of the race is brought out for debris on the racetrack.
The debris seems to have come from Ryan Newman’s car. Newman had just made an unscheduled green-flag pit stop as he blew a tire a few laps prior. Pretty significant damage done to the #31 Chevrolet.

Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Kyle Larson are the first drivers off pit lane.

Lap 265/500 – Green flag is back on the air. Kyle Busch continues to lead with Kevin Harvick passing Carl Edwards for 2nd. Kyle Larson restarted 3rd but has fallen to 7th. That slow groove is definitely not the place to be.

Lap 272/500 – Tony Stewart is in the garage replacing the right rear wheel assembly. Stewart is 38th.

Lap 295/500 – Kevin Harvick has taken the lead for the first time today. Harvick has won at Bristol only one time in his career but that was 11 years ago in 2005.

Lap 296/500 – Kyle Larson gets tapped from behind by the #41 of Kurt Busch sending the #42 into a slide. Joey Logano got into Kurt Busch’s back bumper during this chain reaction.

Lap 321/500 – Kyle Busch, on the high side, is able to pull away on the restart. But shortly after the restart, Busch is complaining that a rear shock has broke on his Toyota. It doesn’t seem to be hurting him as he is still the leader.

Lap 331/500 – Denny Hamlin has to make an unscheduled green-flag pit stop for a loose wheel. After the pit stop Denny Hamlin is 25th, 2 laps down. Also, Brad Keselowski has radioed to his crew chief that his track bar isn’t working correctly.

Lap 348/500 – Kevin Harvick has retaken the lead away from Kyle Busch. It seems like something has definitely gone wrong with the M&M’s Toyota Camry as Kyle Busch is slowly fading back. Busch had this to say on the radio, “Oh yeah, something’s broke”.
Although he is 29 laps down in 38th place, Tony Stewart has made his way back on track.

Lap 358/500 – As mentioned earlier, Kyle Busch had been complaining about something breaking in his car for quite some time, then as he entered Turn 3 his car started to smoke, turning into a spin. As the #18 came back across the racetrack, Justin Allgaier slams into the #18’s front end. The #46 of Allgaier then shot back up the racetrack in the path of Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson. The #18 and #46 head to the garage as the #78 and #42 stay in the race even though they have significant damage. Allgaier is filling in for Michael Annett who is out due to an illness.

Lap 368/500 – During yellow-flag pit stops, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson’s teams do the best that they can in order to fix their damaged race cars.

Lap 373/500 – The seventh caution of the race comes out for a massive accident. While battling for the lead, Kurt Busch got wicked loose on the bottom groove coming off Turn 2 causing Joey Logano to get into his back bumper sending the #41 spinning across the track. Brad Keselowski, the innocent victim, had nowhere to go as his path was being blocked by Kurt Busch’s Chevrolet. A huge chain reaction occurs while drivers speed into the accident. Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Matt Kenseth, Austin Dillon, Paul Menard and Brian Scott are all tangled up in the mess.

Lap 393/500 – On the restart, Joey Logano pulls away from Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson. Underdog, Chris Buecsher, is running 5th.

97 laps to go – Kevin Harvick passes Joey Logano for the lead.

88 laps to go – The top 15: 4, 22, 48, 34, 17, 3, 1, 47, 19, 88, 6, 43, 11, 16, 5.

85 laps to go – Clint Bowyer has found his way into the wall and will bring out the eighth caution of the race. Brian Scott will get the free pass. There are just 18 cars on the lead lap. Denny Hamlin wins the race off pit road as he took two tires while others took four. Denny Hamlin is the leader.

69 laps to go – Kevin Harvick has retaken the lead away from Denny Hamlin. Harvick is the car to beat.

65 laps to go – The ninth caution has come out for a little rain shower that has popped up over the track. Matt Dibenedetto gets the free pass.

Rain Delay – After a 20-minute rain delay, NASCAR has given the word to start engines.

44 laps to go – Kevin Harvick is able to hold off Austin Dillon and Denny Hamlin for the lead.

30 laps to go – The top 10: 4, 17, 11, 3, 34, 1, 48, 19, 47, 22.

Final Lap – No contest, Kevin Harvick pulled away on the last restart and never even had to look in his rear view mirror. Kevin Harvick crosses the finish line and wins the Bass Pro Shops NRA 500 at the world’s fastest half mile, Bristol Motor Speedway. This is Harvick’s second win of the 2016 season and his second career victory at Bristol.

Full Bass Pro Shops NRA 500 at Bristol Results:

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Austin Dillon
5. Chris Buescher
6. Carl Edwards – Pole Sitter
7. Jimmie Johnson
8. Jamie McMurray
9. AJ Allmendinger
10. Joey Logano
11. Jeff Gordon
12. Trevor Bayne
13. Kasey Kahne
14. Aric Almirola
15. Chase Elliott
16. Greg Biffle
17. Matt Dibenedetto
18. Brian Scott
19. Michael Mcdowell
20. Landon Cassill
21. David Ragan
22. Danica Patrick
23. Martin Truex Jr.
24. Kyle Larson
25. Casey Mears
26. Regan Smith
27. Reed Sorenson
28. Ryan Newman
29. Jeffrey Earnhardt
30. Tony Stewart
31. Clint Bowyer
32. Paul Menard – Crash, Retired
33. Brad Keselowski – Crash, Retired
34. Cole Whitt
35. Ryan Blaney – Crash, Retired
36. Josh Wise
37. Matt Kenseth – Crash, Retired
38. Kurt Busch – Crash, Retired
39. Kyle Busch – Crash, Retired
40. Justin Allgaier – Crash, Retired

The next race for the Sprint Cup Series will be at the Michigan International Speedway Sunday August 28, at 2 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

A bit of news for next weekend’s race at MIS, if Dale Earnhardt Jr. is not medically cleared to race this coming weekend at Michigan due to concussion like symptoms, Hendrick Motorsports will place Alex Bowman in the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet. Jeff Gordon has filled in for the recovering Earnhardt the past four races but a previous commitment will force him to not race at Michigan this coming Sunday. Alex Bowman filled in for Earnhardt, July 17, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Bowman finished 26th.

For more Sprint Cup updates check out @lastlapinsider on Instagram.

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