NASCAR At Bristol 2012: Denny Hamlin Dances To Night Race Win

Denny Hamlin saved his best for the last stretch of Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, and his persistence paid off with the No. 11 team’s third win of the season in 24 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

“It’s Bristol -- I don’t know what to say, man,” Hamlin said as he crossed the finish line. “I’m so damn happy.”

For a moment, it looked like Danica Patrick was going to pull a Tony Stewart. Stewart may have been a bit unhappy after a wreck and decided to throw his helmet at Matt Kenseth’s car. It was a pretty amazing moment, and Danica looked to be lining up Regan Smith for a similar toss.

Instead, though, we got the Danica Finger Wag. It was pretty great, too.

As per tradition, each NASCAR driver chose his own song to play during pre-race introductions prior to today’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway (via @dustinlong’s Twitter account)

Here were their selections:

Kyle Busch had his first at-track media session since before his last-lap incident with Brad Keselowski at Watkins Glen, and it was a mix of surly and funny responses.

Here are some of Busch’s most memorable quips from Friday’s group interview at Bristol Motor Speedway:

Oh, that hilariously sarcastic Smoke.

Tony Stewart was wrapping up a brief media session on Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway when a reporter asked the driver if there was a specific point in Saturday’s race when everyone would know whether or not Bristol’s track changes worked.

NASCAR returns to Bristol this weekend, and it appears Mother Nature will be playing nice for a change. The weather looks nice and mostly dry for tonight’s Nationwide Series race and Saturday night’s Sprint Cup Series race.

There is just a small chance of an isolated storm later this afternoon and Saturday afternoon, but I don’t see this as a concern. Overall, the forecast is mostly dry, mostly sunny with temperatures in the mid-to-upper 80s.