NASCAR at Bristol preview: Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick among big names facing uphill battle

It is a group whose members include Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and even defending Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. Yet it is a group none of them want to be associated with, as they are all starting well in the rear of the field in the Food City 500 Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway (1 p.m. ET, Fox).

The inclusion of Hamlin (starting 25th) and Truex (26th) is a byproduct of them merely not qualifying well, with both surprisingly not advancing past the first round in Friday’s three-round session. Harvick never turned a lap after a suspension failure caused him to crash during practice, damaging his primary car to the point Stewart-Haas Racing had little recourse but to switch to a backup. Per a rule NASCAR instituted this season, such a move meant Harvick would lineup at the rear of the field regardless of where he qualified.

Neither Busch nor Johnson had issues in practice and each qualified respectably; Busch second, just 0.002 seconds behind younger brother Kyle Busch’s pole-winning speed, with Johnson 17th overall.

But Johnson’s team discovered a cut left front tire on the No. 48 Chevrolet post-qualifying, and putting on a new tire required a forfeiture of his starting position. Kurt Busch’s troubles were more pronounced, as he crashed in the closing minutes of final practice Saturday. Like his teammate Harvick, SHR had to rollout a backup and out the window went Busch’s spot on the front row.

All five drivers face a stiff uphill battle Sunday. Immediately upon the green flag dropping, they will be nearly a half lap behind the leader and mired in traffic, especially problematic on a tightly confined track where things happen in the blink of an eye and it is easy to be swept into an incident not of your own doing.

The upside is Bristol’s penchant for full-contact racing lends itself to a rash of cautions and ample opportunity to move forward -- provided, of course, you can avoid being the reason for one of those cautions. It is not impossible to win from a disadvantageous starting spot. Harvick won from the 24th position at the Tennessee track in August 2016; three times Kyle Busch has gone to victory lane despite starting 18th or worse.

“There should be no problem with that,” Kurt Busch said of whether he can get to the front. “You just can’t go a lap down early.”

Easier said than done. Made all the more daunting by NASCAR and BMS officials continued efforts to restore the physicality that was once Bristol’s trademark, but eroded in the last decade following a 2007 repave and reconfiguration that was met with much derision by drivers.

To dissuade drivers from running the top lane that is now the preferred groove, PJ1 traction compound is applied to the lower portion of the track just above the apron. The adhesive provides additional grip compelling drivers to fight tooth-and-nail to stay on the bottom, essentially forcing them to use their front bumpers to nudge a competitor aside and complete a pass.

The result is a powder keg NASCAR hopes manifests in frustration, hurt feelings and possibly theatrics like Tony Stewart chucking his helmet at Matt Kenseth’s car, or the numerous instances where Dale Earnhardt shoved his way to the lead.

Reviews are mixed whether the PJ1 is working as intended. The lower groove has proven faster during practice and qualifying, but over the course of a 500-lap race drivers gradually began migrating toward the wall due to the rubber build up negating the effectiveness of the compound.

“They lay the [PJ1] down and for short periods of time you can go really fast, [but] it’s not feasible to withstand that for 500 laps,” said David Ragan, who starts 23rd. “I think we’ve got to set ourselves up for the last 250 laps of the race and you’ve got to stay on the lead lap the first half of the race. We can’t chase some of the gimmicks that go on with the racetrack and the surface and the grip level and tune our car into that.

“The second half of the race, we’ll all be around the top and you’ll be able to make some passes on the bottom, but I don’t think the race will be won on the bottom.”