# 2011 Jeff Byrd 500

The 2011 Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on March 20, 2011, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Contested over 500 laps, it was the fourth race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The race was won by Kyle Busch for the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Carl Edwards finished second, and Jimmie Johnson clinched third.
There were ten cautions and 17 lead changes among eight different drivers throughout the race. It was Busch's first win of the 2011 season, and the 20th of his career.

## Report
### Background

As a tribute to the late president of the Speedway who died in 2010, longtime race title sponsor K-VA-T Food City, which celebrated the 20th year of race sponsorship in 2011 (as of 2013, the longest continuous sponsorship deal in NASCAR for a race), named the race in his memory.
The track, Bristol Motor Speedway, is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races, the others being Richmond International Raceway, Dover International Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, and Phoenix International Raceway. The standard track at Bristol Motor Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is 0.533 miles (0.858 km) long. The track's turns are banked from twenty-four to thirty degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked from six to ten degrees. The back stretch also has banking from six to ten degrees.
Before the race, Tony Stewart was leading the Drivers' Championship with 113 points, tied with Kyle Busch in second. Carl Edwards and Juan Pablo Montoya followed in third and fourth with 106 points, three ahead of Ryan Newman and ten ahead of Paul Menard in fifth and sixth. Martin Truex Jr. in seventh had 95, the same number of points as Denny Hamlin in eighth. They were one point ahead of A. J. Allmendinger in ninth, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. was tenth with 91. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Ford was leading with 21 points, three ahead of Toyota in second. Chevrolet was placed in third with 16 points, while Dodge followed with 11. Jimmie Johnson was the race's defending winner from 2010.

### Practice and qualifying

Three practice sessions were held before the race; the first on Friday, which lasted 90 minutes. The second and third were both on Saturday afternoon, and lasted 45 minutes each. Edwards was quickest with a time of 14.912 seconds in the first session, 0.076 seconds faster than Johnson. Greg Biffle was just off Johnson's pace, followed by Kasey Kahne, Menard, and David Ragan. Kyle Busch was seventh, still within a second of Edwards' time.
Forty-four cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could qualify for the race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Edwards clinched the 9th pole position of his career, with a time of 14.989 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Biffle. Regan Smith qualified third, Menard took fourth, and Ragan started fifth. Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Truex, Mark Martin and Kahne rounded out the top ten. The driver that failed to qualify for the race was Ken Schrader. Once the qualifying session concluded, Edwards stated, "I'm enjoying this. I'm having fun. I'm hoping it lasts, and I'm going to keep driving the way I'm driving until we win a championship, or this car won't go as fast."
In the second practice session, Stewart was fastest with a time of 15.364 seconds, more than six hundredths of a second quicker than second-placed Reutimann. Martin took third place, ahead of Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch and Jeff Burton. In the third and final practice, Martin was quickest with a time of 15.472 seconds. Brian Vickers followed in second, ahead of Hamlin and Joey Logano. Stewart, who was first in the second practice, was fifth quickest, with a time of 15.570 seconds. Montoya, Gordon, Truex, Menard, and Kurt Busch rounded out the first ten positions.

### Race

The race, the fourth of the season, began at 1:00 p.m. EDT and was televised live in the United States on Fox. The conditions on the grid were dry before the race, the air temperature at 60 °F (16 °C); mostly cloudy skies were expected. Mike Rife, reverend of the Vansant Church of Christ, began pre-race ceremonies with the invocation. Actor and country music singer Billy Ray Cyrus performed the national anthem, while Claudia Byrd, Christian Byrd and Belton Caldwell gave the command for drivers to start their engines.

## Results
### Qualifying

| No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed | Grid |
| 99 | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 14.989 | 128.014 | 1 |
| 16 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 15.035 | 127.622 | 2 |
| 78 | Regan Smith | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 15.040 | 127.580 | 3 |
| 27 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 15.045 | 127.537 | 4 |
| 6 | David Ragan | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 15.055 | 127.453 | 5 |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 15.059 | 127.419 | 6 |
| 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 15.076 | 127.275 | 7 |
| 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 15.104 | 127.039 | 8 |
| 5 | Mark Martin | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 15.108 | 127.006 | 9 |
| 4 | Kasey Kahne | Red Bull Racing Team | Toyota | 15.115 | 126.947 | 10 |
| 17 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 15.121 | 126.896 | 11 |
| 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 15.123 | 126.880 | 12 |
| 14 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 15.129 | 126.829 | 13 |
| 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 15.131 | 126.812 | 14 |
| 29 | Kevin Harvick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 15.150 | 126.654 | 15 |
| 47 | Bobby Labonte | JTG Daugherty Racing | Toyota | 15.152 | 126.637 | 16 |
| 31 | Jeff Burton | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 15.171 | 126.478 | 17 |
| 20 | Joey Logano | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 15.171 | 126.478 | 18 |
| 21 | Trevor Bayne | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 15.174 | 126.453 | 19 |
| 22 | Kurt Busch | Penske Racing | Dodge | 15.181 | 126.395 | 20 |
| 39 | Ryan Newman | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 15.181 | 126.395 | 21 |
| 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 15.191 | 126.312 | 22 |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | Penske Racing | Dodge | 15.215 | 126.112 | 23 |
| 1 | Jamie McMurray | Earnhardt Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 15.216 | 126.104 | 24 |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 15.219 | 126.079 | 25 |
| 00 | David Reutimann | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 15.228 | 126.005 | 26 |
| 33 | Clint Bowyer | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 15.233 | 125.963 | 27 |
| 43 | A. J. Allmendinger | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 15.257 | 125.765 | 28 |
| 34 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 15.258 | 125.757 | 29 |
| 83 | Brian Vickers | Red Bull Racing Team | Toyota | 15.276 | 125.609 | 30 |
| 09 | Bill Elliott | Phoenix Racing | Chevrolet | 15.325 | 125.207 | 31 |
| 60 | Landon Cassill | Germain Racing | Toyota | 15.336 | 125.117 | 32 |
| 7 | Robby Gordon | Robby Gordon Motorsports | Toyota | 15.371 | 124.832 | 33 |
| 87 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Toyota | 15.414 | 124.484 | 34 |
| 38 | Travis Kvapil | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 15.436 | 124.307 | 35 |
| 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Earnhardt Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 15.437 | 124.299 | 36 |
| 36 | Dave Blaney | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 15.462 | 124.098 | 37 |
| 46 | J. J. Yeley | Whitney Motorsports | Chevrolet | 15.473 | 124.010 | 38 |
| 66 | Michael McDowell | HP Racing | Toyota | 15.475 | 123.993 | 39 |
| 92 | Dennis Setzer | K-Automotive Motorsports | Dodge | 15.565 | 123.277 | 40 |
| 37 | Tony Raines | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 15.616 | 15.616 | 41 |
| 71 | Andy Lally | TRG Motorsports | Chevrolet | 15.869 | 120.915 | 42 |
| 13 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Toyota | 15.610 | 122.921 | 43 |
| Failed to Qualify |||||||
| 32 | Ken Schrader | FAS Lane Racing | Ford | 15.660 | 122.529 | |
| Source: |||||||

### Race results

| Pos | Grid | Car | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps Run | Points |
| 1 | 12 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 500 | 47 |
| 2 | 1 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 500 | 43 |
| 3 | 6 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 500 | 43 |
| 4 | 11 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 500 | 40 |
| 5 | 4 | 27 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 500 | 40 |
| 6 | 15 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 500 | 39 |
| 7 | 20 | 22 | Kurt Busch | Penske Racing | Dodge | 500 | 37 |
| 8 | 2 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 500 | 36 |
| 9 | 10 | 4 | Kasey Kahne | Red Bull Racing Team | Toyota | 500 | 35 |
| 10 | 21 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 500 | 35 |
| 11 | 22 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 500 | 33 |
| 12 | 9 | 5 | Mark Martin | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 500 | 32 |
| 13 | 16 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | JTG Daugherty Racing | Toyota | 500 | 31 |
| 14 | 7 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 500 | 30 |
| 15 | 14 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 500 | 29 |
| 16 | 5 | 6 | David Ragan | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 500 | 28 |
| 17 | 8 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 500 | 28 |
| 18 | 23 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Penske Racing | Dodge | 500 | 26 |
| 19 | 13 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 500 | 25 |
| 20 | 17 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 498 | 24 |
| 21 | 24 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Earnhardt Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 498 | 23 |
| 22 | 3 | 78 | Regan Smith | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 498 | 22 |
| 23 | 18 | 20 | Joey Logano | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 497 | 21 |
| 24 | 36 | 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Earnhardt Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 497 | 20 |
| 25 | 37 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 497 | 19 |
| 26 | 35 | 38 | Travis Kvapil | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 496 | 0 |
| 27 | 29 | 34 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 495 | 18 |
| 28 | 41 | 37 | Tony Raines | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 494 | 16 |
| 29 | 31 | 09 | Bill Elliott | Phoenix Racing | Chevrolet | 493 | 15 |
| 30 | 26 | 00 | David Reutimann | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 493 | 14 |
| 31 | 28 | 43 | A. J. Allmendinger | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 493 | 13 |
| 32 | 42 | 71 | Andy Lally | TRG Motorsports | Ford | 491 | 12 |
| 33 | 25 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 488 | 11 |
| 34 | 19 | 21 | Trevor Bayne | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 482 | 0 |
| 35 | 27 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 456 | 9 |
| 36 | 30 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Red Bull Racing Team | Toyota | 441 | 8 |
| 37 | 43 | 13 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Toyota | 427 | 7 |
| 38 | 40 | 92 | Dennis Setzer | K-Automotive Motorsports | Chevrolet | 336 | 0 |
| 39 | 33 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Robby Gordon Motorsports | Dodge | 127 | 5 |
| 40 | 38 | 46 | J. J. Yeley | Whitney Motorsports | Ford | 97 | 4 |
| 41 | 34 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Toyota | 72 | 0 |
| 42 | 32 | 60 | Landon Cassill | Germain Racing | Toyota | 36 | 0 |
| 43 | 39 | 66 | Michael McDowell | HP Racing | Toyota | 35 | 1 |
| Source: ||||||||

## Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings :
| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Kurt Busch | 150 |
| 2 | Carl Edwards | 149 |
| 3 | Tony Stewart | 138 |
| 4 | Ryan Newman | 138 |
| 5 | Paul Menard | 136 |
Manufacturers' Championship standings :
| Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | Ford | 27 |
| 2 | Toyota | 25 |
| 3 | Chevrolet | 22 |
| 4 | Dodge | 14 |
* Note: Only the top five positions are included for the driver standings.