2010 Irwin Tools Night Race

2010 Irwin Tools Night Race

Race details[1][2][3][4]
Race 24 of 36 in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
The 2010 Irwin Tools Night Race program cover, celebrating the 100th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held at Bristol Motor Speedway. Artwork made by Sam Bass. "100!"
Date	August 21, 2010 (2010-08-21)
Location	Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.533 mi (0.858 km)
Distance	500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.89 km)
Weather	Isolated thunderstorms with a high around 86; wind out of the SW at 6 mph. Chance of precipitation 30%.[5]
Average speed	99.071 miles per hour (159.439 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports
Time	15.540
Most laps led
Driver	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	282
Winner
No. 18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network	American Broadcasting Company
Announcers	Marty Reid, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree

The 2010 Irwin Tools Night Race was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on August 21, 2010 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Contested over 500 laps, it was the twenty-fourth race of the 2010 Sprint Cup Series season. Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing won the race, while David Reutimann finished second, and Jamie McMurray clinched third.

Pole position driver Jimmie Johnson maintained his lead on the first lap to begin the race, as Carl Edwards, who started in the second position on the grid, remained behind him. Afterward, Kyle Busch became the leader, and would eventually lead to the race high of 282 laps. On lap 163, early race leader Johnson had collided with Juan Pablo Montoya; when he returned to the track he was seventy-seven laps behind the leader. David Reutimann led after the final pit stops, ahead of Kyle Busch and Jamie McMurray. With seventy-one laps remaining, Kyle Busch passed Reutimann, holding the lead through to the race win.

There were seven cautions and seventeen lead changes among nine different drivers throughout the course of the race. It was Kyle Busch's third win of the season and the nineteenth of his career. The result moved him up five spots to third in the Drivers' Championship, 351 points behind of leader Kevin Harvick and fifty-seven ahead of Carl Edwards. Chevrolet maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, twenty-seven ahead of Toyota, sixty-three ahead of Ford and seventy-four ahead of Dodge with twelve races remaining in the season. A total of 155,000 people attended the race, while 5.842 million watched it on television.

With the win, Kyle Busch completed a historic Triple Threat sweep, winning in all three of the top NASCAR national series on the same weekend, winning the O'Reilly Auto Parts 200 in the Camping World Truck Series, the Food City 250 in the Nationwide Series and finishing with this win in the Sprint Cup Series.