2012 Irwin Tools Night Race

2012 Irwin Tools Night Race

Race details
Race 24 of 36 in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
The 2012 Irwin Tools Night Race program cover, featuring a moonshine bottle.
Date	August 25, 2012 (2012-August-25)
Location	Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.533 mi (0.858 km)
Distance	500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.89 km)
Weather	Temperatures as low as 57.2 °F (14.0 °C); wind speeds up to 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)[1]
Pole position
Driver	Casey Mears	Germain Racing
Time	15.701 (P1)
Most laps led
Driver	Joey Logano	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	139
Winner
No. 11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ABC
Announcers	Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree

The 2012 Irwin Tools Night Race was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on August 25, 2012 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Contested over 500 laps, it was the twenty-fourth race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing won the race, his first at Bristol and third of the 2012 season. Jimmie Johnson finished second and Jeff Gordon was third. Nearly 150,000 people attended this 189-minute racing event.^[2]

This race was broadcast on ABC (through ESPN on ABC), but was not available in all areas. A handful of ABC affiliates aired NFL preseason football games, with most of the affected affiliates preempting the race altogether, although at least one joined the race in progress in its final hour. Because of this, WOTV in Battle Creek, Michigan was the only West Michigan ABC affiliate airing the race, as WZZM-TV in Grand Rapids, Michigan was simulcasting WXYZ-TV in Southfield, Michigan's Detroit Lions coverage and, unlike WXYZ-TV, chose not to join the race in progress, choosing to air syndicated programming instead.