Carson Brown will roll off from the pole tonight at Bristol Motor Speedway, but a lingering rain threat looms over the ARCA Menards Series Bush’s Best 200.
With the ARCA East championship on the line and a Craftsman Truck Series race still to run Thursday night, any storm delay would squeeze an already crowded schedule at the .533-mile track.
The Bush’s Best 200 airs on FS1 at 5:30 p.m. ET, with the UNOH 250 Truck Series race following at 8 p.m. ET on the same channel, according to a complete rundown of Thursday’s broadcast schedule.
BristolWeather Outlook For Saturday’s Cup Race
No official delay had been declared as green-flag time approached, though the sky over East Tennessee remains unsettled. Thursday’s daytime forecast calls for partly cloudy skies, a high near 89 degrees and a 30% chance of thunderstorms, according to Thursday’s official race weather forecast. The threat eases after dark, with a low around 67 degrees expected during the Bush’s Best 200 and the later UNOH 250.
Friday brings the weekend’s steepest rain risk, with a 50% chance of storms forecast during O’Reilly Series and Cup Series qualifying sessions. Saturday looks calmer. Daytime highs should reach the mid-80s with only a stray shower possible, while nighttime conditions clear to a low near 65 degrees by the time NASCAR’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race takes the green flag at 7:30 p.m. ET, according to NASCAR.com‘s official race weekend schedule listing. The 500-lap Cup Series showcase airs on USA Network and HBO Max.
For now, Bristol’s forecast points toward a workable window for both Thursday’s ARCA finale and Saturday’s marquee Cup race, even as scattered storms keep the weekend from a clean bill of weather.
Carson Brown Leads Bristol’s ARCA Favorites
Brown turned the fastest lap of Thursday’s session, according to ARCA Racing‘s official qualifying results posted Thursday, claiming his sixth pole of the season ahead of Thomas Annunziata and Tristan McKee.
Max Reaves and McKee enter locked in a one-point battle for the ARCA East title, according to Frontstretch reporter Mark Kristl’s in-depth preview published Wednesday night. Reaves drives the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota that has swept every Bristol ARCA race since 2020, though he has never raced the track in person.
McKee, however, ran here a year ago and finished second. “I feel like I’ll get up to speed there pretty quickly and be able to dial in the car instead of working on getting used to the track,” McKee said, as quoted by Frontstretch. Reigning ARCA East champion Isaac Kitzmiller trails the leaders by 17 points but remains within striking distance entering the finale.
Jake Bollman, Thomas Annunziata’s Nitro Motorsports teammate, arrives locked in his own 13-point fight for the main-series title and qualified fourth despite never having seen Bristol before Thursday. Gavan Boschele rounded out the top five, with Max Reaves qualifying seventh and Isaac Kitzmiller eighth. Truck Series regular Kaden Honeycutt, running double duty Thursday, starts ninth after winning earlier this season at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Is NASCAR ARCA Menards Series Race at Bristol Delayed Today? When Will it Start?