A red flag stopped NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series Chase opener at Bristol Motor Speedway on Lap 171 Thursday night, with 79 laps left after oil coated the track.
The Chase format leaves little room for lost track position, and a prolonged cleanup threatens to scramble fuel strategy for the 36 trucks still racing toward the postseason’s next cut.
Caden Kvapil, running his first laps in the Truck Series, ruptured an oil line aboard his No. 76 Chevrolet, spraying fluid across the frontstretch and forcing the stoppage.
The trucks finally got the green at about 9:45 p.m. with 69 laps remaining.
Caden Kvapil’s Truck Sparks Oil Spill
Thursday’s UNOH 250 had already logged yellows for Stage 1 at Lap 66, Stage 2 at Lap 131, and an accident involving Jackson MacEnko’s No. 22, according to FOX Sports‘s live race tracker.
The rookie’s mess arrived just laps after another caution for Nick Leitz spinning with roughly 82 to go, a yellow that barely cleared before oil sent trucks sliding through Kvapil’s path, according to an earlier update from NACSAR insider Bob Pockrass.
“Red flag to clean up the oil from 76 truck (Caden Kvapil),” Pockrass said, according to a live post on X from FOX Sports insider Bob Pockrass.
Video from trackside showed oil still clinging to the rear bumper of the No. 76 as Kvapil pulled off the racing surface, according to a fan account from the grandstands.
Pockrass followed up, noting much of the field was sitting on the slick patch, forcing NASCAR to keep trucks parked under red while crews worked to cover the surface, he said in a follow-up post.
The Kaulig Racing team account reported its Nos. 12, 25 and 14 trucks planned to pit during the red, while the status of its 16 and 10 remained undecided, according to the team’s own social account.
CR7 Motorsports reported driver Grant Enfinger running ninth when the red flew, adding that his No. 9 Chevrolet had felt like the strongest truck of the night since the team’s final green-flag stop, according to a team update posted on social media.
Bristol Truck Series Chase Awaits Restart Time
Before the stoppage, Jake Garcia led Kaden Honeycutt, with Layne Riggs, Stewart Friesen and Bayley Currey rounding out the top five on the leaderboard.
Riggs had owned the opening two stages, winning both and leading 135 consecutive laps before Garcia took over up front on Lap 136.
Weather had already canceled qualifying earlier Thursday, handing Riggs the pole through NASCAR’s metric-based formula, according to Bristol race coverage from Jayski.
NASCAR needs the racing line clear of parked trucks before safety crews can spread absorbent across Bristol’s high-banked concrete, a process that can stretch several minutes depending on how much fluid soaked into the surface.
FS1 and FOX One are expected to carry the restart live once NASCAR calls the field back to pit road for the one-to-go signal, with MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio also picking up the broadcast.
Kvapil’s NASCAR debut is now defined by the oil spill rather than a finishing position, with the incident shaping the finish of the season’s opening Chase race for the 35 other teams still racing for points at Bristol.
Why is NASCAR Truck Series Race at Bristol Delayed Today? When Will it Re-Start?