Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race on the dirt track of Bristol Motor Speedway appeared to be down to Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe.  The two drivers reached the final lap of a twice-delayed Food City Dirt Race separated by just a split-second. They were nearly three seconds ahead of Kyle Busch, who was running in third. At the final turn, it looked as if Briscoe finally had the opening he needed to pass Reddick, and he took his shot.

But instead of passing Reddick, he spun and collected Reddick in the process. Reddick recovered and tried to pick up enough speed to get to the start-finish line, but Busch raced past him in the No. 18 car to pick up his first win of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.

“We got one, doesn’t matter how you get them, it’s all about getting them,” Busch said after the race. “I don’t know why we just couldn’t fire off after the rain. Every time it rained, both times, it just would not fire and took me about 20 laps to get going. Overall, just real pumped to be back. Real pumped to get a win. This one means a lot. I can win on any surface here in Bristol. Bring it on, baby.”

Reddick, who is still looking for his first career Cup Series win, led a career-best 99 laps out of 250, leading the field from the start of the 100-lap third stage until he was passed at the end.

He told Fox after the race that he felt as if he didn’t do everything right near the end and that he should have been able to pull away and ensure Briscoe could attempt the pass.

“I shouldn’t have let him get that close. He ran me back down, worked really hard to do that and, I mean, you’re racing on dirt, going for the move on the final corner. It’s everything that as a driver you hope to battle for in this situation,” Reddick said. “I should have done a better job and pulled away so he wasn’t in range to try and make that move.”

Briscoe went over to Reddick during the live interview and apologized for the crash.

“I was going to spin out either way so I was like, ‘Oh, please don’t hit me with the right rear. Please don’t hit me with the right rear,’ and I saw it, but I’m sorry,” Briscoe said, per the broadcast.

At the end of the second stage, it appeared that, because of NASCAR’s unique rules for the dirt-track race, Briscoe was in position to win instead of Busch. The race was delayed more than an hour because of rain. Briscoe had just won the second stage and opted to make a red-flag pit stop. Busch decided to stay on the track, which made him the new leader — but only if the race went back to green.

Because the end of the stage was followed by a non-competitive caution, the scoring didn’t reset until the race went green again.

Busch restarted with the lead on Lap 151, but he quickly fell back as Reddick gained the edge. Even after another rain delay with 28 laps remaining — this one lasting just over 20 minutes — Reddick was able to lead the field up until the end.

The race on the rainy surface in Bristol, Tenn., brought out 13 caution flags.