Travel Tips: Bristol Motor Speedway – Aug. 20-23, 2014

credit: NASCAR Media

“Thunder Valley,” aka Bristol Motor Speedway, is the quintessential Saturday night short track.  NASCAR’s top three series along with the Whelen Modified Tour return there this week, Wednesday through Saturday, Aug. 20-23, for four days of racing action.

On Wednesday, head to Knoxville, TN for Food City Race Night at the Expo Center from 4-8:30 p.m. ET. Find out more about the event here. On Thursday, Food City Race Night takes place on State St. from 1-9 p.m. ET. State St. runs from Bristol, Tenn. to Bristol, Va. There will be plenty of music, show cars, vendors, driver appearances, food sampling and more – get all the details here. Tickets for both events are $5 in advance, $6 at the gate.

Thursday’s event is followed by the Ford Transporter Parade, beginning at 9 p.m. ET at Bristol Mall and ending at the speedway. Find out more about the parade here.

Key on-track times:

Wednesday, Aug. 20 –

• Whelen Modified Tour practice – 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. ET
• Camping World Truck Series practice – 10 a.m. and noon ET
• Modified qualifying – 2:45 p.m. ET
• Truck Series qualifying – 4:40 p.m. ET
• Whelen Modified Tour Bush Beans 150 – 6:15 p.m. ET
• Camping World Truck Series UNOH 200 – 8:30 p.m. ET

Thursday, Aug. 21 –

• Nationwide Series practice – 1:30 and 3 p.m. ET

Friday, Aug. 22 –

• Sprint Cup Series practice – 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. ET
• Nationwide Series qualifying – 3:40 p.m. ET
• Sprint Cup Series qualifying – 5:40 p.m. ET
• Nationwide Series Food City 300 – 7:30 p.m. ET

Saturday, Aug. 23 –

• Pre-race concert with Wynonna Judd – 5:45 p.m. ET
• Sprint Cup Series IRWIN Tools Night Race – 7:30 p.m. ET

Find a full weekend schedule, including driver appearances and special events, here.

Get tickets and more information about this week’s races at http://www.bristolmotorspeedway.com/.