WHO WILL WIN Bass Pro Shops Night Race

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Kyle Busch

Hard to pick against him. Busch, has had three Bristol wins in his last six starts there including a win just last spring. He had a fast car back in May too. Also, Busch finished runner-up in July’s All-Star race as well.

Joey Logano

A two-time victor this year, Logano has been stout at Bristol lately too. He has seven top 10s in his last 10 Bristol starts and if not for late race contact with Chase Elliott, he would have won or at the very least finished second this past May.

Chase Elliott

He nearly won this past May but won the All-Star race instead in July. Elliott, was also fifth in this race last year and third in 2018

Longs shot to bet

Kurt Busch

He won this race in 2018. Busch, was ninth last fall and seventh in the spring back in May too. He has six Bristol wins to his credit

Ryan Blaney

He may only have one top five finish in his career at Bristol, but he has led 100 or more laps in three of his last five. He led 60 laps back in May before crashing while leading. The speed is there and the odds are great for that this weekend.

Alex Bowman

He’s starting to heat up again. Bowman, has four top 10 finishes in the last five races on the season. He also has two top eight finishes in his last five Bristol starts as well.

Jimmie Johnson

He finished third in the spring race and has shown a ton of speed at Bristol recently. Why not for these odds?

Clint Bowyer

This is his chance to end his winless drought. Bowyer, has eight top 10s in his late 10 Bristol starts and 11 in the last 14. He was seventh in both races a year ago and eighth and sixth respectively in 2018. He was also runner-up this past spring.

Matt DiBenedetto

He should have won the last night race out at Bristol. DiBenedetto, led a race-high 93 laps on that August night and would finish runner-up to Denny Hamlin. Now, he’s back with the Wood Brothers, a team that has actually fared well on the concrete oval.

Bass Pro Shops Night Race Preview

The final race of the opening round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs has come upon us. The highly anticipated cutoff race at the Bristol (Tenn) Motor Speedway should be met with fireworks on and off the track on Saturday night.

A cutoff race is spent paying more attention to the bottom part of the standings than the top. That’s because the top drivers know that they likely are advancing to the next round. The bottom? They need help.

Ryan Blaney, Matt DiBenedetto, Cole Custer and William Byron are all on the outside looking in right now.

Blaney, has had the most success on the half mile concrete oval in leading 100 or more laps in three of the last five starts there. But, he’s not won either. In fact, Blaney has one career top five finish at Bristol during the course of his career. He led 60 laps back on May 31 but crashed while leading.

DiBenedetto led 93 laps in this race last year but finished second. Custer, is a rookie while Almirola hasn’t had a top five at Bristol since 2014.

They’re trying to catch the Busch brothers who’ve won half of the last six Bristol races. Kurt has six wins overall on the high banked Tennessee oval. Kyle, is at his best on this track. He led over 100 laps back in the spring.

Austin Dillon finished sixth on May 31. Clint Bowyer was runner up in the same race to go along with a pair of seventh place runs last year with William Byron eighth in May himself.

Chase Elliott won the All-Star race there in July and had a win in the books after sweeping both stages in May. Brad Keselowski won that race in which Elliott and Joey Logano crashed while battling for the lead in the final laps.

Those stats say the playoffs for the second round are set, but this is Bristol and anything can happen.

Betting The Bristol (Tenn) Motor Speedway

Starting spot is key when you’re starting on the pole (3 winners in last 5, including 2 straight). If you’re not on the pole, you might as well start from outside of the top 10. Four of the last eight winners have come from Row 6 on back. Plus, Chevy hasn’t won in the last six points paying Bristol starts and only has two wins in their last 14 starts there too.

Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick have combined to win 14 races this season but despite Hamlin winning this race from the pole last year, they were 11-17 in May.

Hamlin, was leading before crashing with 11 to go, so while stats say maybe someone else will win, Hamlin hay have something else to stay about that. He does only have two top 10’s in his last five Bristol starts overall as well.

STAT TO WATCH

Pole winner has won the last two Bristol races including three of the last five overall. The funny thing is, over the last eight overall Bristol Cup races, the event has been won just four times from a top 10 starting spot, three from the pole, one from ninth.