Over the past few weeks, the likes of Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, and Denny Hamlin have hugged the NASCAR headlines. Without a doubt, those same drivers will be the top attraction for bettors and fans coming into another weekend of the NASCAR Cup Series in Bristol, but we have three sleepers below that could pull the rug underneath the favorites.
It’s a bit iffy to categorize Busch as a sleeper, but that’s partly because he is being greatly overshadowed by his younger and considerably better brother, Kyle Busch. However, Kurt can hold his own when it comes to dinner table bragging rights at the Busch household as far as Bristol is concerned. After all, he has four Food City 500 wins, although the latest came in 2006. He doesn’t have a winning drought in Bristol, however, as he just won there last year, when he topped the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. At press, Kurt has +2500 odds to win the 2019 Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series Championship. Those odds will look a lot better should he pull off a win in Tennessee.
Erik Jones (Toyota)
While Jones only has four races under his belt in Bristol, he has shown enough promise at the track for people to reasonably believe that he has a good chance to net a win this weekend. Out of those four races, Jones has finished inside the top five twice. He was fifth last year at the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race and finished second in the same race in 2017. His average finish of 12.50 at the speedway is the second best among all recent drivers there, per Driveraverages.com. Jones is currently priced at +2200 to take the 2019 Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series Championship at the end of the season.
Austin Dillon (Chevrolet Motorsport)
Dillon is currently sitting on the 17th place of the NASCAR Cup standings, which also means a win in Bristol could move him closer to getting inside the NASCAR Cup playoffs cut-off. Dillon has yet to win a race this year, but he’s been gaining some momentum of late, having finished top 14 or better in each of his last three races. In 10 career races in Bristol, Dillon has landed inside the top 20 seven times and inside the top five once, when he finished fourth in the 2016 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. Dillon has +7500 odds to pull off a small miracle and win the 2019 Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series Championship.
