Kyle Larson took home the win last week in Brooklyn, Michigan, but going back-to-back isn’t going to be easy with the level of competition he’s going to go up at the Bristol Motor Speedway this Saturday. Let’s examine below some of the drivers who are hunting for a late-season win in Bristol below.
Busch stretched his streak of top 10 finishes to three races last Sunday, when he claimed 10th place at the Pure Michigan 400. Even if he bombed out with a horrible performance in that race, Busch would likely remain as among the favorites to win in Bristol, given his fine resume at the tract. Busch has five wins in Bristol and 13 top 10’s in 24 total races there to go with an average finish of 15.13.
Also entering the event on short odds is Martin Truex Jr., who currently sits atop the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings with a 129-point advantage. He could actually lock the regular season title if he finished this weekend’s race with a lead no fewer than 121 points. A victory in Bristol has been elusive, though, for Truex, who has zero wins and just a pair of top five finishes in 23 career races there. Truex owns a 14.6 average finish in short tracks dating back to 2015.
Sleeper: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Stenhouse always almost always brings his A-game in Bristol, which is why you should be seriously considering laying money on the Roush Fenway Racing driver. Stenhouse was just 18th last week at the Michigan International Speedway and 20th in a previous race at the Pocono Raceway, but you can throw those performances out the window. Instead, you should be keying on Stenhouse’s 11 top five finishes in Bristol and his 10.44 career average finish there – second best among all drivers.
Long Shot: Austin Dillon
No. 3 of Team Richard Childress Racing has yet to cop a single win at Bristol Motor Speedway in seven appearances at the track. His best performance there, however, was a fourth-place finish in last year’s edition of the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. Dillon, who only has a single win so far this season, is going to feed off the momentum he got from his seventh-place outing last Sunday during the Pure Michigan 400.
Writer’s Prediction
Stenhouse takes home his third win of the season with a first-place finish in Bristol.
