Food City Dirt Race Prediction & Odds
The motorsports world will turn their attention to Tennessee this week, as NASCAR goes dirt-track racing for the 500th time on NASCAR’s 75th anniversary season.
This will be the third year of racing on the dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway, after the Cup Series hadn’t previously run a dirt track race since 1970. Which drivers are good bets to take the checkered flag?
Food City Dirt Race Details
What: Food City Dirt Race
When: Sunday, 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, TN
Watch: FOX
Food City Dirt Race Betting Odds
Tyler Reddick and Kyle Larson are the current co-favorites at +450 to win Sunday’s race, followed by Christopher Bell at +650 and Joey Logano at +850. Kyle Busch, meanwhile, is +1000, followed by Chase Briscoe at +1200. Ryan Blaney and William Byron are +1500, respectively, while Austin Dillon is +2000 and Alex Bowman is +2500.
Food City Dirt Race Prediction
OPTION 1: Alex Bowman (+2500)
Bowman has yet to win this season but I like his chances of victory tonight. Compiling six top-10 finishes in seven races, he’s been in the mix all season long. In fact, no driver had seven top-10 finishes in the first eight races last season and only Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch have done it in the last five seasons. No Hendrick driver has started the season with seven top-10 finishes in eight races since Jeff Gordon in 2007. Bowman has been in the mix a lot, but now it’s time for him to take the checkered flag for the first time all season.
OPTION 2: Kyle Larson (+450)
I know he’s co-favored and the odds aren’t great, but Larson just picked up his first win of the season and finished fourth here last year after leading for 27 laps. Since joining Hendrick Motorsports prior to the 2021 season, Larson has twice as many wins as any other driver. Last week, he became the 43rd driver in series history to win 20 races and he’s the 10th youngest of those drivers at the time of victory No. 20. He’s also the fifth-youngest of the 26 drivers to get their first win in the Modern Era, which is since 1972. Larson will be in the mix.
OPTION 3: Josh Berry (+4000)
Berry, who is filling in for the injured Chase Elliott, finished second behind Larson last week. It was the 53rd 1-2 finish for Hendrick in team history, which is 19 more than 2nd-place Joe Gibbs Racing and 33 more than third-place RFK Racing. For Berry, it’s his first top-5 finish in just his sixth career start. He’ll have at least a couple of more races in place of Elliott and if he’s able to record another top-5 finish in his next four starts, he’ll be the first driver with multiple top-5 finishes in his first 10 career Cup starts since Kasey Kahne in 2004. I’m going for history here.
