Food City Dirt Race Preview and Pick (Archive)
Last week in the NASCAR Cup Series was the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway. William Byron showed in that race that he is having the season of his whole life as he won his second race in the season. He dominated the latter portions of the race in order to come away with the well-deserved victory.
Joey Logano finished second in the race. Top-rated sportsbooks have released their odds for the upcoming race on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit. This race is the Food City Dirt Race at the well-known Bristol Motor Speedway.
Food City Dirt Race
Sunday, April 17, 2022 – 07:00 PM EDT at Bristol Motor Speedway
William Byron
I know that I shrugged off William Byron’s last victory because it was the first of his career. But now that he has won his second victory of the season, he is becoming a force to be reckoned with. Last week’s victory was no fluke, either. Out of the 403 laps in that race, he led 212 of them.
He took over during a pit stop in Stage 2 and secured his well-deserved victory. This is a development that we need to keep in mind for our future sports betting. It remains a well-supported claim, though, that it is very hard to win consecutive races. So, with all due respect to Byron, I recommend avoiding recency bias and crossing him off our list of candidates to win Sunday’s upcoming race in Bristol.
Night Race
Note that this race is a night race, which is unusual. It is also unusual that this race will take place on Sunday which is Easter Sunday. A big reason for this race being changed from daytime to nighttime is that it takes place on dirt — which is why it’s officially called a dirt race.
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During the day, however, the sun shines on the dirt and reflects off it. This reflection creates problems with visibility for the drivers. They have trouble seeing and this trouble is obviously dangerous when it’s affecting drivers who are going as fast as these guys are going.
Race Info
For this Sunday’s race, drivers must complete a total of 250 laps. As has always been the case this season, there will be three stages for this race.
- Stage 1 requires drivers to complete 75 laps.
- Stage 2 consists of the following 75 laps.
- The final Stage terminates 100 laps later upon completion of the 250th lap.
By now, an entry list has been published for this race. Out of 40 total spots, 36 teams/drivers have been listed. For this race, qualifying is a lot more extensive. First of all, on Saturday starting at 4:05 p.m. ET, there will be a practice session that will last 50 minutes.
At 6:35 p.m. ET there will be a second practice session. On Sunday, starting at 6 p.m. ET, there will be the first of four qualifying races. The starting lineup gets determined by these heat races.
Track Info
Sunday’s racing track will be made of a dirt surface. There are four turns and there is no banking anywhere. Each lap consists of .533 miles. So, in completing 250 laps, drivers will have accumulated a total of around 125 miles.
Driver I Dislike
One driver whom I find unreliable is Martin Truex Jr. Truex Jr. has been the definition of hit or miss this season. Most recently, he finished 22nd. There is not a big data sample to look at for dirt races. But the fact that he offered 19th in last year’s dirt race in Bristol does not offer much hope.
Driver I Like
It might be tempting to invest in Logano after his strong finish last week. While he won last year’s race, it is generally hard to win races back-to-back. Plus, Logano has been too inconsistent to justify the current price on him to win. My favorite driver for this race is Ryan Blaney. Blaney has produced three straight top-seven finishes.
Most recently, he finished fourth at Martinsville. In addition to his strong performance here last year where he finished seventh, his consistency justifies the expectation that he will earn a solid finishing position. I think +200 is a nice price for a Blaney top-five finish.
NASCAR Pick: Blaney Top 5 Finish (+200) at Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.