NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Food City 500

Odds to Win Race

The racers will take their skills to one of the largest sports venues in the country when they hit Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 500 on Sunday. The oval, concrete track has hosted this event since way back in 1961 and has seen a ton of the legends of the sport dominate with Rusty Wallace (6), Darrell Waltrip (5), Dale Earnhardt (5), Jeff Gordon (4) and Kurt Busch (4) all having a ton of wins. The 0.533 mile course features big 26-30-degree banking and had to deal with some rain in 2014, leading to a green-white-checker flag and yellow flag finish as Carl Edwards walked away with the trophy. It was the third consecutive season that a driver had earned their first career win in this particular race with Kasey Kahne and Brad Keselowski winning in the previous two installments. With the Sprint Cup Series in full swing, let’s take a look through the entrants and find some racers who could dominate this week.

Brad Keselowski (6/1) - Keselowski has been his usual impressive self this year and ranks fourth in the Sprint Cup standings due to top-10 finishes in six of his seven starts; including a win at the Auto Club 400 on March 22nd. He will now set his sights on Bristol following a fifth-place in Texas as he’s had the third best driver rating (98.6) among active drivers here. He also has two of his 17 career Sprint Cup Series wins when racing here and took the checkered flag in this specific race back in 2012 when he dominated the course in just 2:51:52; the fastest mark since 1999. He has led at some point in each of the races on the year and should once again be a pace-setter for the rest of the field.

Carl Edwards (12/1) - Edwards may be out of his prime, but he has looked solid in recent weeks with a finish of 17th or better in each of his past four races as he currently sits at 14th in the Sprint Cup Series standings. He should feel comfortable heading back to Bristol where he has earned three of his 23 career victories and has an average finish of 14.8 behind nine top-10s in 21 races. Edwards has spent 65.1% of his time on this track in the top-15 (6th most) and can get it done when needed as he has had the fastest lap 407 times (6th most). He still has a lot left in the tank so keep an eye out for Edwards to perform well on a track that is comfortable for him.

Kyle Larson (20/1) - The youngster hasn’t gotten off to a tremendous start this year, getting just two top-10s in his first six races, but will hope to get another one here after some solid performances in the past. In his two races on this track, Larson has earned a 10th and 12th-place finish, putting his driver rating at 91.6 (8th among active drivers). In those races he has had a series-best average green flag speed of 115.883 MPH and should be able to stay amongst the front of the pack for most of the race as he continues to look for his first Sprint Cup Series win.

Martin Truex Jr. (25/1) - It is amazing that Truex Jr.’s odds are still as high as they are since he has ranked in the top-10 at all but one race this year and has led 28 laps total in his past three times out. He’s improved his standing over his pole position in three of the past four races and it is just a matter of time before he breaks out for his third career win. Among the top drivers in the standings this week, Truex Jr. may not have the best track history in Bristol, with an average finish of 20.3, but sometimes you need to just ride the hot hand and he is one of the hottest in the series right now.

Aric Almirola (300/1) - Almirola has been steadily improving his standing in the Sprint Cup Series over the past five seasons and currently is on pace to have a career-best season as he sits in ninth. He has done this with consistency, ranking in the top-20 in all but one of his races, but failing to crack the top-10 just yet. As he sits just on the outside looking in, he’s just looking for his opportunity to grab a second career win, and he has two top-10s here in the past. With these odds it is worth taking a flier on the 31-year-old.