2017 Bristol Motor Speedway, Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race

Congratulations to Kyle Larson who made a great move on an overtime restart on Sunday to take another win away from Martin Truex Jr. The third win of the season for Larson gives him another valuable 5 playoff points and kept them away from Truex. Erik Jones was a contender the whole race a finished third which ties a career best for him. Ryan Newman and Trevor Bayne rounded out the top five.

BASS PRO SHOPS NRA NIGHT RACE

This week the series heads back to the Bristol Motor Speedway for the running of the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. This is a Saturday night race so make sure you have your rosters set in time. This is one of the most exciting races on the circuit every time the series comes here. The action can be fast a furious throughout the race because it only takes about fifteen seconds for a driver to complete a lap on the approximately half-mile track. Some of the paint schemes are pretty cool too and look great under the lights.

Kyle Busch: I am picking Kyle to go back to victory lane this week at Bristol. Kyle has five wins and thirteen top ten finishes in his twenty-four starts at this track. He has also led more laps than any other active driver at this track. If this team would stop making mistakes during the race they would win a lot more races than they do. I think everything comes together for them once again this weekend and they revisit victory lane.

Matt Kenseth: Matt is still looking for his first win of the season and he wants to get it now so he doesn’t have to worry about how he is going to make the playoffs. He was having a great race at Michigan last weekend as he was in third position on the final restart of the race, but he must have cut a tire or something as he fell way behind the leaders on the final two laps and finished twenty-fourth. He has four wins at this track and twenty-one top ten finishes in his thirty-five starts here.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin has two wins and sixteen top ten finishes in his thirty-three starts at Bristol. He has led quite a few laps in the last five races here and has looked a bit more like he has the past couple of seasons. I think this team is poised for a strong run in the playoffs and they will run well once again this weekend and be in position to pick up another win on the season.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie also has two wins at this track in his career and he has come away with eighteen top ten finishes in thirty-one starts. This team hasn’t been real consistent lately, but we know they can turn it on in a hurry when they have to as evidenced by his championship run last year. I think this team will be fine once the playoffs start and they should run will once again this weekend.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has five wins just like his little brother at this track. I would love to see these two going at each other for the win at this track. And I would like to hear the interview after the race to see what they would have to say about each other. Kurt really hasn’t run well enough to win a race since winning the Daytona 500 back in February and if he wants to contend for the championship this season they are going to have to step up their program and this is a good track for him to turn the corner at.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: This is the track where Ricky has been the most consistent during his short career. In his nine starts here he has three top five and five top ten finishes. His best finish was a second place finish that he came away with in this race last year. He is a good dark horse to have on your team this weekend. It would be a big boost to this team to win a race that wasn’t on a restrictor plate track as we head into the playoffs.

Chase Elliott: Chase has come away with two top ten finishes at Bristol in only three starts. He came close to getting his first career win in this series last weekend at Michigan. I still think this team is going to get a win before the end of this season. The question is will it come before the start of the playoffs or during the playoffs. Right now he is in on points, but one bad finish might just knock him out of the playoffs.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale needs a win in the worst way so he can make the playoffs in his final full-time season at Hendrick Motorsports. He has one win at this track and finished second in the spring race here last season. This is a track where he might be able to pull a big upset and really shake up the playoff participants. They seem to be getting a little better lately, but still have a lot of issues to clean up if they want to win a race and make the playoffs.

Clint Bowyer: Clint almost has to win in the next three races to make the playoffs in his first season at Stewart-Haas Racing. Clint finished second here this spring and if he can avoid the unfortunate incidents on the track which have plagued him for most of the season he could pick up the win here this weekend and catapult himself into the playoffs. There are a couple of tracks left before the start of the playoffs where this team could get their first win of the season and sneak into the playoffs and Bristol is one of those tracks.

Denny Hamlin: Denny has one win at Bristol in his career. He has also finished in the top five six times and the top ten eleven times in his twenty-three starts here. The real statistic here to look at is that he has start in the top five in seven of his last nine races here including three poles. If you have this kind of consistency you will get a great pit stall and sooner or later everything should fall into place for you and you will get the win.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kyle Busch
• Denny Hamlin

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Kurt Busch
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
• Clint Bowyer
• Ryan Newman

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Daniel Suarez
• Ty Dillon

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

1. Kyle Busch
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Jimmie Johnson
5. Kurt Busch

Dark Horse: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Stay Away From: Ryan Blaney

Big 18: Ryan Newman