Saturday Update: Second Practice Speeds | Final Practice Speeds | Kurt Busch to Backup
Friday Update: First Practice Speeds | Harvick to Backup | Lineup
Driver Averages | Laps Led Leaders | Driver Ratings | Past Winners
Detailed driver notes and statistics to help set your fantasy racing lineup for Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Who’s HOT at Bristol Motor Speedway
- Kevin Harvick has posted a 4.2 average finish in his last five starts, including a win in the 2016 summer race.
- Kyle Busch is coming off his sixth win and has led 604 laps in his last five starts.
- Defending event winner Jimmie Johnson has posted a 7.4 average finish in his last seven starts.
- Joey Logano has finished in the top 10 in five of his last seven starts, including wins in the night race in 2014 and 2015.
- Denny Hamlin has finished in the top 10 in four of the last five races, including three third-place finishes.
Keep an Eye On at Bristol Motor Speedway
- Erik Jones led 260 laps en route to a second-place finish in the August race last season. He also led a season-high 64 laps last weekend at Texas.
- Clint Bowyer won the first short-track race of the year at Martinsville and finished second in this event last season
- Chase Elliott has posted a 5.5 average finish in the last two spring races at Bristol.
- Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch each have a top 10 Driver Rating in the last six races at Bristol. Truex led 116 laps in this event last year and Busch leads all active drivers with four wins in the spring race.
- Bristol is Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s and Trevor Bayne’s best track on the schedule based their respective average finishes of 10.8 and 16.0.
- Jamie McMurray (11.3) and Ryan Newman (14.3) each rank in the top 10 in average finish in the last four races at Bristol.
- Ryan Blaney finished 10th last August at Bristol and led 145 laps and finished third in the first short-track race of the season at Martinsville.
- The Food City 500 will mark the fourth consecutive race Bristol will apply traction compound to the lower groove. Brad Keselowski won the 2012 spring race and ranks in the top 10 in Driver Ratings since 2005. However, he’s struggled as of late, especially since the traction application.
*Best Average Finish at Bristol
| Last # of Races | Driver | Average Finish |
| Two Races | Kevin Harvick | 5.5 |
| Four Races | Kevin Harvick | 4.8 |
| Six Races | Jimmie Johnson | 8.0 |
| Eight Races | Jimmie Johnson | 8.9 |
| Ten Races | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 10.8 |
* – The best average finish is based off a driver entered in the race who has competed in every race during that time span.
Laps Led Leaders at Bristol
| Last # of Races | Driver | Laps Led |
| Two Races | Kyle Larson | 272 |
| Four Races | Kyle Busch | 412 |
| Six Races | Kyle Busch (5 starts) | 604 |
| Eight Races | Kyle Busch (7 starts) | 685 |
| Ten Races | Kyle Busch (9 starts) | 741 |
Click Here to view all laps led leaders at Bristol Motor Speedway over the past 10 races.
Bristol Loop Data Stat Leaders (2005-2017, 26 Races)
| Average Running Pos. | Laps in Top 15 |
| 1. Erik Jones – 5.1 | 1. Kevin Harvick – 9,054 |
| 2. Chase Elliott – 10.4 | 2. Jimmie Johnson – 8,972 |
| 3. Kevin Harvick – 11.9 | 3. Ryan Newman – 8,666 |
| 4. Jimmie Johnson – 13.0 | 4. Kurt Busch – 8,381 |
| 5. Kyle Larson – 13.2 | 5. Kyle Busch – 8,119 |
| Fastest Laps Run | Driver Rating |
| 1. Kyle Busch – 859 | 1. Erik Jones – 116.3 |
| 2. Kevin Harvick – 695 | 2. Kyle Busch – 100.7 |
| 3. Jimmie Johnson – 653 | 3. Kevin Harvick – 96.4 |
| 4. Denny Hamlin – 510 | 4. Chase Elliott – 96.4 |
| 5. Kasey Kahne – 507 | 5. Kyle Larson – 95.7 |
*Top 10 Stage 1 &2 Points Earned at Bristol (Spring and Fall Race)
| Driver | Points Earned |
| Erik Jones | 28 |
| Kyle Larson | 27 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 24 |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 21 |
| Joey Logano | 19 |
| Kevin Harvick | 15 |
| Denny Hamlin | 15 |
| Kyle Busch | 14 |
| Chase Elliott | 12 |
| Jamie McMurray | 10 |
*Must be entered in the Food City 500
2017 Spring Bristol Stage Finishes
| Stage 1 | Stage 2 |
| 1. Kyle Larson | 1. Martin Truex Jr. |
| 2. Martin Truex Jr. | 2. Joey Logano |
| 3. Erik Jones | 3. Jimmie Johnson |
| 4. Joey Logano | 4. Kevin Harvick |
| 5. Jimmie Johnson | 5. Jamie McMurray |
| 6. Chase Elliott | 6. Erik Jones |
| 7. Jamie McMurray | 7. Kyle Larson |
| 8. Denny Hamlin | 8. Denny Hamlin |
| 9. AJ Allmendinger | 9. Trevor Bayne |
| 10. Kyle Busch | 10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
Rookie Report
Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidates William Byron and Darrell Wallace Jr. each will be making their first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start at Bristol Motor Speedway. Both drivers have made starts in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series at Thunder Valley and each are coming off top-10 finishes last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Wallace, who trails Byron in the rookie standings by nine points, has the best finish in NASCAR’s top two divisions with a second-place run in the 2014 truck race. Wallace also won the Super Late Model feature event last year during the Short Track Nationals. Byron’s best finishes came in the K&N Series (second in 2015) and the Truck Series (fourth in 2016).
MRN.com Staff Picks
Jeff Wackerlin: Erik Jones
Pete Pistone: Kyle Busch
Tyler Burnett: Kyle Busch
Driver Notes – Ordered by Average Finish (Top 15) in the Last Five Races at Bristol
Kevin Harvick is the only driver that has finished in the top 10 in each of the last five races at Bristol that includes a win in the 2016 August race. He led 184 laps in this event in 2015 but was swept up in an accident ahead of him. Last year Harvick led 14 laps and finished third in his first track start driving a Ford. Harvick finished fourth in the second stage last season in the spring race and was tied for sixth in overall stage points earned (15) at Bristol in 2017.
Joey Logano finished 13th last August to snap a streak of four consecutive top 10s at Bristol that includes a win in the 2015 August race. He is a two-time winner at the track with both coming in the night race. Last year in this event, Logano led 72 laps en route to a fifth-place finish. Logano finished in the top five in both stages last season in the spring race and ranked fifth in overall stage points earned (19) at Bristol in 2017.
Denny Hamlin has finished in the top 10 in his last three starts at Bristol. He ranks fifth in laps led (325) in the last 11 races and is the winner of the 2012 night race. Last year in this event, Hamlin led 10 laps and finished 10th. Hamlin finished eighth in both stages last season in the spring race and was tied for sixth in overall stage points earned (15) at Bristol in 2017.
Jimmie Johnson won this event last year for his second win in 32 starts at Bristol. He led 81 laps last spring for his first laps led in the last seven races there. A 23rd-place finish in this event in 2016 is Johnson’s only finish outside the top 11 in the last seven races. However, Johnson was running third when he made an unscheduled stop on lap 302 in that race. Johnson finished in the top five in both stages last season in the spring race and ranked third in overall stage points earned (24) at Bristol in 2017.
Erik Jones scored a career-best second-place finish in the August race last year after leading 260 laps from the pole. Last year, Jones scored the most stage points (28) at Bristol and finished 17th in this event after an incident on lap 422. Jones did participate in the Goodyear tire test at Bristol last summer when he was with the Furniture Row Racing team.
Trevor Bayne‘s best track on the schedule based on average finish (16.0) is Bristol. He’s finished in the top 15 in his last five starts and his average finish of 10.0 in that span ranks sixth among all drivers.
Chase Elliott has made four Monster Energy Cup Series starts at Bristol with his two top 10s coming in the last two spring races. Elliott finished sixth in the first stage last season in the spring race and recorded 12 overall stage points at Bristol in 2017.
Jamie McMurray has finished in the top 15 in the last seven races at Bristol. His 11.1 average finish ranks fourth among all drivers that competed in every race in that span.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.‘s best track on the schedule based on average finish (10.8) is Bristol. He’s finished in the top 10 in the five of the last eight races, including two runner-up finishes. Stenhouse has yet to lead a lap in his 10 Bristol starts.
Clint Bowyer finished second in this event last year in his first Bristol start with Stewart-Haas Racing. The finish was his third top 10 in the last five races. Bowyer won the first short-track race of the season three weeks ago at Martinsville Speedway.
Ryan Newman finished sixth last August at Bristol for his sixth top-15 finish (fourth top 10) in the last seven races.
Daniel Suarez posted a 16.5 average finish in his first two starts at Bristol last season with his best finish coming in the August race, 15th.
Kurt Busch finished fifth last August for his 17th top 10 in 34 Bristol starts. He scored his last of five wins at the track in this event in 2005. Busch has finished in the top five in two of his four starts at Bristol with Stewart-Haas Racing.
Kasey Kahne is making his first Bristol start with Leavine Family Racing. He finished 24th in his first short-track start with the team at Martinsville last month. Kahne’s 17th-place finish last weekend at Texas is his best in seven starts with LFR. Kahne won this event on 2013 with Hendrick Motorsports and his last Bristol top 10 came in 2014.
Martin Truex Jr. led 116 laps and finished eighth in this event last year. The finish is his only top 10 in eight track starts with Furniture Row Racing. He also won the second stage in the spring race and ranked fourth in stage points earned (21) at Bristol in 2017.
