Food City 500 Preview: World's Fastest Half Mile

This article is part of our Weekly Preview series.

After a good weekend of competitive racing in Darlington, we stay in the East this week and continue with the roots of NASCAR, and more short track racing. We take a trip to the "World's Fastest Half Mile" at Bristol Motor Speedway for this weekend's Food City 500. Bristol's half-mile oval with 36-degree corner banking makes it one of the most unique tracks on the circuit. This bull ring will not only test driver's skill but their patience as well. Trading paint and short tempers are the norm at BMS. When you put 38 of the world's best and most competitive drivers in this half-mile mixing bowl, contact and hard racing are a natural result. Avoiding a poor qualifying run and bad starting spot on the grid is very important here. Much like the superspeedways, you don't want to be in the eye of the storm when things go wrong. The teams that can pull off the right handling setup and qualify up front will likely stay out of the worst part of the battle in this 500-lap event. You don't want to deal with the handicap of starting beyond mid-pack and having to navigate the field as the leader is bearing down on your rear bumper.

Since this is just the second of the season's true short track races, we'll have to put a lot of emphasis on the historical data as well as the current hot streaks to get a feel for this weekend's top drivers. Last Sunday's Darlington race was not a short track event and nothing at all like the action we'll see this weekend in the Bristol mixing bowl. Recent statistics at Bristol Motor Speedway will be an invaluable tool in evaluating our driver lineup.  That information combined with who has the hot hand right now will be our primary indicators.  The loop stats in the table below span the last 36 races at Bristol Motor Speedway. This will be a dependable set of data to judge the best of the short track drivers in the series. 

Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota drivers have each won at the half-mile oval in the past three seasons. Kyle Larson snagged the win last fall for Chevrolet. When the series last visited Bristol last September it was Larson absolutely dominating and running away from Chase Elliott to take his second-career victory at Bristol Motor Speedway. In this event one year ago, it would be Denny Hamlin flexing his muscles and collecting his second-straight win at Bristol Motor Speedway and fourth Bristol victory of his career. However, before we simply cede this weekend's trophy to either Larson or Hamlin, we must realize there are several strong short track performers that are capable of upsetting them. Elliott will be joined by Christopher Bell and Alex Bowman as some of the primary threats to win the Food City 500. All three have performed well in recent short track events and all three have been players among the front in our last few visits to Bristol. We'll lay out the streaking drivers and the short track experts and give you the drivers to dominate your fantasy league at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The Contenders – Those in the hunt for the win

Kyle Larson – With two wins and three runner-up finishes at Bristol since 2018 to go along with over 1,100 laps led, Larson has probably been the sharpest driver in recent seasons at Bristol Motor Speedway. His average finish at the Tennessee short track during this span is an eye-popping 4.8. It's really a wonder that Larson and the No. 5 team haven't converted more of these 500-lap Bristol battles into wins. But he's clearly one of the upper echelon performers here. Larson has already broken through to victory lane in the first eight races of the season (Homestead) and he's performing very well at his better tracks. Every time he starts here, he's a major threat to win. 

Denny Hamlin – The driver of the No. 11 Toyota is a four-time Bristol winner and he has four-career poles and 12 Top-5 finishes at the Tennessee short track. That works out to a strong 34-percent Top-5 rate at Bristol Motor Speedway for Hamlin. While he's tended to be a better night race performer here than the day Spring race, he's still had his share of Bristol success in the early-season installment. Hamlin won this event one year ago in a dominating performance of 163 laps led and he's won two of the last three races at Bristol Motor Speedway. Coming off the big win at Darlington Raceway this past Sunday, Hamlin is on a roll coming into the Food City 500.  

Christopher Bell –  Bell is a three-time winner already this season and he recently grabbed an impressive runner-up finish on the Martinsville short track. For an encore, Bell and the No. 20 Toyota team will take on a Bristol oval where they've had recent success. He has led over 350 laps in his last four Bristol Motor Speedway starts and grabbed three Top-5 finishes in those efforts. Bell has yet to win at the Tennessee short track but his performance here indicates that's just a matter of time. The Joe Gibbs Racing star is off to the best start for a season in his Cup Series career and so the time to break through at Bristol Motor Speedway has come.  

Chase Elliott – The driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet has yet to win at Bristol Motor Speedway but he's grabbed runner-up finishes here in two of his last four starts at the half-mile oval. Elliott has nine-career Top 10's here for a strong 60-percent Top-10 rate and sharp 11.0 average finish. He's led over 400 laps at this historic short track and rides a four-race Bristol Top-10 streak into this weekend. Elliott recently sat on the outside pole at the Martinsville short track and led a number of laps before finishing fourth-place in that event. This driver and team's short track skill are in good form coming into the Food City 500. Elliott could be the spoiler among the top contenders.

Solid Plays – Those who are an almost lock for a Top 10, and an outside shot at the win

Chris Buescher – Buescher languished at this challenging half-mile oval for many years, but his recent move to Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing has jump started his performance at Bristol. In seven starts with the No. 17 Ford team he has one win, two Top-5 and four Top-10 finishes on the Bristol pavement. Buescher's start at Bristol Motor Speedway in this event one year ago yielded a strong seventh-place finish in the Food City 500. He doesn't qualify particularly well here (23.4 average start) but don't let that deter you from fantasy lineup deployment. Buescher has shown a knack for driving through the field to earn Top-10 finishes and lead laps here. 

Alex Bowman – His career stats at Bristol aren't very impressive but Bowman is making up for lost time of late. With a pair of Top-10 finishes here last season, he now has five-career Top 10's at the Tennessee short track. Three of those have come in the last five starts. The driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet is off to a good start this season and has five Top-10 finishes already through  the first eight events. The veteran driver is showing consistency and excellence on all styles of tracks. In Bowman's last start at Bristol Motor Speedway last September, he won the pole position and led 34 laps before finishing a respectable ninth-place in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. 

William Byron – The Hendrick Motorsports star put on a dominant performance at Darlington Raceway this past Sunday. Bowman would lead a ton of laps and seem poised to walk away with the win before cautions and race flow would deny him the win at Darlington. The driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet has had some pretty nice consistency and success at Bristol Motor Speedway in recent outings. Three of his last five starts on the Bristol pavement have netted Top-10 finishes and he's qualified very well at the half-mile oval in recent visits. Byron is off to a great start this season with his Daytona 500 win and four Top 5's in the first eight events. He enters the weekend atop the driver point standings. Byron should keep his short track success going Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Ross Chastain – Chastain recently raced to a strong sixth-place finish at the Martinsville short track and he is nearly always a good fantasy racing consideration on the shorter ovals of the NASCAR Cup Series. Bristol success has been slower to come, but the Trackhouse Racing veteran has swiped a pair of Top 10's in his last four trips to the Tennessee short track. In Chastain's last Bristol Motor Speedway start he drove the No. 1 Chevrolet to a respectable 10th-place finish in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. The notes from that recent outing should come in handy for Chastain and his crew chief, Phil Surgen, this weekend.

Sleepers – Those who have a good history at Bristol, and can give you a solid finish

Ryan Blaney – Blaney is not a top Bristol performer, historically speaking. His 38-percent Top-10 rate at the Tennessee short track drops him below normal solid play recommendation. However, the Penske Racing star won the pole position and led some laps in this event one year ago and Blaney returned to Bristol last fall to nab an impressive sixth-place finish. Blaney now has six-career Top 10's at BMS and has led just over 500 laps at the half-mile oval. He finished a reasonable 12th-place at the Martinsville short track a couple weeks ago, so the driver of the No. 12 Ford should have some value in the Food City 500. We don't expect him to battle for a win, but Blaney should race hard and challenge the Top 10.  

Bubba Wallace – Earlier in his Cup Series career known more for superspeedway and intermediate oval performance, Wallace has transformed into more of a short track performer the past couple seasons. The 23XI Racing veteran fetched an impressive third-place finish at Martinsville Speedway a couple weeks ago. Now he'll look for more success at Bristol. He's not been a career-long performer here (18-percent Top-10 rate) but he's qualified well in his last three Bristol Motor Speedway starts and he earned a Bristol career-best third-place in last September's Bass Pro Shops Night Race. That's a good last look at this challenging half-mile oval and would seem to indicate more success is coming this Sunday.      

Ty Gibbs – The Joe Gibbs Racing youngster started this season in a slump, but Gibbs showed some signs of life at Martinsville Speedway a couple weeks ago. The short tracks may be what get this driver and team going. Gibbs raced to a respectable 13th-place finish at Martinsville. He's had some pretty big success at Bristol Motor Speedway the past couple seasons. The driver of the No. 54 JGR Toyota has led over 230 laps and earned two Top-10 and three Top-15 finishes in his last three Bristol starts. Those efforts have helped to erase some of the struggles that Gibbs had in his first couple starts at the Bristol short track. He's a sneaky good fantasy play for the Food City 500.   

Chase Briscoe – Briscoe has always performed reasonably well at Bristol Motor Speedway. His five-career Cup Series starts have yielded an average start of 9.4 and that's helped aid him in getting good finishes. Solid qualifying counts for a lot on this half-mile oval. Briscoe's one Top-10 and four Top-15 finishes in those starts have given him a reasonable 15.0 average finish at BMS. In his last start at Bristol, he earned a Bristol-best eighth-place finish in last September's Bass Pro Shops Night Race. That's a great last look for this driver heading into Sunday's Food City 500. Briscoe has since moved to Joe Gibbs Racing so he'll likely bring the strongest car he's ever brought to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend.      

Ryan Preece – Preece is finding his groove with his new race team at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. The journeyman driver has nabbed three Top-10 finishes thus far this season and sits a respectable 13th-place in the driver points coming to Bristol. Preece was very impressive in his last short track start, earning a strong seventh-place at Martinsville Speedway a couple weeks ago. Bristol Motor Speedway has always been a good track for the driver of the No. 60 Ford. Preece has earned two Top-10 and five Top-15 finishes at BMS with a respectable 14.3 average finish. His last start at the track earned a Bristol career-best seventh-place in last September's Bass Pro Shops Night Race.

Josh Berry – After a couple tough starts the past two weeks, Berry is looking to get back on track at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Wood Brothers Racing driver caught some eyes on the Martinsville short track a couple weeks ago by leading 40 laps, however, Berry wouldn't get the finish he deserved in that race. In his Cup Series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway in this event one year ago, Berry sat on the outside pole and finished an impressive 12th-place at the tough short track. The driver of the No. 21 Ford knows how to get around Bristol as his two outside poles at the track in his three Xfinity Series starts shows. We believe all the ingredients are present for Berry to have a sneakily surprising performance Sunday in the Food City 500.   

Slow Down – Drivers to Avoid This Week

Kyle Busch – Coming to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend, Busch is looking to find some consistency and build some momentum to start the season. He's had good speed through the first eight events, but the finishes have not followed to this point. He's the active wins leader at Bristol Motor Speedway with eight total victories. The last of those eight wins came in 2019. However, despite a career 53-percent Top-10 rate at Bristol, Busch has struggled in recent visits. He's only cracked the Top 20 once in his last five visits to East Tennessee and his laps led at BMS have plummeted to just 5 laps over that span. Busch is not the driver he once was at this historic short track.   

Joey Logano – The talented Penske Racing driver has been a bit inconsistent to start the 2025 campaign and it's shaking our confidence a bit from a fantasy racing side. The driver of the No. 22 Ford has led over 600 laps since 2012 at the Bristol oval and collected two wins. However, more recent appearances have been very disappointing. Logano has no Top-10 finishes in his last eight Bristol starts and the last three years have been particularly rough with no finishes inside the Top 20. This is the combination of an inconsistent driver and visiting a struggling race track for he and the No. 22 Ford team. Logano is a hard pass this weekend.

Brad Keselowski – Keselowski has not quite been himself to start the 2025 season. He's still yet to post a Top-10 finish at eight races into the schedule and is a distant 31st-place in the driver points. Despite being a three-time Bristol winner and having had periodic success at the half-mile track, he's not in a position to register a good finish in Sunday's Food City 500. Keselowski's last start at Bristol was both a disappointing qualifying effort and disappointing finish (26th-place) in last September's Bass Pro Shops Night Race. A couple weeks ago the owner/driver of the No. 6 Ford labored to a disappointing 26th-place finish at the Martinsville short track. 

Austin Cindric – Cindric has always been a better superspeedway and road course performer than short track driver. He has four-career starts on the Bristol short track and they are mainly finishes outside the Top 20 with just one Top-15 finish. The average finish stands at 24.0. Those tend to validate the assertion. The driver of the No. 2 Ford has just two Top 10's in eight starts to the begin the season, so struggles have been plenty outside the superspeedways. Cindric retired early and finished a disappointing 37th-place in the short track event at Martinsville Speedway a couple weeks ago. Save Cindric's next fantasy start for Talladega later this spring.