Bristol Fantasy NASCAR Mid Pack Predictions

Todd Gilliland
Bristol Fantasy Spin – Does Todd Gilliland have a knack for Bristol? So far, Gilliland’s 2 for 2 at finishing in the teens with a 17th place average finish, which is great by his standards so hopefully the good times can continue. That said, I don’t really have a lot of faith in that “good finish” trend for him and I would view him as a 20’s performer with little marginal upside.
Bristol Track History – At Bristol, Todd Gilliland is 2 for 2 at finishing in the teens with his average finish being 17th. Last summer, Gilliland legit finished 16th. In the race, Gilliland had an 18.8 average running position and ranked 22nd in terms of Total Speed Rankings. In 2022, Gilliland finished 18th which doesn’t look bad, but when you add in context, he finished 4-laps down and one spot behind Cody Ware. That says something, and everyone who finished behind him finished 6 or more laps down.

Austin Dillon
Bristol Fantasy Spin – At Bristol, Austin Dillon might be solid but 2024 has been like a buzz saw for him, so buckle up. At Bristol in 6 of the last 9 races, Dillon’s finished between 12th to 17th, and in 3 of the last 4 he’s finished within that range with his incident free average finish over the last four being 14.6.
Bristol Track History – Austin Dillon has been a solid driver at “Thunder Valley.” He hasn’t done anything spectacular but in 6 of the last 9 races he’s finished between 12th to 17th. Last summer under the lights, Dillon was a high-teens performer. In the race, Dillon finished 17th, had a 19.8 average running position and ranked 24th in terms of Total Speed Rankings, having fielded the 13th fastest car on the track over the final segment. In 2022, Dillon didn’t show a lot of muscle and then finished 31st after getting collected in the lap 277 “Big One.” “Performance Wise”, I really can’t say he was any better than a 20’s performer. In the race, Dillon had the 22nd best Green Flag Speed and the 31st best Total Speed Ranking. In the two races prior to that, Dillon had results of 15th (2021) and 12th (2020 #2).

Corey LaJoie
Bristol Fantasy Spin – At Bristol, Corey LaJoie will be an attractive near low-tier pick. LaJoie looked great for his tier last summer but walked away with an asterisk mark 25th, so he’ll present dark horse potential for those who did their homework. Expecting LaJoie to be as strong as last summer is asking a lot, but I would feel comfortable viewing him as a 20’s performer who’ll have upside for those looking to roll the dice.
Bristol Track History – Last summer at “Thunder Valley”, Corey LaJoie had a strong performance but finished an asterisk mark 25th. In the race, LaJoie used pit strategy, leading 48 laps and finishing 2nd in Stage #1, finishing around 13th in Stage #2 but then early in the last Stage while running in 12th he spun and crashed which led to his misleading result (25th). In terms of Total Speed Rankings, LaJoie ranked 17th but take note over the first two segments he had speed rankings of 2nd and 8th before he had problems. In 2022, the attrition rate was abnormally high and LaJoie had his all-time best Bristol result and finished 15th but take note he finished 3 laps down. In 2021, LaJoie finished 26th, had a 27.2 average running position and had the 30th best Total Speed Ranking.

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