On Sunday, NASCAR will be racing at Bristol for the Food City 500! Bristol is “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile” and it’s been described as flying a jet fighter in a gymnasium. This week, a new Bristol tire is debuting, so buckle up for a little unknown. The new tire’s aim is for them to be less temperature sensitive. The ultra-high tire wear we seen previously (last summer and spring 2024) was due to cool temperatures. Following practice, the race looks to be trending towards how last spring played out, where tire wear wasn’t high.

On Saturday, practice was held for Bristol. Teams had 25 minutes, and keep in mind teams have different agendas. Make sure you check out our Bristol Practice Notes, Bristol Practice Speeds and 10-Lap Averages, Bristol Practice Group Speed Rankings and Bristol 10,15,20,25 and 30 Lap Average Speed Cheat Sheet.

Here’s Bristol Qualifying Results/ Starting Lineup. Take note, starting near the front has been important at Bristol and 8 of the last 10 races have been won from a top five starting position.

Bristol Food City 500 Full Field Fantasy Rankings

1) Ryan Blaney
Start 1st / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – High
Bristol Fantasy Outlook – Polesitter, Ryan Blaney’s an elite performer at Bristol who’ll be a factor. The Next Gen era got off to a rough start for Blaney but over the last three, Blaney has a 5th place average finish and a 5.6 average Speed Ranking. Last summer, Blaney was a contender to win and “Performance Wise”, I think he was the 2nd best. In the race, Blaney won Stage #1, finished 2nd in Stage #2, led 30 laps, earned the 2nd best Driver Rating, had the 2nd best average running position (7.2) and ranked 5th for Total Speed Rankings. Last spring, Blaney was a factor and ran an out of sync pit strategy race late, running long in hopes of catching a caution and trapping a lot of the field a lap down. In the race, Blaney started 5th, finished 7th in Stage #1, finished 8th in Stage #2, had a 6.4 average running position, led 48 laps and then finished 5th overall. In terms of speed stats, Blaney ranked 3rd for Speed Late In A Run and had the 4th best Total Speed Ranking. In summer 2024, Blaney started 22nd, finished 9th in Stage #2 and then finished 6th when the checkered flag waved. Additionally, Blaney had the 8th best Total Speed Ranking and the 8th best Driver Rating. In spring 2024’s high tire wear race, Blaney started on the pole, finished 6th in Stage #1, was caught speeding during a caution in Stage #2 while running in 10th, got shuffled out of line in the last Stage around lap 394 while running just short of the top ten and then finished 16th overall. Additionally, Blaney had the 8th best Speed Ranking and had a 12.0 average running position. In practice, Blaney was a stopwatch standout and had the best 15,20,25 and 30-lap average.
DraftKings $10,700/ FanDuel $13,000

Further Recommended Reading = Bristol Finish Projections, DraftKings Bristol Scoring Projections, FanDuel Bristol Scoring Projections, Bristol Next Gen Average Finishes, Bristol Next Gen Speed Rankings

2) Kyle Larson
Start 8th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Bristol Fantasy Outlook – Kyle Larson is a super-elite performer at Bristol and on Sunday, the #5 may very well be the car to beat. In the Next Gen, Larson’s a 2-time winner and minus last summer, his average finish is 2.8 and his average Speed Ranking is 2.8. Last summer with the extreme tire wear, Larson had a tough race and finished 32nd. Personally, I wouldn’t read into it too much. Larson didn’t look good, struggled and also at some point in Stage #1, the #5 got damaged, which led to a few extra pit stops for repair. Also, Larson later broke his toe link on lap 365. Last spring, Larson dominated, winning both opening Stages, led 411 laps, earned the best Driver Rating and of course raced his way to victory lane. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Larson ranked #1 and fielded the fastest car over all four segments. In summer 2024, Larson was the class of the field and easily raced his way to victory lane. In the race, Larson won Stage #1, won Stage #2, had a perfect Total Speed Ranking, came close to having a perfect Driver Rating, had a 1.1 average running position and led 462 laps. In spring 2024 which was another high-wear race, Larson finished 2nd in Stage #1, finished 8th in Stage #2, had an 8.4 average running position and then finished 5th. Over the three races prior to that, Larson had results of 2nd, 5th and 1st. In practice, Larson looked great and was fast over a long run, having the 2nd best 30-lap average.
DraftKings $11,5000/ FanDuel $14,000

3) Denny Hamlin
Start 11th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium
Bristol Fantasy Outlook – 4-time Bristol winner, Denny Hamlin will be tough to beat in the Food City 500. In the Next Gen at Bristol, Hamlin has a low-wear and a high-wear win, so whatever the new tire situation presents, you can be confident he’ll perform. In the Next Gen at Bristol, Hamlin ranks 2nd for Speed Rankings, 2nd for Driver Rating and has a 3.4 incident free average finish. Last summer, Hamlin finished an asterisk mark 31st but realistically he was around 10th place good. In the race, Hamlin finished Stage #1 in about 11th, finished Stage #2 in about 11th, ran much of the last Stage right around that range, was up to 2nd on lap 361 following pit strategy but then on lap 365, Hamlin rapidly dropped back in the running order and got into the wall. Then shortly after that on lap 383, he lost a wheel. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Hamlin ranked 18th, with his speed over the segments being 10th, 13th, 19th and 32nd. Last spring, Hamlin finished 2nd. In the race, Hamlin started 4th, finished 2nd in Stage #1, finished 5th in Stage #2, had a 3rd place average running position, earned the 2nd best Driver Rating and then finished 2nd overall. In terms of speed stats, Hamlin had the fastest car late in a run and ranked 2nd in terms of Total Speed Rankings. In summer 2024, Hamlin finished 4th, had the 4th best Total Speed Ranking and a 4.6 average running position. In spring 2024 when tire wear was also high, Hamlin finished 1st, led the most laps (163) and had the 3rd best Total Speed Ranking. Over the two races prior to that, Hamlin had results of 1st and 9th.
DraftKings $11,000/ FanDuel $13,500