Bristol Bass Pro Shops Night Race Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

Alex Bowman
Bristol Fantasy Outlook – Alex Bowman is getting hot and Bristol’s been a good track for him, so make sure he’s high on your radar. Over the last five Bristol races, Bowman has three top tens but then in the two others, he’s finished 37th which you can of course get out an asterisk mark for. In the Next Gen era over the combined races, Bowman ranks 13th for Speed and Driver Rating but via three highly misleading results his average finish is 20th.
Bristol Raceway History – Alex Bowman has run well at Bristol and in terms of the results column in the Next Gen, Bowman is 4 for 7 at finishing in the top 13 with the three outliers being due to major problems. This spring, Bowman had his return race at Bristol following his vertigo sidelining and finished last (37th). In the race, Bowman never ran well and was caught up in a crash on lap 159 while running in the high 20’s which ended his afternoon. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Bowman ranked 35th. Last summer, Bowman finished 8th, had the fastest car on the track over the last quarter of the race, had the 13th best Total Speed Ranking and an 11.2 average running position. Last spring, Bowman was top five good, and you can easily disregard his 37th. In the race, Bowman won the pole, led the opening 39 laps, finished 4th in Stage #1, finished 2nd in Stage #2 but then in the last Stage on lap 294 while running in 3rd, he radioed his team, “Blowing Up” and it all went south from there. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Bowman ranked 12th but take note his speed over the segments he competed were 4th, 2nd and then 38th. In summer 2025, Bowman started on the pole, had the 6th best Total Speed Ranking, had a 6.2 average running position, led 34 laps, earned the 7th best Driver Rating and then finished 9th. In spring 2024, Bowman started 29th, had a 14.5 average running position and then finished 4th overall. In terms of speed stats, Bowman ranked 7th for Speed Late In A Run and then 11th for Total Speed Rankings.

Josh Berry
Bristol Fantasy Outlook – Josh Berry is hot and at Bristol, hopefully he can keep the good times going. That said, Berry’s proven to be a volatile option with a pair of 12th place finishes and then finishing 29th or worse over the other three. Overall in the Next Gen era, Berry ranks 17th for Speed but his 24.8 average finish ranks 31st. Heading into the weekend, I would view him as a volatile teens driver who might have further upside.
Bristol Raceway History – At Bristol, Josh Berry typically shows potential, but the results column isn’t always pretty. This spring, Berry looked pretty good for much of the race but finished an asterisk mark 32nd. In the race, Berry started 25th, used pit strategy during an early caution which got him to the front, finished 5th in Stage #1, finished 6th in Stage #2, had a 14.7 average running position but then on lap 393 while running in the teen’s, he got into the wall hard which doomed him to his poor result. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Berry ranked 16th with his speed over the segments being 16th, 6th, 16th and then 35th. Last summer, Berry showed “Potential” but finished 39th. In the race, Berry started 10th, was in 9th on lap 70 but then on lap 76, the #21 was on fire which marked the end of his race. Last spring, Berry finished 12th, had the 13th best Total Speed Ranking and had a 14.1 average running position. In summer 2024, Berry was pretty bad and I also do believe he got into the wall at some point. In the race, Berry finished 29th, had a 29.5 average running position and then ranked 32nd in terms of Total Speed Rankings. In spring 2024, Berry started 2nd, led 25 laps, had the 9th best Speed Ranking, had a 10.0 average running position and then finished 12th.

Chris Buescher
Bristol Fantasy Outlook – Chris Buescher, Next Gen Bristol #1 winner will be a driver to watch. Buescher’s been strong here and in the Next Gen, he ranks 4th for average finish (10.7), 8th for Driver Rating and then 9th for Speed. In the results column over the seven races, Buescher has 3-top 7’s and 6-top 14’s. Heading into the weekend, I would conservatively view him as a top ten contender. I will note, I’m not loving the recent form of the #17 team and only once in the last 11 races has he finished in the top ten, and that was just a 10th.
Bristol Raceway History – At Bristol in the Next Gen, Chris Buescher won the first race, he’s finished in the top 14 86% of the time, and his overall average finish is 10.7. In 3 of the last 4, he’s finished between 11th to 14th. This spring, Buescher was respectable. In the race, Buescher started 7th, had a 13.3 average running position, earned the 12th best Driver Rating and then finished 13th. In terms of speed stats, Buescher ranked 11th for Total Speed Rankings and then 13th for Speed Late In A Run. Last summer, Buescher had a solid showing, finishing 6th in Stage #1, 7th in Stage #2, had an 8.6 average running position and then finished 11th overall. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Buescher ranked 3rd, with a 6.25 Speed Ranking. Last spring, Buescher finished 25th and sadly, that represents his performance (28.5 average running position, 23rd best Speed Ranking). In summer 2024, Buescher was OK and finished 14th. In spring 2024, the #17 was strong. In the race, Buescher finished 7th, ranked 5th for Speed Late In A Run and had the 10th best Total Speed Ranking. Over the two races prior to that, Buescher had results of 4th and 1st (Led 169 laps, 2nd best Speed Ranking).

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