Bristol Bass Pro Shops Night Race Fantasy NASCAR Confidence Rankings / Post Practice Predictions

On Saturday night under the lights, NASCAR will be racing at Bristol for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. Bristol is “The World’s Fastest Half Mile” and it’s been described as flying a jet fighter in a gymnasium. Bristol will mark race #3 of the 2026 Playoffs, and I fully expect the intensity to be turned up 5 dials.

On Friday, all Cup track activity was cancelled due to weather.

Here’s the Bristol Starting Lineup/ Qualifying results (Set by the metric). Take note, 9 of the last 11 Bristol races have been won from a top 5 starting position.

Bristol Night Race Full Field Fantasy Rankings

1) Kyle Larson
Start 1st / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – High
Bristol Outlook – 3-time Bristol winner, Kyle Larson is a super-elite performer at Thunder Valley and the road to victory lane might very well go thru him. Larson was a standout performer this spring and in the Next Gen era, Larson’s a 2-time winner and minus last summer, his average Speed Ranking is 2.5, his average finish is 2.8, and he’s had a result in the top 5 every race. Over the combined Bristol Next Gen races, Larson has the best average finish (7.0) and ranks 2nd for both Speed and Driver Rating. This spring, Larson was a standout performer. In the race, Larson won Stage #1, won Stage #2, had a race best 1.7 average running position, led the most laps (284), earned the best Driver Rating and then finished 3rd. In terms of speed stats, Larson had the best Total Speed Ranking but ranked 6th for Speed Late In A Run. Last summer when tire wear was extreme, Larson struggled and broke his toe link, leading to his 32nd. Personally, I wouldn’t read into that evening for him too much. Last spring, Larson put on a display of domination. In the race, Larson won Stage #1, won Stage #2, 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 5th. Over the three races prior to that, Larson had results of 2nd, 5th and 1st.
DraftKings $11,500/ FanDuel $14,000

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

2) Christopher Bell
Start 12th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Bristol Outlook – Defending Bristol Night Race winner, Christopher Bell is a super-elite performer at Bristol and on Saturday night, he’ll be a driver to be reckoned with. In the Next Gen, Bell has the best Driver Rating, ranks 2nd for Speed and in terms of the results column minus this spring his average finish is 5.2. This spring, Bell likely ranked among the best but finished an asterisk mark 27th. In the race, Bell started 14th, drove up to finish 2nd in Stage #1 but then during the Stage #1 caution, he was caught speeding on pit road. That dropped Bell deep in the pack and then on lap 143 while running in 26th, he got loose, into the wall and then spun, damaging the #20. Over the first quarter of the race which was incident free for Bell, he ranked as having the 2nd fastest car on the track. Last summer in a high-tire wear race, Bell was impressive, racing his way to victory lane in clutch fashion with a pass from 3rd to the lead with 3-laps to go. In the race, Bell had an 11.4 average running position and only led 12 laps, but he bid his time and was up front when the trophy was on the line. Additionally, Bell earned the 6th best Driver Rating and ranked 9th for Total Speed Rankings. Last spring, Bell looked good. In the race, Bell finished 6th in Stage #1, finished 3rd in Stage #2, had a 7.3 average running position and then finished 8th overall. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Bell ranked 7th. Over the four races prior to that, Bell had results of 5th, 10th, 4th and 3rd.
DraftKings $10,700/ FanDuel $12,000

3) Ty Gibbs
Start 13th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Bristol Outlook – Spring winner, Ty Gibbs will be a contender at Bristol. Gibbs has been a standout performer in the Next Gen and over the combined races he ranks 4th for Speed, 4th for Driver Rating and has the 5th best average finish. “Performance Wise”, Gibbs could’ve easily won the last two races and if last summer was incident free, he would likely have three straight top 3’s. This spring, Gibbs came up clutch and raced his way to victory lane. In the race, Gibbs started 5th, looked bad early, finished Stage #1 in about 16th, finished Stage #2 in 7th, was in 2nd on lap 474 but then during a caution just after that, he got the lead by not pitting and he then hung tough and led the remainder of the race. Additionally, Gibbs led 25 laps (last 25), had a 7.6 average running position and earned the 3rd best Driver Rating. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Gibbs ranked 6th but take note his speed over the segments were 14th, 7th, 3rd and then 2nd. Last summer, Gibbs was the class of the field but finished an asterisk mark 10th. In the race, Gibbs finished 2nd in Stage #1, won Stage #2, led 201 laps and had a 4.8 average running position. In the last Stage during the final green flag pit cycle while leading, Gibbs had problems coming to pit road, which included him missing it which cost him a lot of time, leading to his asterisk mark result. Last spring, Gibbs had the 4th best average running position (6.6), earned the 5th best Driver Rating and then finished 3rd overall.
DraftKings $10,400/ FanDuel $13,000