Food City Dirt Race Preview Article

VirginiaCavs

CTG Super Moderator
Staff member
Food City Dirt Race Preview and Best Bet

NASCAR Cup Series: Food City Dirt Race
Sunday, March 28, 2021 at 3:30 p.m. ET (FOX) at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee

Race Info

NASCAR Cup Series’ upcoming Food City Dirt Race will take place at Bristol where its concrete surface has turned into a dirt one for this event.

This competition will be contested over 250 laps, after which drivers whose cars are still running will have accumulated 133.25 miles.

There are three Stages for this event.

Stage 1 and Stage 2 both require 75 laps. The final Stage will take 100 laps to complete.

Like in previous weeks, an entry list for this event has been posted. 39 cars will participate.

Pit stops, however, are going to be different.

Unless there is an incident, drivers will only be permitted to perform maintenance actions like refueling and tire-changing during a break between stages.

Starting Lineup

Because this event is unique — it’s been over 50 years since a NASCAR Cup Series event was run on dirt — the preparation for it will also be unique.

Due to COVID, practice and qualifying sessions have generally been scrapped, depriving us of opportunities to see the drivers and their cars navigate the course before the event.

But for this upcoming event, there will be both practicing and qualifying.

There will be two practice sessions, each of which are allotted 50 minutes.

For qualifying, which will determine the starting line up, there will be three heats.

Three of the heats will consist in 10 drivers and one in nine drivers.

Team owner points will be used to determine the starting position for these heats.

Each qualifying heat will be 15 laps. Drivers will gain a point for every position that they advance.

If there are any tiebreakers, team owner points will be used.

Track Info

This track that drivers will compete on this Sunday is different from what they have experienced previously in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Different drivers have widely different levels of experience on dirt tracks. So driver history will be a key factor to consider.

Competitors are speculating how the race will unfold with one expectation being that the race will run more slowly than it normally would on Bristol’s concrete track.

On a dirt surface, car handling feels different and functions differently than on other surfaces.

Drivers will need to have a feel for the surface. One common feature of a dirt surface is the slickness that drivers will have to contend with.

Before the event, drivers will obviously make adjustments to their cars. They will want to keep dirt from intruding into their vehicle to possibly interrupt its optimal functionality.

But given the lack of experience in preparing for and racing on this type of surface, problems are going to be inevitable.

Preparation is also complicated by the fact that a dirt racing surface will transform rather radically throughout the race.

My Guy

Because NASCAR’s Cup Series had not offered a dirt racing event since today’s competitors were alive, we have to look outside of the Cup Series for predictive guidance.

Kyle Larson is easily the most accomplished driver on this type of surface, as evidenced by his 2020 win percentage and win total on the dirt racing surface.

So his success on dirt is both great and recent.

In his overall recent history, his driving has been fast and superb. So even if he weren’t the proven and excellent dirt track racer that he is, you’d expect him to at least be in the running to win.

He has finished top-two in two of NASCAR’s last three events.

With all of the extra variables for this race, Larson is a known element that you can depend on.

Best Bet: Kyle Larson Winner at +250 with Bovada
 
These guys are having trouble beating Larson on normal tracks. Good luck on dirt. Lol. I'll have some more thoughts later in the week.

Larson and Bell are on a tier by themselves. This week. Briscoe, Dillon are probably next. Stewart Friesen, a hired gun from the truck series, is an ok longshot.

Bubba has a win on a dirt track in the truck series at El Dora.
 
No qualifying now. Heat races were cancelled because of rain. Will go back to formula for determining starting grid.
 
I went with Bowman at +1300. Who knows what will happen. I will probably bet some matchups tomorrow, but only at +money.
I was hoping to learn something from the heat races.

I don't really want to play Larson at those odds from the back. This is setting up, with the rain etc, to be a total crash fest.

I may play Bell at +800.

I think all these cancelations really help the guys that figured to be the main contenders. The cup guys were counting of the heats to gain some knowledge of the track. Harvick and a few more entered the truck race too. But now the truck race is after the Cup race tomorrow night.
 
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- NASCAR feverishly tried to save its ballyhooed first Cup Series dirt race since 1970 from turning into a total disaster, the likes not seen since the 2008 tire debacle at Indianapolis made for one of the worst events in the sport's history.

Should have run this at Eldora....I'm probably sitting this one out as far as betting goes.
 
My book now has Bowman at +1700, so I put some more on him. Probably dumb.

I took Bell +137 over Larson

I may add more at +money
 
On Draftkings under Grid Position of Winner, they do have over position 8.5 at -122

Taking the over you will not have Larson (1), Blaney (3), Hamlin (2), Kyle Busch(4), Bowman (7) of the people that may win, but you will get everyone else. I don't think Truex, Byron, or Harvick have a shot at winning, but you will not get those guys either.
 
On Draftkings under Grid Position of Winner, they do have over position 8.5 at -122

Taking the over you will not have Larson (1), Blaney (3), Hamlin (2), Kyle Busch(4), Bowman (7) of the people that may win, but you will get everyone else. I don't think Truex, Byron, or Harvick have a shot at winning, but you will not get those guys either.
oooh - I think I like that
 
Truex rolled in the truck race and is keeping it up. Huge for him that crash with Bell and Larson. Larson was crazy fast.
 
Back
Top