Early Week Driver Rankings for Bristol

The MENCS heads back to Bristol Motor Speedway this week for Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. This is one of the best races of the year and a trip to Thunder Valley should be on each race fan’s bucket list. In 1992 I made a trip to Bristol for my first ever race and it is where my love for the sport began. It is simply an awesome place. The race can be seen Saturday night at 7:30 PM ET on NBC Sports Network.

Since this is a Saturday night race, NASCAR will have a unique schedule this week. There will be two practices Fridays (10:30 AM ET and 12:30 PM ET, both on NBCSN). Qualifying will take place Friday evening at 5:30 PM ET NBCSN, followed by the Xfinity Series Race.

Each week I use different stats in my model to create the best rankings possible to give you an edge on the completion. This week I used the results from the first Bristol race, average finishing position on short tracks this season, Driver Ranking at Bristol, Green Flag Pass % at Bristol (We want drivers who can pass other cars) and average finishing position in the last 6 races (We want drivers who have momentum).

My early week pick for the pole is Kyle Busch. He has won the pole for the last two races at Bristol, including the race in Thunder Valley in April. Busch leads the series in average starting position at Bristol and he has won the most poles in 2018. The No. 18 car has been very fast this season so this should be an easy pick.

Here are the early week driver rankings for Bristol…

* I will post my final driver rankings after qualifying Friday evening.

*Stats from Driveraverages.com and career stats from Racing-Reference.Info…

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