The NASCAR Cup Series returns after a week off for Easter to races at Bristol Motor Speedway. The picks for Martinsville were nearly perfect. The drivers finished #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 and #6 in the scoring for the Fantasy Live game. The Bonus Picks were also 100% correct. Moving Chase Elliott to the Garage was a mistake, but the lineup still scored 279 points. The picks are now outscoring 94.4% of the entries on the nascar.com website. My goal every year is to outscore 99% of the entries, so we still have some work to do. I will do my best to keep the picks climbing to the top of your league standings.
STRATEGY FOR BRISTOL
NASCAR has had a passing problem at Bristol Motor Speedway. Kyle Larson led 462 of the 500 laps at Bristol in 2024. He came back last year and led 411 of the 500 laps. The 750 HP Package will be used this week to try and create more tire fall-off and more passing in the race. Will it work? The most similar track to Bristol Motor Speedway on the schedule this year was Darlington Raceway. The 750 HP Package was used in that race and Brad Keselowski led nearly half of the laps. I would not be surprised if one driver controlled the race Sunday and led over 300 laps again.
There are a handful of drivers who are really good at Bristol. Track history matters a lot in this race. The drivers who were fast on the long-runs in practice, qualified up front and have a history of running well at Bristol are the drivers in my lineup Sunday.
Here are the picks for the race at Bristol Motor Speedway…
RYAN BLANEY (7): Team Penske is at their best on the short tracks, so I will play Blaney this week. The No. 12 car posted the fastest speed on the long-runs in practice, he won the pole for the race and Blaney has the No. 1 pit stall. Blaney won at Phoenix, finished 3rd at Darlington and 6th at Martinsville using the 750 HP Package. The No. 12 car is my pick to win the Food City 500.
CHASE BRISCOE (9): Can we trust Briscoe at Bristol? The No. 19 team has had a slow start in 2026 after a hot ending in 2025. Briscoe led 127 laps and finished 9th in the last race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The No. 19 car did not look great in practice, but all of the Toyota’s were slow on the speed chart. They found speed in qualifying and I expect the Toyota’s to be fast in the race. I will take a chance with Briscoe in my Fantasy Live lineup at Bristol.
KYLE LARSON (7): Larson has a history of smoking the field at Bristol Motor Speedway. He led 411 laps, won both Stages and went to Victory Lane in the Food City 500 last year. He also led 462 laps, won both Stages and went to Victory Lane in the Bristol Night Race in 2024. The No. 5 car did not look great in practice, but Larson went out after the grip was taken out of the track. This is one of Larson’s best tracks, so I will use another allocation with the No. 5 car Sunday.
TY GIBBS (9): Gibbs is having his best season in the Cup Series. He finished 4th at COTA, 4th at Phoenix, 5th at Las Vegas, 6th at Darlington and 4th at Martinsville. The only two drivers who have been better than Gibbs at Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin. Now we get to see what Gibbs can do at his best track. He led 201 laps and finished 10th in the Bristol Night Race last year. He also finished 3rd in the Food City 500. If Gibbs is going to win a race this year, this is it. He is just too good this year and at this track to fade Sunday.
CARSON HOCEVAR (10): I am going to play with fire and take a chance with Hocevar Sunday. He posted the 2nd-fastest speed on the 15-lap, 20-lap and 25-lap speed charts and Hocevar qualified 10th for the race. He finished 7th at Bristol last year. Hacevar has the speed to finish in the top-10 again Sunday.
* If you want to play it safe, you can pivot from Carson Hocevar to Chris Buescher, or use another allocation with Denny Hamlin. I am running out of allocations with Hamlin, so I am giving the No. 11 car the week off.
(GARAGE PICK) CHRISTOPHER BELL (7): The speed that the Toyota’s have had this year and the speed of the No. 20 pit crew team should make Bell a threat to win Sunday. Bell won the last race at Bristol. His 5.4 average finishing position in the Gen-7 car at Bristol is the best in the Cup Series. Bell won the race last night from the middle of the pack. He can do the same Sunday.
Good luck and be sure to follow me on X (Twitter) @MrFantasyNASCAR. I will send out a Tweet during the race to let you know if I plan to swap out one of my drivers for my Garage pick.