Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Week 4 Preview: Bristol

Bristol Motor Speedway
Food City 500


By Richard Tix

NASCAR is moving onto its forth race of 2014. We have seen the Super Speedway (Daytona), the 1 mile track (Phoenix, and the NASCAR staple 1.5 mile track (Las Vegas). Now NASCAR fans finally get to see some short track racing. First short track up on the season, Bristol where rubbing truly is racing.

Last year, Kasey Kahne got an early season win at Bristol while holding off Kyle Busch (see the results here). Heading into Bristol this season, everyone from the top 5 in last years first Bristol stop could use a good finish, except Brad Keselowski who is already on a hot streak (1st- Kahne, 2nd- Ky Busch, 4th- Ku Busch, and 5th- Bowyer). One of these guys would love to get a win at Bristol and almost assure there spot in the Chase.

Take a look back at NASCAR Behind the Wall's Preview and Review from the first stop at Bristol in 2013.


The Good, Middle, and Bad
(This is just a review of each drivers recent past performance, generally about 5-10 past races)

The Good:
  • Kyle Busch- In the last 5 years (10 races) Rowdy has 4 wins at Bristol. Yet, he doesn't have a win here in his last 5 starts. Kyle should be due this season to pick up another win.
  • Jeff Gordon- If you throw out a few bad luck times out, Gordon's done well in the last 5 years at Bristol. He makes this list though becasue he is a 5 time winner here, plus 16 top 5's, and 23 top 10's. 
  • Paul Menard- You want a sleeper? Menard gets the third spot because of how he has run in his last 6 starts at Bristol. 5 of those 6 races he has ended up in the top 10 (the most top 10's in a 6 race span). He might not win like other "Good" drivers left off the list like Kurt, Jimmie, or Kenseth, but his name needs to be mentioned.
  • Extra Credit: Brian Vickers and Clint Bowyer
The Middle:
  • Brad Keselowski- Is he this up and down here? In the last 4 races here he has finished well (1st and 3rd) in the first Bristol race of the year and poor in the second (30th and 30th). He has 8 career starts at Bristol with 2 wins, but also those two 30th place finishes, thats a middle man. Dale Jr could also be mentioned in this spot and both have started out 2014 hot.
  • Extra Credit: Kasey Kahne
The Bad:
  • Aric Almirola- 9 career starts at Bristol and he has 5 finishes of 35th or higher. Not the kind of stat you want to your name. 
  • AJ Allmendinger- 11 career starts and he has yet to break the top 10 once. He also has a 25.7 career average finish position at Bristol. AJ is looking on to next week already.
  • Tony Stewart- Not showing up much on this list, Smoke cant hide forever. In his last 6 races here he has averaged a 24.33 finish with only one finish in the top 15 and only two in the top 20. In 29 career races he has 1 win, 6 top 5's and only 8 top 10's.
Track Stats:
  • Since 2006 (16 races) Chevy has only won 4 races
  • Since that same time Toyota has 6 wins, Ford 3, and Dodge 3.
  • Both Kyle and Kurt Busch have swept both Bristol races in a season. Kyle in 2009 and Kurt in 2003. 
  • Last time someone won from the Pole was 8/23/2008 by Carl Edwards
  • The last 5 races have all been won by a driver qualifying in the top 10
  • Kyle Busch is the only driver in the last 17 races to qualify outside the top 10 and win (All 5 of his career wins)
Will a Busch Brother win this week? Who will run up front? Let me know what you think on Twitter!

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