NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Cup Series Preview
By Jay Horne of NASCARWagers.com
For the first time in over 50 years, NASCAR’s Cup Series will return to the dirt for Sunday’s Food City Bristol Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile” has been transformed into a dirt racing fan’s dream with steep banking and fast speeds that will put on a full week of racing festivities over the next several days. Last week, the Bristol Dirt Nationals took center stage featuring numerous divisions and fantastic racing that featured many Cup Series stars including Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, and Joey Logano. This week the focus will turn to NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series and Cup Series that will race on Saturday and Sunday for one of the most anticipated events in recent history.
As many should expect, there will be several different rules changes this week that will impact the racing on Saturday and Sunday. Therefore, I wanted to highlight the changes the fans should anticipate this week and also breakdown the schedule of events for this weekend’s festivities. Personally, I am looking forward to the betting opportunities that both races present. In the Pinty’s Dirt Truck Race, several Cup Series drivers will suit-up for competition including the likes of Martin Truex, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, and Ryan Newman. On an interesting side note, Stewart Friesen’s wife Jessica Friesen will also make her 1st career start in the #62 truck. Needless to say, there will be a ton of high-profile and interesting names that will surely spice up the competition. We will dive deeper into the races and provide our betting picks later in the week. For now, take a look at what to expect this week at Bristol!
Bristol Dirt Format
For the first time since the Daytona 500, teams and drivers will have the luxury of participating in practices this week to get accustomed to the dirt surface and finely tune their machines. Both the Truck Series and Cup Series will host two separate 50 minute practices on Friday. On Saturday, the field will be broken down into 4 different qualifying heat races for each series. The lineup for the qualifying heat races will be based on a random draw. Interestingly, the format to set the grid for the Pinty’s Dirt Truck Race and the Food City Bristol Dirt Race will be determined by a combination of the heat race finishing positions with an incentive given towards passing points. Basically, drivers will earn points based on place differential which is identical to Draftkings fantasy racing scoring. The place differential points will be added to the finishing position points and ultimately set the official lineup for each event.
*Place differential points will be added to final points awarded to compile the starting lineup for each race. Tie-breakers will be decided by current owner’s points.
| Position | Points |
| 1 | 10 |
| 2 | 9 |
| 3 | 8 |
| 4 | 7 |
| 5 | 6 |
| 6 | 5 |
| 7 | 4 |
| 8 | 3 |
| 9 | 2 |
| 10 | 1 |
The feature for the Pinty’s Dirt Truck Race will be divided into 3 stages at laps 40, 90, and concluding on lap 150. For the Food City Bristol Dirt Race, the stages will fall on laps 75, 150, and conclude on lap 250. Bristol Dirt Rules Changes
- Choose rule will not be in effect
- At the end of each stage break, non-competitive pit stops will be held for teams to add fuel, change tires, and make adjustments. Fuel and tire changes cannot be made during non-stage break cautions.
- Non-competitive pit stops means that drivers will not lose their positions in the pits. The field will be frozen at the time of caution. The only exception pertains to drivers that elect to forego pit stops will start ahead of drivers that elected to pit.
Bristol Dirt Weekend Schedule
| Friday, March 26th | |
|---|
| 3:05-3:55PM | Truck Series Practice 1 |
| 4:05-4:55PM | Cup Series Practice 1 |
| 5:35-6:25PM | Truck Series Final Practice |
| Saturday, March 27th | |
|---|
| 4:30 PM | Truck Series Qualifying Heat Race #1 |
| 4:45 PM | Truck Series Qualifying Heat Race #2 |
| 5:00 PM | Truck Series Qualifying Heat Race #3 |
| 5:15 PM | Truck Series Qualifying Heat Race #4 |
| 6:00 PM | Cup Series Qualifying Heat Race #1 |
| 6:15 PM | Cup Series Qualifying Heat Race #2 |
| 6:30 PM | Cup Series Qualifying Heat Race #3 |
| 6:45 PM | Cup Series Qualifying Heat Race #4 |
| 8:00 PM | Pinty’s Dirt Truck Race (40/90/150) |
| Sunday, March 28th | |
|---|
| 3:30 PM | Food City Bristol Dirt Race (75/150/250) |