Drive to Stop Diabetes 300 Preview and Picks
Nationwide Series at Bristol
Date and Time: Saturday March 15th, 2014. 2:00PM Eastern
Where: Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol, T.N.
TV: ESPN2
Thunder Valley will roar to life when the green flag drops on the Nationwide Series’ Drive to Stop Diabetes 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. This will be the 4th stop on the circuit for the Nationwide Series drivers this season. Since winning the first race of the season at Daytona, Regan Smith has held the point lead by posting top 10 finishes in each of his 3 starts. Trevor Bayne is the only driver that has also posted top 10 finishes in each start this season and trails Smith by just 3 points. Elliot Sadler, Ty Dillon, and Chase Elliot are all within 14 points of the Championship lead. Needless to say the Championship race should be extremely interesting in the Nationwide Series once again this season just as it was a year ago.
Unfortunately for those guys, Nationwide Series regulars have won just once in the last 7 races at Bristol. The reason is simple and his name is Kyle Busch. Busch has been incredible at Bristol in all series of NASCAR but especially in the Nationwide Series. Not only has Busch won 5 of the last 7 races at Bristol in a Nationwide car but nearly all of those wins have come in dominating fashion. Busch laid down the fastest lap in the first practice session at 123.079mph and was wicked fast in race trim as well. Obviously Busch is a huge favorite to win the race at 2-1 odds which is dangerously low for a NASCAR race. However, it may be even more dangerous to leave Busch off your roster this weekend.
If Busch falters, most would expect either Matt Kenseth or Kevin Harvick to find victory lane. The two Sprint Cup Veterans have combined for 8 wins at Bristol in Nationwide Series cars with Harvick winning most recently between the two back in 2009. However if you plan on taking either Kenseth or Harvick, you are going to be giving up some value as both drivers are listed under 6-1 odds. Instead you may want to look at some of the less popular names. Elliot Sadler is the most recent Nationwide Series regular to win at Bristol in this race in 2012. Sadler finished 13th and 17th in the two practices on Friday. Sprint Cup driver Brian Scott was really fast in both practices posting the best 10 lap average on the day. Both of those guys will have some serious value from an odds standpoint.
Two more guys to consider putting on your roster includes a couple of rookies in Kyle Larson and Chase Elliot. Sprint Cup Series rookie Kyle Larson came just inches short of stealing this win away from Kyle Busch a year ago. Larson had the faster car and was able to pull along the outside of Busch on the last lap but could not make the pass. Larson not only finished 2nd in this race a year ago but posted another top 5 in the Nationwide Series at Bristol in the fall of 2013 as well. Larson has also been fast in the Sprint Cup cars thus far this weekend so it is apparent he has a knack for getting around the high banks of Bristol. Chase Elliot is a different type of rookie being this is his first year in the Nationwide Series but may have the brightest future of any young driver in either series. Elliot has been impressive in his few starts this season and was once again impressing on Friday as the fastest car in the 2nd practice session. Elliot also posted the 2nd best 10 lap average and it has become quite apparent that he is going to be a winner in the near future. How soon will the near future be? Well that is a question a lot of people cannot wait to find out.
NASCARWAGERS Picks to Win:
Kyle Busch +200 (2.5 units)
Kyle Larson +1500 (1 unit)
Matt Kenseth +500 (1 unit)
