Bristol is a half-mile bullring made of concrete, and the surface chews through tires fast. The track rewards patience early and aggression late, which is exactly why the Night Race has a history of separating contenders from pretenders. This is the third race of the Chase, and every driver in the 16-car field is still fighting for the same 500 laps.
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Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NAS $125K Burnout [$25K to 1st] (Cup)
Top DraftKings Picks for the Enjoy Illinois 300
- Denny Hamlin ($11,000) — DraftKings prices him below both Larson and Blaney this week. His season-long wARP leads the whole field at 7.2. Three of his last five Bristol finishes were first, fourth, and second.
- Kyle Larson ($11,500) — The highest price tag on the slate belongs to him, mostly because of his recent win at Gateway. Two wins and six top-five finishes came in his last seven Bristol races. That track record makes the price tag easier to justify.
- Ryan Blaney ($11,200) — Nobody in the field has a better Bristol record than he does. That average finish sits at 6.6, and it keeps improving. Three wins this season back that up, along with a season-long wARP of 8.1, second only to Hamlin’s.
- Christopher Bell ($10,700) — This is the track where he won last year’s Night Race. A 33-race winless streak just ended for him at Darlington. Across the summer’s short tracks, he is averaging an 8.7 finish, second-best in the field.
- Ty Gibbs ($10,400) — The spring race at Bristol went to him. His No. 54 JGR Toyota has been the most consistent short-track car this year besides Blaney’s. Over the rest of the summer short-track slate, he is averaging an 8.0 finish.
- Chase Briscoe ($9,900) — Nothing flashy shows up on his Bristol resume. He is averaging a 7.8 finish across five starts here. This track has never given him worse than a 13th-place finish.
- Joey Logano ($9,500) — His five-year average finish at Bristol is 17.2, which looks bad on paper. The last two races tell a better story, a fifth and a seventh. Penske’s short-track program has been strong lately, and he already has two wins this season.
- Tyler Reddick ($8,500) — With five wins this season, Reddick leads the Cup Series. None of those wins came at a track like Bristol. His average finish at The Last Great Colosseum sits at 17.4, his worst number at any track type he runs often.
- Bubba Wallace ($7,500) — Bristol has not been kind to him in the past. His average finish is 19.2. A price this low for a Toyota at a short track makes him worth a shot in a GPP lineup.
- Brad Keselowski ($8,100) — The 2012 champion should not be forgotten this week. A runner-up finish to Bell came in last year’s Night Race. Keselowski should have won that race. His average finish at Bristol is 12.2 in the Gen-7 package.
- Carson Hocevar ($7,900) — Aggressive driving separates him from most of the field. That style sometimes pays off at Bristol. A 14.6 average finish and a group-worst wARP of 16.0 say the floor is low, but his ceiling can show up on any given night.
- Chris Buescher ($8,300) — Low ownership follows him into most fields. His average finish at Bristol driving an RFK Ford is 14.0, and he has not had a bad race here yet. This consistency makes him a leverage play.
- Ryan Preece ($7,000) — Buescher’s Bristol numbers and his look almost identical. The RFK Fords have been strong in the bullring that is Bristol. His short-track roots keep showing up in that same range every time.
- Chase Elliott ($8,700) — A 17.0 average finish at Bristol tells the story for the No. 9 Hendrick Chevrolet this year. This track has not suited him the way it used to. Two wins elsewhere this season keep him relevant anyway.
- William Byron ($9,200) — His Bristol numbers are the softest of this group, a 20.0 average finish across five starts. He has not finished inside the top 15 here since 2024. This is a fade more than a play, but the price reflects that.
