Bristol Motor Speedway has been a staple of the NASCAR Cup Series schedule since 1961, but last year it took on a completely different shape as it was covered in dirt for the first-ever Bristol Dirt Race. Joey Logano won the event and will now return to Bristol on Sunday hoping to prove it wasn’t a fluke at the 2022 Food City Dirt Race. And after visibility issues caused by dirt and glare from the sun last season, NASCAR has decided to reschedule the 2022 NASCAR Bristol Dirt Race to the evening, with the green flag scheduled to drop at 7 p.m. ET.
Logano doesn’t have a long history of dirt due to his early start in stock car racing, but he’s still handled the conditions well over the past season and is 10-1 in the odds for the 2022 Food City Dirt Race by Caesars Sportsbook listed. Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell are both dirt racing legends, however, and top the NASCAR at Bristol odds board with Larson 7-2 and Bell 8-1. Before you start browsing the 2022 NASCAR Bristol Dirt Race grid and making NASCAR Bristol 2022 predictions, be sure to check out the latest 2022 Food City Dirt Race picks from SportsLine’s trusted projection model.
Developed by Daily Fantasy pro and SportsLine predictive data engineer Mike McClure, this proprietary NASCAR prediction model simulates each race 10,000 times, taking into account factors such as track history and current results.
In the 2021 season, McClure pinned Martin Truex Jr. to win in Martinsville with a strong 3-1 payout. Then Chase called Elliott to win at Road America with a 5-2 payout. McClure’s model also credited Larson’s win in Texas with an 11-4 payout and his win in Kansas with a 9-4 payout in consecutive weeks before pinning Larson to win the season finale in Phoenix and the 2021 NASCAR Cup championship to win.
Overall, it had five of Larson’s wins in a historic season and also went 12-7 in its head-to-head matchup predictions to start the 2022 season. Then last month, it was high for Ross Chastain to win in Austin, giving him a far better shot at victory than his 40-1 odds implied. Anyone who followed his example in these games saw tremendous returns on their NASCAR picks.
Now the model simulated the 2022 NASCAR Bristol Dirt race 10,000 times. Visit SportsLine for the full 2022 Food City Dirt Race leaderboard.
Top 2022 Food City Bristol Dirt Race Predictions
One surprise: The model ranks high on Tyler Reddick, despite him being a long way off at the last NASCAR 2022 on Bristol odds at 16-1. It is a destination for anyone looking for a big payday. The 26-year-old California native started out racing outlaw karts and gradually worked his way through mini sprints, midgets, dirt lates and sprint cars before moving on to stock car racing.
Now in his third full season in the NASCAR Cup Series, he’s making his first-ever appearance in the NASCAR Playoffs. Reddick finished 13th overall last season after amassing 16 top 10 finishes and will start Sunday’s race in 12th place. Last season he had an impressive seventh place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway after starting all the way back in 27th place.
And one massive shocker: Martin Truex Jr., one of the Vegas favorites at 10-1, stumbles big, narrowly cracking the top 10. There are far better stats on the starting lineup of the 2022 Food City Dirt Race. The 41-year-old won the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series championship and late in his career has become a fixture on the road to victory, having claimed 28 of his 31 career cup wins over the past six seasons.
However, Truex came off a very disappointing 22nd at Martinsville and 19th at Bristol after leading 126 laps last season. Truex now has just four top 10 finishes in 32 career cup starts at Bristol Motor Speedway (dirt or tarmac).
How to Make 2022 NASCAR Bristol Picks
The model also targets two other drivers with NASCAR 2022 at Bristol odds of 14-1 or greater to make a serious run to the checkered flag. Anyone who relies on these drivers could make it big. You can see all of the model’s NASCAR picks over at SportsLine.
So who will win the Food City Dirt Race 2022? And which totals land in the checkered flag? Check out the latest 2022 Bristol NASCAR odds below, then visit SportsLine for the full 2022 Food City Dirt Race standings, all of which are from the model that has five of Kyle Larson’s wins in the past correctly predicted the season.
2022 Food City Dirt Race Odds
Kyle Larson 7-2
Christopher Bell 8-1
Martin Truex Jr. 10-1
Joey Logano 10-1
William Byron 10-1
Ryan Blaney 12-1
Chase Briscoe 12-1
Track Elliott 12-1
Denny Hamlin 12-1
Kyle Bush 14-1
Tyler Reddick 16-1
Alex Bowman 17-1
Ross Chastain 20-1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 22-1
Kevin Harvick 25-1
Daniel Suarez 30-1
Austin Dillon 45-1
Kurt Bush 45-1
Brad Keselowski 60-1
Bubba Wallace 75-1
Eric Jones 75-1
Austin Cindric 75-1
Justin Haley 75-1
Chris Buescher 75-1
Cole Custer 75-1
Aric Almirola 150-1
Noah Gragson150-1
Todd Gilliland 250-1
Harrison Burton250-1
Ty Dillon 250-1
JJ Yeley 500-1
Michael McDowell 500-1
CodyWare 1000-1
Josh Williams1000-1
Corey Lajoie1000-1