Race Information

Race: Bass Pro Shop NRA Night Race
Laps: 500
Date: August 17th (Saturday Night)
Venue: Michigan International Speedway
2018 Winner: Kurt Busch (2:58:35)
Broadcast: NBCSN

Track

Bristol Motor Speedway. Constructed in 1960, the Last Great Colosseum has its roots in authentic racing. This all concrete surfaced oval track features turns at 26-30 degrees with straightaways at 6-10 degrees. It’s short at just over half a mile (0.533) and be prepared for some bumping to occur here. This makes it both amazing to watch and tough to predict as many racers get knocked out mid-race. The sound that emits from this course is amazing.

Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Power Rankings

The Favorites

Denny Hamlin (sixth selection this year) — With five consecutive top five finishes, I'm riding this hot streak until it stops.

Joey Logano (fourth selection this year) — He has two wins here in the last five years, his last three races coming into this weekend have not been excellent but he did finish 3rd at Bristol earlier this season.

High Risk / High Reward

Daniel Suarez (third selection this year) — He has a good track record at Bristol, an 8th place finish earlier this year to go with an average top 20 finish the last two years here. In addition he cracked a top five finish last week after a few outside the top ten.

Ryan Newman (sixth selection this year) — He has an average finish of 11th place here over the last three years. He comes into this night race with top 15 finishes in five of his last six races.

The Dark Horse

Jimmie Johnson (sixth selection this year) — His recent racing has me nervous (finishing 30th or worse three of the last five races but he did average a top seven finisher here the last two years. He also finished 10th here earlier this year.

2019 Results

Favorite: Avg Finish 13th (34th Percent)
High Risk/High Reward: Avg Finish 11th (29th Percent)
Dark Horse: Avg Finish 18th (49th Percent)