Food City Dirt Race Picks and Predictions: Ring the Bell

It’s dirt track racing time in Bristol. Nascar returns to the only dirt track on the schedule for the third straight year and as was the case the first two times here, we’ll be using a new car and or package. This makes predicting the event even more difficult but doesn’t stop me from making any early Food City Dirt Race picks.    

Food City Dirt Race Opening Odds 

Food City Dirt Race Picks – Pre-Practice/Qualifying Bets

Drivers will have two practice sessions this Friday to fine-tune their machines then we set the field on Saturday night. Starting position hasn’t mattered for our two winners at this race however with Joey Logano and Kyle Busch starting 10th/11th respectively. 

Christopher Bell -105 over Tyler Reddick (DraftKings) Bet 1u to win .95u

Two of the sports best young drivers fared pretty well on the dirt last season. Tyler Reddick qualified 3rd. He finished 8th and 10th during the first two stages. And led 99 of the last 100 laps before being spun out by Chase Briscoe coming to the checkered.

Christopher Bell started the day in 2nd and was a top 3 car for the first two stages. He had the 5th fastest green flag speed during the race, and ultimately finished 7th on the day.

Red Dog has finished ahead of Bell in the first two Food City Dirt Races but wasn’t by any means the head-over-heels better driver. The JGR no.20 was plenty fast during last year’s race. And had he not begun the final stage 18th, could have seriously competed for a win with Reddick.

Both of these guys were great here last season and Bell was actually the better for a larger % of the race. A sign pointing to this matchup being closer than these odds indicate are their outright numbers. Reddick has the second shortest odds of +600 and Bell has the third shortest odds at +650.

Drivers with these outright and placement odds would normally be -110 or -115 in a matchup and CBell has been the more consistent driver in 2023. I’m grabbing this now before the odds potentially move in the no.20’s favor after practice or qualifying.  

See the Top 5 bet I already bet HERE

Richmond was an exciting race and we’re in for another first of the 2023 season. Make sure to check back later in the week for all my Food City Dirt Race Picks and Predictions.

Featured Image Credit: Logan Riely/Getty Images