Food City Dirt Race Betting Preview: Favorites, Values, and Longshots

Dirt racing is back for a second season on the Bristol short track as Joey Logano looks to outlast the field and win again. Find out who we're backing in the Food City Dirt Race.

Last season, NASCAR covered the Bristol Motor Speedway in dirt and clay, adding an exciting new element to the racing schedule. They will do it again on Easter Sunday for the first time in the new cars. In the first offering of this event, we witnessed poor visibility, hot tempers, and plenty of slipping and sliding. Expect more of the same on Sunday.

Once again, Kyle Larson tops the books as the favorite to win. Last season's inaugural Food City Dirt race winner, Joey Logano, can be found near the top of the books as well.

So far, only William Byron has won more than one race this season. It would not be a shock to see yet another new name cross the dusty strat finish line in first place this week.

Here are my outright picks for NASCAR's Food City Dirt Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee (odds via DraftKings Sportsbook, FoxBet).

Food City Dirt Race Odds Analysis

The favorite across the board is consistent. Everyone is predicting that Larson will win. Caesars is the lowest on him at +350. On FanDuel and WynnBet, he's currently offered at +450. DraftKings is giving him +550 odds to win. That said, FoxBet is where you can find his best price where he can be found at +650 odds.

Logano took home last season's checkered flag there. The best place to lay a bet on him is on Caesars at his +1000 listing. He's as low as +800 on DraftKings and FoxBet.

Check out our top-rated sportsbooks here

Food City Dirt Race Picks

Joey Logano (+1000 via Caesars)Martin Truex Jr. (+1400 via DraftKings)Erik Jones (+7500 via WynnBet)

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Food City Dirt Race Predictions

Logano (+1000)

Last season, heading into the first NASCAR dirt race at Bristol, most experts were backing drivers with extensive dirt track experience. Then, Logano found his way to victory lane. The No. 22 led the last 61 laps of the race and won in overtime.

Logano was impressive in being able to read the dirt. He kept up with the ever-changing track conditions well enough to keep himself up front despite a late caution.

The Pennzoil Mustang came in second last week at Martinsville. All told this season, he has four top 10 finishes through eight races. He does have a win at a short track this season if you count his victory in Los Angeles at the Busch Clash.

Truex Jr. (+1400)

While Logano may have left Bristol with the win last season, it was Martin Truex Jr. who led the most laps. The No. 19 car grabbed the lead from Kyle Busch at lap 9. He went on to win the first stage and lead a total of 126 laps before Daniel Suarez tracked him down to take the lead.

Truex Jr. had to settle for a 19th-place finish when the dust finally settled. But, he proved that he knew what he was doing in the unforgiving din that was the Bristol dirt race.

He had his run of three straight top 10 finishes snapped last week at Martinsville. In fact, he knew heading into the race that his car would not have the speed to compete for the win. He and the team will focus on getting him fast enough to run back up front this week.

Jones (+7500)

It's hard to find decent value on a longshot this week. Most of the drivers that ran well in last season's race are priced accordingly. So, we'll take a chance on Erik Jones who is the only top 10 driver from last year's race priced at over +2500. Jones survived the carnage of the 2021 Food City Dirt Race to hang on for a ninth-place finish.

What's more promising is how well he actually performed overall. The No. 43 car started the race from the 24th position. In spite of that, he spent 199 laps of the 253-lap run inside the top 15. What's more, he actually turned five of the fastest laps of the race.

So far this season, Jones has run inside the top five in all but two races. He’s even led at both Daytona and Fontana. He should be able to find his way to the front again on Sunday and, if he does, could very well contend for the win.

Where to Bet on the Food City Dirt Race

Here are our top-rated sportsbooks:

FanDuel SportsbookCaesars SportsbookDraftKings SportsbookPointsBetBetMGM

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Food City Dirt Race picks made 4/13/2022 at 1:17 p.m. ET