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NASCAR: Fantasy racing picks for second Bristol race

By Matt Lovisa

BRISTOL, TN - APRIL 24: Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, and Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota, lead a pack of cars during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 24, 2017 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
BRISTOL, TN - APRIL 24: Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, and Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota, lead a pack of cars during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 24, 2017 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images) /
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It’s time to get your fantasy racing lineups set as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the final trip to Thunder Valley in 2017.

With qualifying results already in the books, now is the perfect time to set your fantasy racing lineup for Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the 0.533-mile Bristol Motor Speedway oval in Bristol, Tennessee.

Bristol is a track where choosing drivers who start farther back in the pack can provide some upside to your team’s points total. At the same time, this is a 500-lap race, which means there are a lot of laps available to lead, so choosing a driver who can dominate from the front is a good idea too.

But with any race at this point in the season, late-race strategy can have an impact on your fantasy racing team’s point total. That’s an important factor to make note of; just take a look at last week’s race at Michigan.

Toyota Trio

Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch will all have good chances of winning at Bristol. Kenseth has been a factor at the end of the past two races and as the playoffs inch closer, his ability to contend for a chance to win continues to improve.

Truex Jr. is a factor to win each and every week, no matter what track the series is racing on. Truex has a car capable of leading a lot of laps at Bristol and he should be on most starting lineups just for that factor.

Kyle Busch won the truck race on Wednesday night and picked up his 91st win in the Xfinity Series on Friday night. Busch has swept all three races at Bristol before and looks to be on track to do that again.

Stewart-Haas Racing Duo

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Kevin Harvick will start 29th and Kurt Busch will start in 25th on Saturday night. Both drivers are previous winners at Bristol, with Harvick’s victory coming more recently. Both drivers start far enough back for some upside on position differential, and both drivers have shown the ability to lead laps and lead a lot of them here.

Lower-Priced Options to Choose from

Cole Whitt will start from the 32nd position and has proven before his ability to finish inside the top 20 on the short tracks in the Cup Series. Whitt will have a lot of ground to make up, but as long as he can stay out of trouble, he should have a good opportunity to do so.

Matt DiBenedetto will start from the 34th position, and although he most likely won’t finish as high as his sixth place finish in the spring 2016 Bristol race, he will have a chance to finish inside the top 20.

Next: Five dark horse drivers would could win at Bristol

Be sure to check back with Beyond the Flag after every Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race for updated stage and playoff points! Also be sure to follow Beyond the Flag on both Instagram and Twitter. Also, don’t forget to follow along with Beyond the Flag for the latest news, opinions and analysis stemming from a number of different motorsports series. You don’t want to miss any of it.

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