NASCAR: Who can pull off a Bristol dirt race upset?

Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell come into the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt race with the most dirt racing success among NASCAR Cup Series drivers, but there are a handful of other drivers who have the experience to knock off the favorites.

The NASCAR Cup Series is set to return to dirt racing for the first time since 1970 this Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway with the Food City Dirt Race.

Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell enter Sunday’s race as the odds-on favorites. Both drivers have had astronomical amounts of success when it comes to dirt track racing. Each has won a Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway, the closest comparison to the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt track.

Larson started his career racing USAC midgets and quickly became known as one of the best young dirt racers. He finished runner-up in the inaugural Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway in 2013. He came back three years later and won the race after leading 48 of 150 laps.

Like Larson, Bell too started his career in USAC, replacing Larson in 2013 when Larson moved up to NASCAR. Bell won in his first start at Eldora Speedway in the Truck Series in 2015. He led 106 of 154 laps.

But there are plenty of other drivers with dirt success who may just have what it takes to upset Larson and Bell. Let’s take a look at a few.

Austin Dillon

Austin Dillon definitely knows his way around dirt track ovals. He won the first ever Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway, leading 64 of 150 laps. He beat the aforementioned Larson and other top dirt racers to do so, including Bubba Wallace and Ken Schrader. Dillon finished in 10th and sixth place, respectively, in the following two races at Eldora Speedway.

Dillon got some experience racing in the Bristol Dirt Nationals leading up to this weekend. He ran in the 604 Late Models class and won feature races on Tuesday, March 16 and Saturday, March 20. While stock cars will race differently, running on that surface will certainly give him a sense of what to expect.

Bubba Wallace

Bubba Wallace doesn’t have the extensive background of dirt racing like other top contenders, but he does have an Eldora Speedway win. In 2014, he led 97 of 150 laps en route to a dominant victory. His biggest competitor, Larson, crashed late while trying to run him down.

Wallace is entered into the Truck Series race this Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway as well. Running that race will only help him in pursuit of his first career Cup Series victory the following afternoon.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

The majority of the top contenders have something in common. They’ve all won at Eldora Speedway in the Truck Series, and in the case of Larson and Dillon, they raced on the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt surface last week.

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Ricky Stenhouse Jr. didn’t do either of those things. In fact, he has only raced on dirt in a stock car once, and that was way back in 2008 in the ARCA Menards Series. He finished in second place behind Frank Kimmel at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

But similar to Larson and Bell, Stenhouse started his career on dirt and still runs on dirt pretty frequently. He began racing USAC sprint cars in 2004. He raced both sprint cars and midgets before moving up to stock cars in 2008.

Stenhouse co-owns Stenhouse Jr./Marshall Racing. The team competes in the World of Outlaws sprint car series, and Stenhouse himself regularly competes in dirt racing. He even won a race a USCS sprint car race last Friday night.

There are certainly a few other drivers in the field whose dirt experience can help them on Sunday also. Ryan Newman, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Cole Custer, William Byron and Chase Briscoe are all full-time Cup Series drivers who have competed in the Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway.

Briscoe actually won the 2018 race at the track in a photo finish.

Then there are the guys who got some experience racing in the Bristol Dirt Nationals. Past Cup Series champions Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch both raced in the super late model races last Friday. Busch won his heat race and finished in 13th place in the feature. Elliott didn’t experience the same success, crashing out of Friday night’s feature.

Multiple Cup Series regulars are entered into Saturday’s Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Briscoe, Wallace, Newman, Larson, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Daniel Suarez will all look to gather knowledge in preparation for Sunday’s race.

Sunday’s Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway is certainly one of the most anticipated NASCAR races in a long time. Larson and Bell should be at the front most of the race, but don’t be surprised if someone else steps up and takes the win.