2025 Food City 500 Predictions

The Last Great Colosseum. NASCAR’s best roll into the high-banked half mile of Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) for a short track showdown. Bristol is slated to be run on the concrete for the second year in a row after a hiatus on the red clay. Short track racing and the Gen 7 have produced some well-documented concerns. However, BMS’s lore lives through its many iconic moments, like the final lap bump and run by Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt’s famed quote, “I didn’t mean to turn him around, I was just trying to rattle his cage.” Saturday practice and qualifying led to significant concerns of tire chording. Hopefully, this means we get a competitive, throwback tire management short track race. 

Driver to Fade: 

The New Zealander driving the #88 Chevrolet will have his time in the spotlight over the summer with road courses still to come. His oval track prowess was a clear work in progress since he joined the Trackhouse team. There is a very good chance SVG’s sponsors will get a lot of airtime, but it is likely because he is getting lapped by the frontrunners. We are picking Shane van Gisbergen to finish outside of the top 30. 

Dark Horse:

Allow him to introduce himself: Jesse Love. Love is making his NASCAR Cup Series debut. Love is a full-time driver in the Xfinity Series for Richard Childress Racing, currently sitting third in the points. He will be rolling off in 19th place in the #33 RCR C4 Energy Chevrolet. A successful debut is typically keeping it rolling in the right direction and in one piece. Many of the NASCAR veterans are impressed with his confidence and poise when he straps into the car. We expect him to run all 800 laps this weekend and bring it home in the top 20 for a solid debut. 

Top 10:

C Bell was red hot to start this year with back-to-back-to-back wins, but has since cooled off. The speed has been there in the past few weeks, but the execution and results have not been as consistent. The #20 Toyota will roll off P7 for today’s race. Look for back-to-back solid races to shape back up into championship form for Christopher Bell after going scorched Earth early in the season. We predict a top ten finish for Bell. 

Winner: 

Did you watch the clinic he put on during the Xfinity Series race in the #17, leading all but 23 laps? Maybe you missed that. How about him finishing one position short of another win at Bristol in the Craftsman Truck Series on Friday? The truth is, this may come down to a heavyweight battle between Larson, Hamlin and Blaney. Hamlin is the king of tire conservation. Blaney wants a better ending after last week’s heartbreak. Larson is trying to lay claim to being the King of the Last Great Coliseum. We believe Kyle Larson is the man to break up the second threepeat win streak for Joe Gibbs Racing. Yung Money wins #31 on the career.