NASCAR Betting Pick: Food City Dirt Race Top 10 Finish

Sunday’s Food City Dirt Race from Bristol, Tennessee, marks the first time that the NASCAR Cup Series has raced on a dirt track in over 50 years. It’s going to be a thrilling change of pace for the sport and for NASCAR betting sites everywhere.

With change comes uncertainty and that’s what this race will bring. Typically, Bristol means short track racing where we see bumping, crashes, and the closest thing to a demolition derby in NASCAR. This weekend, it’s unclear what we will see. But, that’s what is so captivating about this race.

Austin Dillon won the 604 late model main event last night at Bristol …. https://t.co/tu6ErtVk53

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 21, 2021

One driver that we can be certain about is Austin Dillon. He’s had a fair amount of success in dirt racing and this weekend’s event could be just what he needs to get back into victory lane.

Dillon’s Food City Dirt Race Betting Odds

• To Win (+900)
• Top 5 (+200)
• Top 10 (-125)

Austin Dillon comes into this weekend’s Food City Dirt Race as the third highest odds on favorite to win the event. He’s behind Kyle Larson (+250) and Christopher Bell (+550).

Dillon’s dirt track resume isn’t as prolific as Bell and Larson, but he does have some dirt track wins under his belt.

Dirt Track Experience

One of Dillon’s earliest dirt track accomplishments was when he won the inaugural dirt race at Eldora for the NASCAR Truck Series in 2013.

More recently, he won heats and races as the Bristol Dirt Nationals last week. Dillon outperformed some of his NASCAR peers like Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, and Kyle Busch. He was the only NASCAR Cup Series driver to win a race at the Dirt Nationals.

2021 Season So Far

Dillon finished 3^rd in the Daytona 500 season, but then had a few straight subpar performances. Yet, he turned things around last weekend when he finished 6^th at Atlanta. He now has one Top 5, Two Top 10s, and a 14.0 average finish on the year.

Austin sits 11^th in the driver standings and 14^th in Playoff Points. I believe he will improve these standings this weekend with a strong run at Bristol.

Take Dillon to Finish in the Top 10

Dillon hasn’t won a race this year, but he has been highly competitive in a few. His performance last week at the Bristol Dirt Nationals gives me confidence that Dillon can produce a solid result this weekend.

I really like Dillon’s Top 10 odds of -125. This line offers great value for a driver that’s averaging a 14.0 finish on the season and has had success in recent dirt track races. I like Dillon to finish inside the Top 10 and possibly even the Top 5.