NASCAR at Bristol LIVE updates, picks, predictions, odds, Daily Fantasy advice: Kyle Busch is on the pole

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday for some short-track racing at The World's Fastest Half Mile. Green flag on the 500-mile thriller is was scheduled to fly at 2pm ET, then moved back an hour to 1pm.  

Last week we correctly predicted that Kyle Busch would take the checkered flag at Texas Motor Speedway. With that said, here are our picks to win as well as in daily fantasy for this weekend's action. 

Our pick: Kyle Busch

Busch did it for us last week and we have no reason to believe he won't get the job done again this time around. Rowdy is the active wins leader at Bristol with six trips to Victory Lane and won at the track last summer as well.

In baseball, there are players called streaky hitters, where they get hot and string together a stretch of really strong appearances at the plate. Busch is NASCAR's version of a streaky hitter and you gotta get behind him while the tires are warm. Last season's playoff run was a good example of that, when Busch won at New Hampshire, Dover and Martinsville before finishing runner-up to Martin Truex Jr. at Homestead.

Oh yeah, we forgot to mention Busch is starting on the pole as well. At short tracks like Bristol, starting position is critical as its easy to fall behind and go multiple laps down. That's why we're going nowhere near Kevin Harvick this week, who is starting last after crashing in practice.

Contenders: Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski

OK so we know what you're probably thinking: these guys are just picking the top three qualifiers! Well that's true, but for good reason. While Kyle Busch is the active wins leader at the track, his brother Kurt Busch is right behind him with five checkered flags. Busch now has to join Harvick in the rear of the field after crashing in practice, but we believe he's good enough to work his way up to the front despite the issue. Expect him to work with Harvick on his way up. 

As for Keselowski, he's no stranger to Victory Lane at The World's Fastest Half Mile either. Keselowski won back-to-back races at Bristol in the 2011 and 2012 seasons and is in prime starting position to accomplish the feat yet again. He's yet to clinch his spot in the playoffs, but like Stewart-Haas Racing, Team Penske has also marched out powerful Fords each and every week. We think there's a strong chance Keselowski can bring Roger Penske his first win and guaranteed spot in the playoffs this weekend.

Wild Card: Alex Bowman

Bowman is far from a veteran but we're sure he'd like to leave his track experience here in the rear-view mirror. In four starts, Bowman has an average finish of 29, however he wasn't driving for Hendrick Motorsports back then. This time around in the No. 88, Bowman qualified eighth and ran top 10 in practice.

Do we think Bowman is going to win this race outright? Absolutely not. Is he worth throwing a few bucks on at 100 to 1 odds? Absolutely yes. 

Must-play in Daily Fantasy: Denny Hamlin

Honorable mention goes to Martin Truex Jr. here but SportsLine talked us out of that one. Despite being one of the Vegas favorites, SportsLine has Truex finishing well out of the top 10. Hamlin on the other hand is a much safer choice. He's been to Victory Lane once before at Bristol, so we know he has what it takes to win there. 

Hamlin is far from the most expensive option at $9,500 in DraftKings. That's lower than Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson. The reason Hamlin is a sexy pick however is because of his starting position. The No. 11 is set to roll off at 25th, meaning if he can finish with a top 10 there will be a huge reward for those that played him thanks to place differential. 

Odds to win the 2018 Food City 500

Betting odds for Sunday's race are provided by VegasInsider.com

• Kyle Busch 3/1
• Kevin Harvick 9/2
• Kyle Larson 6/1
• Martin Truex Jr. 13/2
• Brad Keselowski 12/1
• Denny Hamlin 12/1
• Erik Jones 12/1
• Joey Logano 12/1
• Chase Elliott 15/1
• Jimmie Johnson 15/1
• Ryan Blaney 15/1
• Clint Bowyer 20/1
• Kurt Busch 20/1
• Aric Almirola 30/1
• Jamie McMurray 60/1
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 60/1
• Daniel Suarez 75/1
• Ryan Newman 75/1
• Alex Bowman 100/1
• Austin Dillon 100/1
• Paul Menard 100/1
• Trevor Bayne 100/1

Qualifying results for the Food City 500

1. Kyle Busch
2. Kurt Busch (to the rear of the field after crashing in practice)
3. Brad Keselowski
4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
5. Ryan Blaney
6. Kyle Larson
7. Paul Menard
8. Alex Bowman
9. Michael McDowell
10. Joey Logano
11. William Byron
12. Daniel Suarez
13. Erik Jones
14. Clint Bowyer
15. Kasey Kahne
16. Chase Elliott
17. Jimmie Johnson (to the rear after changing a tire in practice)
18. AJ Allmendinger
19. Aric Almirola
20. Darrell Wallace Jr.
21. Austin Dillon
22. Chris Buescher
23. David Ragan
24. Matt DiBenedetto
25. Denny Hamlin
26. Martin Truex Jr.
27. Ross Chastain
28. Gray Gaulding
29. Landon Cassill
30. Ryan Newman
31. Jamie McMurray
32. Ty Dillon
33. Trevor Bayne
34. Corey LaJoie
35. DJ Kennington
36. Reed Sorenson
37. Harrison Rhodes

How to watch the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500

Location: Bristol Motor Speedway
Date: Sunday, April 15
Time: 1:22 p.m. ET 
Length: 500 laps/266.5 miles
Stage 1: Ends on lap 125
Stage 2: Ends on lap 250
Final stage: Scheduled for lap 500
TV: Fox
Live stream: fuboTV (Try for free) 

LIVE updates

Follow along with all the action Sunday from the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.