Kyle Busch is the 2-1 favorite for NASCAR at Bristol 2018 on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET for the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. The second race this season at Bristol Motor Speedway, the 2018 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race features a highly competitive field battling on a tight half-mile track. With two pit roads and fans right on top of the track, it's shaping up to be a rowdy night of racing. Behind Busch on the 2018 NASCAR at Bristol odds board is Kyle Larson, who's listed at 9-4. Busch and Larson finished 1-2 at Bristol in April.
Before you make any NASCAR at Bristol picks for the big night race, you need to see what Micah Roberts has to say. As a Vegas bookmaker, Roberts was the first to offer expanded NASCAR betting. Now he hands out winners to his followers.
Roberts has nailed two of the last three race winners. Last week, he called for Harvick to dominate at Michigan, and he did just that for his seventh win of the season. Three weeks ago, he was all over Busch at Pocono, pointing to not only his 26 career starts at the track, but also his motivation to win after a late bump from Harvick the week before. Sure enough, Busch rallied from the 28th position for the checkered flag.
Those are just the latest examples in a string of winners picked by Roberts. Earlier this season, he was all-in on Harvick at the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 despite two other drivers having the same field-leading odds. The result: Harvick dominated, leading for 181 of 325 laps and cruising to victory by 2.69 seconds.
Also this season, Roberts was very high on Clint Bowyer at the STP 500, a race in which he snapped his 190-race winless streak. And at the Food City 500, he said Busch "owned" Bristol and would come away with the win -- he rallied to finish .63 seconds ahead of Larson for the checkered flag.
In the 2017 playoffs, Roberts picked nine of 10 winners. That was no fluke: In 2016, he told readers to back Denny Hamlin at 15-1 in the Daytona 500. The result: Hamlin edged Martin Truex for the checkered flag. Roberts also nailed Hamlin at 40-1 to win at Watkins Glen later that year.
Now, he has analyzed the 2018 NASCAR Bristol Night Race from every possible angle and locked in his picks. You can see his entire projected leaderboard at SportsLine.
We can tell you he's not picking Larson, noting the odds are too low despite his strong success at the track.
"He had a career-best second-place finish in the April race and led a race-high 200 laps. He's led 472 total laps in the last three Bristol races," Roberts told SportsLine. "He's desperate for a 2018 win and the low odds on Larson show the sportsbooks believe he's going to win soon. However, there are far better odds in this very tough 2018 NASCAR at Bristol field."
One driver Roberts is high on: Clint Bowyer, who's listed at 30-1 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race odds.
"Bowyer finished eighth in the April Bristol race, just behind Stewart Haas Racing teammate Harvick, and finished second at Dover just behind Harvick," Roberts told SportsLine. "He has no wins in 25 starts, but he does have seven top-five finishes, including being runner-up in this race last season. He also won a 2008 Xfinity Series race at Bristol." Bowyer is an underrated driver you need to be all over on Saturday.
But for the win, Roberts is banking on an underdog with double-digit odds who has showcased his skills at Bristol in the past. Vegas isn't giving him enough credit, so anyone who backs this driver could hit it big. Roberts also has a massive long shot in his top 5 that would pay off huge with a victory whom he says is "definitely worth a bet this week."
So who wins the 2018 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race? And which longshots should you be all over? Visit SportsLine now to see the full projected leaderboard from the nation's premier NASCAR handicapper, and find out.
