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Who is hot and not entering the Bristol night race

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Kyle Busch's record in Bristol shows he's the man to beat this weekend.

The Cup Series heads to Bristol, Tennessee, for its annual night race at Bristol Motor Speedway (7:30p.m. ET on Saturday on NBCSN).

There are only three races left in the regular season and anything can happen on the half-mile track.

Here’s who is hot and not entering the race courtesy of Racing Insights.

Who is Hot

Kevin Harvick
• Won at Michigan (1st in Stage 1, 1st in Stage 2, 108 laps led)
• Won 7 of last 22 races
• Won 12 stages in 2018 (had 6 in all of 2017)
• Finished in Top 5 in 8 of last 10 races
• In 23 races in 2018, 19 top 10s (including 7 wins) & 4 finishes of 19th or worse
• Finished 8th or better in 6 straight Bristol races, including win in Aug. 2016 (7th in April)
• Started 29th, 11th in Stage 1, 3rd in Stage 2, finished 8th in this race one year ago
• Finished 7th or better, including 3 Top 5s, in the last 4 short track races
• Finished 8th or better in 7 of last 8 short track races

Chase Elliott
• Finished 9th at Michigan (34th in Stage 1, 13th in Stage 2); pit on Lap 37 due to vibration while running 20th
• Top 10 in the last four races
• Finished in Top 10 in 7 of last 10 races
• Finished 15th or worse in 3 of last 4 Bristol races (29th in April)
• Two top 10s in 5 career Bristol starts
• In last year’s race started 4th, 4th in Stage 1, 11th in Stage 2, 2 laps led, finished 18th; spun on
backstretch while running 6th on lap 396
• Top 10 in two of three short track starts in 2018

Kyle Busch
• Finished 3rd at Michigan (2nd in Stage 1, 2nd in Stage 2, 22 laps led)
• Won 6 of last 17 races
• Finished in top 5 in 10 of last 11 races
• Michigan was his 17th top-five finish in 2018, tying his most top 5s in a single season
• Finished in the Top 5 in 17 of 23 races this season
• Won last 2 Bristol races
• Finished 29th or worse in 5 of last 8 Bristol starts (4 DNFs)
• Leads active drivers with 7 wins and 2,233 laps led at Bristol
• Started 18th, 1st in Stage 1, 8th in Stage 2, 156 laps led, won this race one year ago
• Won 4 of last 6 short track races
• Top-two finishes in five of the last six short track races
• Average finish of 1.3 on short tracks in 2018

Kurt Busch
• Finished 6th at Michigan (4th in Stage 1, 4th in Stage 2)
• Top-10 in the last five races of 2018
• Finished 22nd or worse in 3 of last 4 Bristol races (22nd in April)
• Started 25th, 14th in Stage 1, 12th in Stage 2, finished 5th in this race one year ago; hit the wall on lap 276
while running 11th
• Finished 11th or worse in the last four short track races

Who is Not Hot

Jamie McMurray
• Finished 21st at Michigan (18th in Stage 1, 20th in Stage 2, 1 lap led)
• Finished outside the top 10 in 8 of the last 10 races of 2018
• Finished 15th or worse in 18 of 23 races this season
• Finished 12th or worse in 3 straight Bristol races and 11th or worse in 6 of last 7 Bristol races (19th in April)
• Started 11th, 17th in Stage 1, 15th in Stage 2, finished 12th in this race one year ago
• Has not had a top 10 in the last six short track races

Clint Bowyer
• Finished 12th at Michigan (13th in Stage 1, 7th in Stage 2)
• Finished outside the top-10 in the last six races of 2018
• Finished top 10 in 4 of last 6 Bristol races (8th in April)
• In last year’s race started 9th, 15th in Stage 1, 10th in Stage 2, finished 19th
• Top 10 in the last four short track races including a win at Martinsville in April

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
• Finished 18th at Michigan (15th in Stage 1, 19th in Stage 2)
• Finished outside the top 10 in 10 straight races
• Finished 14th or worse in 19 of 23 races in 2018
• Top 10 in three of the last four Bristol races
• Six Top 10s in 11 career Bristol starts
• In last year’s race, started 14th, 12th in Stage 1, 21st in Stage 2, finished 14th; scraped wall on
lap 201 with flat right-front tire while running 9th; penalized for speeding exiting pits on Lap 418
• Finished 14th or worse in 4 of last 6 short track races

Paul Menard
• Finished 16th at Michigan (19th in Stage 1, 11th in Stage 2)
• Finished outside the top-10 in 8 straight races and 9 of last 10
• Finished outside the top-10 in 7 straight Bristol races (13th in April)
• In last year’s race started 27th, 26th in Stage 1, 9th in Stage 2, finished 16th
• No top 10s in 14 straight short track races

Bubba Wallace
• Finished 23rd at Michigan (25th in Stage 1, 23rd in Stage 2)
• Finished 14th or worse in 16 straight races
• Finished 20th or worse in 16 of 23 races in 2018
• Started 20th, 21st in Stage 1, 10th in Stage 2, 6 laps led, finished 16th at Bristol in April, his only start
at the track
• Finished 16th or worse in 3 career short track starts