How to watch and odds for the Food City 500, NASCAR's Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway
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Practice and qualifying action goes down Saturday afternoon before Sunday's main event.
Vegas gives Hamlin the second-best odds for Sunday (+425 on BetMGM), trailing only Kyle Larson (+400). The 44-year-old mainstay has enjoyed a torrid start to 2025 with four top-five starts, winning at Darlington last time out and at Martinsville on March 30. He's second in the Cup Series standings with 266 points, behind William Byron with 315. Larson, meanwhile, sits in sixth with four top-fives of his own. He triumphed at Homestead-Miami last month, and finished fifth at last year's Food City 500.
Points leader William Byron has Sunday's sixth-best odds at +1200. Christopher Bell, the only driver with five top-fives this season, is third on the board at +650. Elsewhere, Joey Logano is ninth in points despite leading the third-most laps thus far.
A big question for this race is whether extreme tire wear will enter the equation like at last year's spring race — something that mysteriously wasn't duplicated at the fall race at Bristol. If so, Hamlin, in particular, is excellent at managing his tires.
For more in-depth NASCAR coverage in anticipation of the race, check out The Athletic's Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi:
Gluck quotes William Byron:
'People think I'm not aggressive, but I'm plenty aggressive. I think I just show it in probably a smoother way than maybe what people see. I don't make a lot of errors, so maybe it doesn't look aggressive, but I feel like I'm pretty aggressive. On restarts, I'm always up toward the top of the metrics.'
Bianchi on the legal battle between Legacy Motor Club and Rick Ware Racing:
'If Legacy's lawsuit is successful and a judge finds its contract with RWR binding, RWR would effectively be without a charter for the 2026 NASCAR season. And while RWR could still enter Cup races, it would have to do so as an 'open' team, meaning it would not be assured a starting spot in any of the 36 points races and lose out on higher revenue streams.'
Streaming and betting/odds links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Photo of Kyle Larson: James Gilbert / Getty Images)
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