Our 2013 Food City 500 predictions are here, and that means that we are going to get another great look at Bristol Motor Speedway. Check out our Food City 500 picks for the big time race on Sunday afternoon!

Any time that the boys of NASCAR head to the short tracks, there are always a few drivers that you have to look out. The king of the crew is none other than Kyle Busch (NASCAR Odds: 6 to 1 @ 5Dimes Sportsbook). The accomplishments that Busch has on this track are out of this world. He has won five of the 16 races run here in this career at Bristol Motor Speedway, and he has 11 Top 10 finishes in those 16 runs. Specifically here at the Food City 500 in the Spring race at Bristol, Busch has been even better, logging three wins and five Top 10s in eight races. Now throw in there the fact that the No. 18 Toyota driver has nine wins, a pole, 26 Top 5s, and Top 10s in 48 races on short tracks in his career with an average finishing position of 10.8, and you’ve got a driver that you can back with confidence on Sunday.

2013 Food City 500 Predictions & Info
2013 Food City 500 Date/Time: Sunday, March 17th, 2013, 1:15 p.m. ET
2013 Food City 500 Location: Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, TN
Defending Food City 500 Winner: Brad Keselowski
2013 Food City 500 TV Coverage – Network: FOX

The defending champion of this race is becoming somewhat of a short track champ in his own right, Brad Keselowski (Food City 500 Odds: 7.50 to 1 @ 5Dimes Sportsbook). The Jet Ski won this race last year, and he is going to be back to once again defend his crown. Keselowski now has two wins in just six races here at Bristol, though when he has been bad, he has been awfully bad. The Penske Racing team has only guided Keselowski to those two wins in the six races at Bristol Motor Speedway, but he only has an average finishing position of 13.7. That means if you take out those two wins, what’s left are finishes that average right around 20th. Of course, we don’t care is Keselowski finishes 2nd or 43rd. We only care if he ultimately wins this race or not, and we’ll take our chances that says he finds his way to Victory Lane in at least one in seven races ot make this a bet worth our while.

List Of Past Food City 500 Winners (Since 2000)
2012 – Brad Keselowski
2011 – Kyle Busch
2010 – Jimmie Johnson
2009 – Kyle Busch
2008 – Jeff Burton
2007 – Kyle Busch
2006 – Kurt Busch
2005 – Kevin Harvick
2004 – Kurt Busch
2003 – Kurt Busch
2002 – Kurt Busch
2001 – Elliott Sadler
2000 – Rusty Wallace

But of course, with three Top 10 finishes in as many races, including a first place and a second place finish, we aren’t going to count out Jimmie Johnson (Odds To Win The Food City 500: 8 to 1 @ 5Dimes Sportsbook) regardless of what type of track the boys on NASCAR are running on. Simply put, there hasn’t been a more efficient driver this year in the three races that he has run than Johnson, and he is starting to look like a man that is poised to get back on top of the NASCAR world after spending two years looking up at other drivers. Johnson finished ninth last year at the Food City 500, and he has had a decent history of running here on the high banks of the short track. That being said, it would have to be considered a tad surprising if he were able to take the checkered flag once again, knowing that at some point, matters really should start to work against the No. 48. Still, like we said at the start of this, we aren’t going to be counting out any man that has the potential to run as well, regardless of the track, as Johnson has this year in three races.

1: Kyle Busch
2: Kasey Kahne
3: Denny Hamlin
4: Brian Vickers
5: Paul Menard
6: Jamie McMurray
7: Brad Keselowski
8: Tony Stewart
9: Martin Truex Jr.
10: Joey Logano
11: Jeff Gordon
12: Matt Kenseth
13: Jimmie Johnson
14: David Gilliland
15: Casey Mears
16: Jeff Burton
17: Juan Pablo Montoya
18: Kevin Harvick
19: Kurt Busch
20: Aric Almirola
21: Carl Edwards
22: Marcos Ambrose
23: Clint Bowyer
24: Greg Biffle
25: David Reutimann
26: David Stremme
27: Scott Speed
28: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
29: AJ Allmendinger
30: David Ragan
31: Ryan Newman
32: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
33: Dave Blaney
34: Michael McDowell
35: JJ Yeley
36: Mike Bliss
37: Travis Kvapil
38: Joe Nemechek
39: Bobby Labonte
40: Josh Wise
41: Danica Patrick
42: Landon Cassill
43: Terry Labonte

To go off the board for just a bit, we’re willing to take a stab on Brian Vickers (Food City 500 Lines: 30 to 1 @ Bovada Sportsbook) as well. Vickers ran up near the top of the Food City 500 all race long last year, and he racked up a Top 5 finish for his troubles. The No. 55 Toyota led all but one lap from Lap 96 through Lap 216, and he never left the Top 10 once he got up there. It’s tough to back a man that hasn’t run in a Sprint Cup race yet this year, especially knowing that this is going to be his first time driving a Gen6 car on the high banks of Bristol, but it is still a man that we have to watch out for. He’s a short track expert, and he has run well in the Nationwide Series this year, so we aren’t going to count out the possibility of another great run by Vickers here on Sunday.

Odds to Win Food City 500 @ Bovada Sportsbook (as of 3/17/13):
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Kyle Busch 7 to 2
Brad Keselowski 11 to 2
Denny Hamlin 6 to 1
Kasey Kahne 7 to 1
Jimmie Johnson 15 to 2
Matt Kenseth 19 to 2
Brian Vickers 12 to 1
Tony Stewart 12 to 1
Jeff Gordon 14 to 1
Kevin Havick 14 to 1
Martin Truex Jr. 16 to 1
Carl Edwards 18 to 1
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 20 to 1
Clint Bowyer 22 to 1
Greg Biffle 25 to 1
Jeff Burton 30 to 1
Kurt Busch 40 to 1
Joey Logano 50 to 1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 50 to 1
Marcos Ambrose 66 to 1
Paul Menard 66 to 1
Ryan Newman 66 to 1
Jamie McMurray 80 to 1
Juan Pablo Montoya 80 to 1
AJ Allmendinger 100 to 1
Aric Almirola 125 to 1
Casey Mears 175 to 1
Danica Patrick 175 to 1
Bobby Labonte 250 to 1
David Gilliland 250 to 1
David Ragan 250 to 1
Dave Blaney 300 to 1
David Reutimann 300 to 1
David Stremme 500 to 1
Landon Cassill 500 to 1
Scott Speed 500 to 1
JJ Yeley 750 to 1
Travis Kvapil 750 to 1
Joe Nemechek 1,000 to 1
Josh Wise 1,000 to 1
Michael McDowell 1,000 to 1
Mike Bliss 1,000 to 1
Terry Labonte 1,000 to 1

2013 Food City 500 Odds @ 5Dimes Sportsbook (as of 3/14/13):
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Kyle Busch 6 to 1
Brad Keselowski 7.50 to 1
Jimmie Johnson 8 to 1
Matt Kenseth 8.75 to 1
Denny Hamlin 8.75 to 1
Carl Edwards 11 to 1
Kasey Kahne 12 to 1
Jeff Gordon 13.50 to 1
Tony Stewart 14 to 1
Kevin Harvick 16 to 1
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 16 to 1
Clint Bowyer 17 to 1
Greg Biffle 17 to 1
Martin Truex Jr. 22 to 1
Brian Vickers 25 to 1
Ryan Newman 55 to 1
Joey Logano 55 to 1
Kurt Busch 60 to 1
Jeff Burton 60 to 1