Every season, twice a year at Bristol, we get to witness the most aggressive racing of the season. Drivers get angry during and after the race because the racing is so tough. Sometimes they take their aggressions out on the track whether it’s fast-balling their helmet at an offending driver’s car, or actually chasing a driver with their car with the only intention of slamming them into the wall. Other times the drivers wait until after the race to blow their steam, whether it’s chasing someone down on pit road or using the live TV cameras as their way to voice their displeasure with someone.

It’s all quite comical, but oh so entertaining, and what separates NASCAR from all the other sports.

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This Sunday’s race at Thunder Valley has several legitimate candidates to win this week. The favorites this week begin with the usual of Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards at 6/1, but unlike most other races, a bettor has a great chance of hitting a nice payday above 10/1 odds. In this race last season Jeff Burton cashed in at 30/1 odds with his teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer in tow making a nice Childress tri-fecta.

Traditionally, Bristol has always been a track where the favorites had always won, that was until the new surface was unveiled for the fall race in 2007. In that race, Carl Edwards won at 20/1 odds in what was only his 2nd win in two seasons. The main difference in the last three races with the new surface is that an outside groove has made it possible for drivers to legitimately pass, which in turn has had a huge decrease in cautions. In years prior, if a driver was slower, but wouldn’t get out of the way, then the faster driver had to push him out of the way because you could only pass on the inside.

Less cautions? Don’t worry though, tempers still flare even with an outside grove. Each of the last three Bristol races has seen just as much action off the track as years past, despite less cautions. Last season Carl Edwards won the fall race, but had to bump Kyle Busch late in the race to do it. Needless to say, Kyle didn’t have many nice things to say about Edwards in the post race interview.

This week’s top candidates to win that could pay handsomely again begin with the Childress drivers, or at least the three good ones. Harvick comes in at 12/1, followed by Burton and Bowyer both in the 20/1 range. At all stages on Harvick’s career in the No. 29 Chevy, the one constant for him has been finishing well at Bristol. However, Harvick only has one trophy after falling just short a few other times. Since 2001 when Harvick began, no one has been consistently at Bristol than him with a 9.6 average finish.

Clint Bowyer has also taken a liking to Bristol in the last two seasons that has seen him finish 3rd twice, 7th, and 8th. In the last two spring Bristol races, Burton has done better than anyone with a 2nd place in 2007 and winning in overtime last season. Those three Childress drivers are the ones that should be looked at with strong consideration to win this week.

The Kurt Busch long shot payday odds of 25/1 are long gone and he is now considered a favorite again at around 8/ 1 odds. He hasn’t run well on the new surface, but he really didn’t run well on any surface the last year and half. On the old surface, Busch was King of Thunder Valley. In a short time span, Kurt won 5 of 9 Bristol races, including three in a row at one juncture. Because of the new Penske engine that appears to have solved all their issues from last season, it is very conceivable that Kurt could start another streak and at the same time become the active leader in Bristol wins all by himself.

Denny Hamlin is at his best on short tracks and will be someone to definitely put in anyone’s odds to win wagering scheme in the 12/1 range or higher. Last season he finished 6th in the spring and 3rd in the fall. In that spring race, Hamlin was leading when a late caution came out setting up for extra laps where he got passed by all three Childress cars. Hamlin’s time is coming at Bristol, just not sure when it’ll be. It’s kind of reminiscent of Harvick who kept knocking on the door every Bristol race until finally winning in 2005. It took Harvick’s 9th attempt until he won, this will be Hamlin’s 7th start.

The top Roush entries after Edwards are Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle. Both have great value in odds considering how consistent they have been at Bristol. Biffle has finished every race he’s started at Bristol, not an easy thing to do and has an average finish of 9.8 there. Kenseth is a two time winner on the track, however, both of those were at night in the fall and he’s had his worst outing ever at Bristol on the new surface. New season and new results though, especially for Kenseth, who could be live at 12/1.

Let’s take our chances and throw out Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, and Carl Edwards, and take our lumps if they win which is very probable considering Edwards has won two of the last three there, but it’s no fun that way. Let’s go with the theory that Edwards’ team isn’t the same as they were last year as evident of how they haven’t dominated their normal blend of cookie-cutter tracks. Then we’ll have to hope that Kyle finds trouble on the track, and then hope that the new Penske engine program is good only on larger horsepower tracks. After that you have the Childress drivers, Hamlin, Biffle, and Kenseth. That’s a lot to wish for, but it’ll make it fun. Those guys are favored for a reason.

1) #29 Kevin Harvick (12/1)
2) #11 Denny Hamlin (12/1)
3) #16 Greg Biffle (18/1)
4) #31 Jeff Burton (18/1)
5) #33 Clint Bowyer 18/1)

Top 35: After Bristol, Current Points Determine Automatic Starts

Four races are down, meaning it's one to go before this season's car owner points determine the top 35 automatic starting spots on a weekly basis. For the first five races of each season, the previous season's final owner points determine the guarantees. This makes always-precarious Bristol seem even more so for those teams occupying space “on the bubble” heading into the half-mile oval next week. If they find themselves on the wrong side of the top-35 bubble post-Bristol, they'll be forced to rely on qualifying speeds to make the field.

As in recent weeks, three teams in trouble literally leap off the stats sheet, at first glance: