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Last week, as we prepared for our yearly stop at Watkins Glen International, we went through some of the best ACTIVE NASCAR road races. Now, for this last race in the Round of 16, we’re heading back to Bristol Motor Speedway for some Saturday night racing around a high-bank bullring. With NASCAR’s return to the World’s Fastest Half-Mile, we here at the Daily Downforce thought it would be a great idea to take a look at some of the best ACTIVE short-track racers in NASCAR today. Here’s a list of some of the drivers we think will be some heavy hitters in Saturday night’s race at BMS.
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Just shy of making this official list is none other than one of the all-time greats in Kyle Busch. In the past, Rowdy has been one of the elite drivers on the short tracks, particularly when it comes to Bristol. However, ever since the NextGen car came to fruition and KFB made the jump from Joe Gibbs Racing to Richard Childress Racing, he never reached the heights of his past. In his time at JGR, Busch has earned 16 wins on short tacks, 50 top-5s, and a mind-boggling 68 top-10s. The short track that he is the most successful at is Bristol Motor Speedway, where he visited victory lane 8 times in his career.
Meanwhile, since joining RCR, Busch has struggled mightily on shorter ovals. Out of ten starts, he has only earned 1 top-10 finish which was a 3rd place finish at Richmond in 2023. With a streak of 19-straight winning season on the line, will KFB rise to the occasion and finally remind us why he’s one of the greatest short track racers of all time?
Martin Truex Jr. closes out this list. The veteran driver has already announced his intention to retire after this season. Thus far in 2024, Truex is winless. We know that he’d love to go out on top by doing what very few drivers are able to do in their declared final season–visit victory lane. This weekend at Bristol could be a good chance for Truex to break through as he has historically been strong at short tracks. His Achilles heel, however, might just be Bristol Motor Speedway. Throughout his illustrious NASCAR career, MTJ has earned 6 victories on short tracks; 3 a piece from both Martinsville and Richmond. All of those wins came in a span of 3 seasons.
Clearly, MTJ has some kind of mojo when it comes to shorter ovals. But lady luck has never smiled at him in the World’s Last Great Coliseum. In 34 starts he has 0 wins, only 3 top-5s, and 6 top-10s. Luckily for him, his most recent Bristol finish was a 2nd place in the spring of this year. Unfortunately for him, that was with tire wear playing a big role. In a virtual must-win situation, we’ll see if MTJ can somehow score his first Bristol victory and advance to the Round of 12 in his final season.
Despite being a rookie, a driver who is reliably consistent on short tracks is none other than Josh Berry. Berry has a background in late model stock racing. He is currently the all-time winningest driver of the CARS Tour and he won the 2020 NASCAR Advance Auto Weekly Series National Championship. In 2021, Josh Berry started his climb up the NASCAR ladder by driving the number 8 car part-time for JR Motorsports. It was then that he scored his first Xfinity Series victory at Martinsville.
Since graduating to the NASCAR Cup Series, Berry has consistently contended for poles and race wins. Many of his stage points in 2024 were scored while racing on short ovals. His best finish in the NASCAR Cup Series came at his debut at Richmond International Raceway where he finished an impressive 2nd filling in for the injured Chase Elliott. Since going full-time, his best short-track finish was Iowa in 2024, where he came in 7th. He was a consistent top-5 runner in most of his starts, however, and he even led a number of laps at Bristol earlier this spring. Short-track racing is Josh Berry’s niche. All he needs to do is put a complete race together and he may be standing in victory lane sooner rather than later.
Chris(topher) Buescher made a lot of noise in September of 2022 when he scored his second-career victory at Bristol Motor Speedway. This was the first year that Brad Keselowski joined the team as a co-owner and it was largely a struggle. But this monumental win was certain a sign of things to come. Since that victory, Buescher went on to capture another short-track victory the following year at Richmond and has been a regular contender at the shorter ovals. The number 17 team might have faltered in much of 2024 but with his breakthrough win at Watkins Glen, it’s reasonable to argue that momentum is on his side. He’s especially good at Bristol. Can Buescher go 2 in a row this weekend? Only time will tell!
It’s an even-numbered year (2024), and Joey Logano has been cold as cold can be, despite his win at Nashville, which was more a product of chaos than anything else. But throughout his career, especially recently, Joey Logano has been pretty good on short tracks. Throughout his career, Logano has won on short ovals a total of 5 times. And that’s just counting points-paying races! He was able to win the Clash at the Coliseum in 2022 and the All-Star race at North Wilkesboro in 2024. No one can argue with his short-track stats, love him or hate him. The short tracks that he has had the most success at have been Bristol Motor Speedway and Richmond, where he has 2 wins a piece. He also has 1 victory at Martinsville Speedway.
In 91 short track starts, Logano has managed to score 5 wins (7, counting exhibitions), 31 top-5s (including a 2nd place finish at Richmond in 2024), and 49 top-10s. Those are pretty solid numbers for Sliced Bread. With his win at Atlanta, Logano has already locked himself into the next round. However, he could be a strong contender at Bristol this weekend. Especially if tires come into play like they did in the spring. If that’s the case, his experience in saving tires will likely shine through.
I think it’s pretty undeniable that the best short track driver in the NASCAR garage today is none other than Denny Hamlin. Of his 108 starts on shorter ovals, Hamlin has scored a staggering 14 times. Unlike many on this list, he’s pretty equal on all of the short tracks as he’s scored 5 wins at Richmond, 5 at Martinsville, and 4 at Bristol. Apart from his 14 wins on short tracks, he also has 50 top-5s, and 67 top-10s. He won both Bristol and Richmond earlier this season as well as finished runner-up in the fall Richmond race.
Denny Hamlin rolls into Bristol in a virtual must-win situation. If anyone can conquer the Last Great Coliseum and go for the sweep, it’s Denny Hamlin.
That does it for us on this end, Daily Downforce readers. What do you think of our list? Do you have any disagreements? Is there anyone you would bump off or add? Let us know by commenting on all of our socials. Be sure to keep it right here at DailyDownforce.com for all the latest news, countdowns, silly season rumors, and fan discussions in the world of NASCAR!
