Week 9 GFT NASCAR AI Driver Rankings: C. Bell Wins Bristol Dirt, Jumps 5 spots to P1

10 April 2023
By Bob Francis, Managing Editor
Go Full Throttle Racing News

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Finally! In the 3rd edition of the Bristol Dirt race, Christopher Bell, one of the NASCAR Cup Series “dirt guys,” won on the dirt in Thunder Valley. With so many of the Go Full Throttle Racing News readers coming from the dirt world, specifically World of Outlaws and ASCS, the most common comment in our Inbox was “It’s about time!”

A dirt-track aficionado, who won three straight Chili Bowl Midget Nationals from 2017–2019, Bell collected his first victory of the NASCAR Cup season and the fifth of his career.

Fellow dirt expert Kyle Larson was the pole-sitter, but tangled with Ryan Preece more than once during the race, resulting in a damaged car and a 35th place finish.

Bell held off a charging Tyler Reddick in the final stage of the 250-lap race, maintaining a slim lead over Reddick when NASCAR called the 14th caution with 200 yards left in the final circuit.

The RCR 3 car of Auston Dillon maintained position up front throughout the race and finished a strong 3rd, with Ricky Stenhouse Jr P4, and Chase Briscoe P5.

Week 8 NASCAR GFT Top 25 AI Driver Rankings following the Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 9, 2023 (Image: GFT Digital / gofullthrottle.net)

RANKINGS IMPACT:
Christopher Bell’s win moves him to the top of the Go Full Throttle NASCAR AI Driver Rankings- up 5 spots. Tyler Reddick’s 2nd place finish also moves him up 5 spots from P9 to P4. Despite the 35th place finish, Kyle Larson scored the pole and scored Stage Points which actually moved him up to P3 in this week’s rankings. William Byron and Alex Bowmen suffered the largest declines this week after Hendrick Motorsports decided not to challenge the latest points penalties, combined with their results (13th and 29th respectively) at Bristol Dirt. Byron falls 7 spots to P8 and Bowman falls 14 spots to P16.

Auston Dillion’s 3rd place also brought him back into our GFT NASCAR GFT Top 25 AI Driver Rankings.

GFT NASCAR Box Scores:
After 11 races in the NASCAR Cup Series (yes, we count ALL races and use ALL the data in our ranking and predictive AI systems) Chevrolet leads the Manufacturers with 5 wins, Ford and Toyota tied at 3 wins each. Team Box Score has Hendrick Motorsports on top with 3 wins, Team Penske with 2 wins, and with 1 win are JTG, SHR, RCR, 23XI.

Week 8 NASCAR GFT Box Scores following the Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 9, 2023 (Image: GFT Digital / gofullthrottle.net)

Kyle Larson, driver of the №5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, and Kyle Busch, driver of the №8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet, lead the field during the NASCAR Cup Series Food City Dirt Race at Bristol. (Image: James Gilbert — Getty Images)

Christopher Bell, driver of the №20 DeWalt Power Stack Toyota, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series Food City Dirt Race.

Up Next — Martinsville

NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: NOCO 400
The Place: Martinsville Speedway
The Date: Sunday, April 16
The Time: 3 p.m. ET
The Purse: $7,324,203
TV: FS1, 2 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 210.4 miles (400 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 80),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 180), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 400)