Overview

The Cup Series cars hit this new, revamped Atlanta Motor Speedway track which we’ve seen is pretty eventful based on the Truck Series and XFINITY Series races. The trucks had plenty of mishaps and the XFINITY race provided the most cautions in the history of the track. With all of that being said the Cup drivers will tackle the 1.54-mile quad-oval which features 28 degrees of banking in the turns and 5 degrees on the straightaways. With the repave and new configuration of this track the characteristics have changed dramatically it seems and they will play a role in the strategy for builds this week.

Strategy

It’s clear through two races this weekend that pack racing will be in full effect, much of what we see at the superspeedways of Daytona and Talladega. Stacking the back and avoiding the wrecks is a strategy worth looking into, especially with the quality of drivers/cars starting deep in the field. The drivers will turn 325 laps totaling 500 miles giving us a ton of dominator points to divvy up to drivers in our lineups. On top of those dominators, points will be the ever-important place differential points with a lot of quality drivers starting deep in the field.

Most comparable tracks: *Keep in mind that these tracks had similar characteristics prior to the reconfiguration: Charlotte Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway

*Note: all pricing is DraftKings focused

Top Drivers

Kyle Larson ($10,500), Starting 21st

Starting way back in 21st the thought of Larson getting to the front sooner than later will be a popular one as he should be one of the highest owned drivers. A driver like Larson who might have the most talent of any driver in the sport should be able to adapt to the characteristics of this track while wheeling one of the best cars out there. Despite not being great in practice, the place differential alone should make Larson a core play in this race.

Martin Truex, Jr. ($9,200), Starting 26th

Like Larson, Truex should be a popular play because of his place differential starting back at 26th. Truex has scored a top 15 in each of his last four races so it’s safe to say that, as long as he stays out of trouble, that’s his floor in this race. Despite poor practice numbers among Truex and most of the Joe Gibbs cars (what else is new) I expect him to finish this race in the top 12 at least.

Christopher Bell ($7,700), Starting 27th

Bell might be the highest owned driver on the day starting 27th with an inexplicable salary. Things have been up and down for Bell to this point with two finishes in the 30s but this is a good floor spot for him to post a solid finish in a race in which we should see a lot of pack racing.

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. ($7,100), Starting 28th

In practice, Stenhouse was one of the best cars out there which makes sense based on his track record at superspeedways. “Wrecky” has been a strong driver at tracks like Daytona and Talladega throughout his career and if this track is going to play like those two then it would make sense that he is strong here. He posted the best practice time, albeit in limited track time among drivers.

Also Consider:

Brad Keselowski ($8,600), Starting 24th

Harrison Burton ($6,400), Starting 31st

Joey Logano ($9,900), Starting 3rd

Justin Haley ($6,100), Starting 22nd

Chase Elliott ($10,300), Starting 6th

Denny Hamlin ($10,100), Starting 15th

GOOD LUCK!!