Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Race Preview and Best Bet
NASCAR Cup Series: Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500
Sunday, March 20, 2022 at 3 p.m. ET (FOX) at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia
Race Info
Lightning surely won't strike twice: Chase Briscoe of all people won last week at Phoenix.
While Phoenix has seen an impressive number of different drivers win at its raceway, this was Briscoe's first career Cup Series victory.
A Briscoe victory this week seems unlikely, therefore, for reasons besides the fact that it's hard for anyone to win consecutive races.
As a result, we'll be sure to discount him from the list of our candidates to win on Sunday.
For this Sunday's race, drivers must complete a total of 325 laps.
As has always been the case this season, there will be three stages for this race.
Stage 1 consists in the first 105 laps. For Stage 2, drivers must complete another 105 laps.
Stage 3 requires the drivers to complete 115 laps.
By now, an entry list has been posted for this race.
37 teams/drivers are listed for this competition.
Therefore, barring any unforeseen events, we already know which drivers will compete at this race.
As for the starting lineup, that gets determined by qualifying.
Practice will take place on Friday at 5:05 p.m. ET.
Qualifying will be single-car, one lap, and two rounds. It will take place on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET.
The Track
The Atlanta Motor Speedway is nothing new to NASCAR Cup Series drivers. But his year's version of it is new.
Before this most recent repave, the Atlanta Motor Speedway had not been repaved since 1997.
Now, this track has been repaved, modified, reconfigured. It is newer and better.
It is also wider and narrower in different areas.. The track's front stretch has been widened, which will allow drivers to have more room to pass.
Having more room would deemphasize the importance of the starting lineup.
However, the backstretch and turns are significantly narrower than they were before.
This new track is also built to be faster. Besides having a smoother surface, there is more banking.
Previously, the corners were banked at 24 degrees. Now, they are all banked at 28 degrees.
This is a relatively high level of banking, which means that drivers can corral more momentum for their cars as they navigate the turns.
Each lap is still 1.54-miles long. Thus, in completing 325 laps, drivers will have amassed 500.5 miles.
Driver I Dislike
The odds imply that, among an unusually big number of drivers, Joey Logano has a legitimate chance of winning Sunday's race.
However, he has consistently been awful in Atlanta. His last four finishes are, from least to most recent, 23, 10, 15, 19.
The middle two finishes came after starting in third place. So, he dropped back several spots from the leaders.
Match-Up
Kyle Larson may be tempting to fade because of his last attempt at this track. He finished 18thin the race here last July.
But recall that he suffered a penalty late in the race that sent him to the back. This penalty helps explain his poor finishing position as well as the anomalous nature of this poor finishing position.
Before suffering that 18th-placed finish, he had finished second and earned three top-nine finishes and two second-place finishes in his last four tries.
Ryan Blaney, meanwhile, hasn't been quite as consistent as Larson this season.
While one may dismiss it as a consequence of Brad Keselowski's car spinning, Blaney's finish at Las Vegas is disappointing given his reputation for short tracks.
Better than Blaney, Larson this season has two top-two finishes and only one finish outside the top 10.
Larson is also typically excellent about bouncing back with a strong race after an awful one.
Most recently, he won at California after finishing 32nd at Daytona.
For the above reasons, bet on him to finish ahead of Blaney on Sunday.
Best Bet: Larson Ahead of Blaney at -115 with Bovada
NASCAR Cup Series: Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500
Sunday, March 20, 2022 at 3 p.m. ET (FOX) at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia
Race Info
Lightning surely won't strike twice: Chase Briscoe of all people won last week at Phoenix.
While Phoenix has seen an impressive number of different drivers win at its raceway, this was Briscoe's first career Cup Series victory.
A Briscoe victory this week seems unlikely, therefore, for reasons besides the fact that it's hard for anyone to win consecutive races.
As a result, we'll be sure to discount him from the list of our candidates to win on Sunday.
For this Sunday's race, drivers must complete a total of 325 laps.
As has always been the case this season, there will be three stages for this race.
Stage 1 consists in the first 105 laps. For Stage 2, drivers must complete another 105 laps.
Stage 3 requires the drivers to complete 115 laps.
By now, an entry list has been posted for this race.
37 teams/drivers are listed for this competition.
Therefore, barring any unforeseen events, we already know which drivers will compete at this race.
As for the starting lineup, that gets determined by qualifying.
Practice will take place on Friday at 5:05 p.m. ET.
Qualifying will be single-car, one lap, and two rounds. It will take place on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET.
The Track
The Atlanta Motor Speedway is nothing new to NASCAR Cup Series drivers. But his year's version of it is new.
Before this most recent repave, the Atlanta Motor Speedway had not been repaved since 1997.
Now, this track has been repaved, modified, reconfigured. It is newer and better.
It is also wider and narrower in different areas.. The track's front stretch has been widened, which will allow drivers to have more room to pass.
Having more room would deemphasize the importance of the starting lineup.
However, the backstretch and turns are significantly narrower than they were before.
This new track is also built to be faster. Besides having a smoother surface, there is more banking.
Previously, the corners were banked at 24 degrees. Now, they are all banked at 28 degrees.
This is a relatively high level of banking, which means that drivers can corral more momentum for their cars as they navigate the turns.
Each lap is still 1.54-miles long. Thus, in completing 325 laps, drivers will have amassed 500.5 miles.
Driver I Dislike
The odds imply that, among an unusually big number of drivers, Joey Logano has a legitimate chance of winning Sunday's race.
However, he has consistently been awful in Atlanta. His last four finishes are, from least to most recent, 23, 10, 15, 19.
The middle two finishes came after starting in third place. So, he dropped back several spots from the leaders.
Match-Up
Kyle Larson may be tempting to fade because of his last attempt at this track. He finished 18thin the race here last July.
But recall that he suffered a penalty late in the race that sent him to the back. This penalty helps explain his poor finishing position as well as the anomalous nature of this poor finishing position.
Before suffering that 18th-placed finish, he had finished second and earned three top-nine finishes and two second-place finishes in his last four tries.
Ryan Blaney, meanwhile, hasn't been quite as consistent as Larson this season.
While one may dismiss it as a consequence of Brad Keselowski's car spinning, Blaney's finish at Las Vegas is disappointing given his reputation for short tracks.
Better than Blaney, Larson this season has two top-two finishes and only one finish outside the top 10.
Larson is also typically excellent about bouncing back with a strong race after an awful one.
Most recently, he won at California after finishing 32nd at Daytona.
For the above reasons, bet on him to finish ahead of Blaney on Sunday.
Best Bet: Larson Ahead of Blaney at -115 with Bovada
