The Cup Series will compete at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the second time in 2021 Sunday. The last race was completely dominated by Kyle Larson, but you had to have you money behind Ryan Blaney if you wanted to cash in. The No. 12 team use pit strategy to take the lead from Larson and win the race. Strategy always comes into play at Atlanta since tire falloff over a long run is so significant. So will we see another surprise winner Sunday or will Hendrick Motorsports find Victory Lane again? The Hendrick Motorsports cars are the Best Bets this week, but I will take my chances with some other drivers too.
DraftKings Odds for Quaker State 400
* The odds could change between the time of this article and the time you place your bet
** The first number is the amount of money based on the second number (the amount of the wager). So if you bet $1 on Kyle Larson you will win $2.
Here are my “Best Bets” for the race at Atlanta…
Kyle Busch (7-1): Kyle Busch is at his best when he gets a practice race to prepare the Cup Series race. Busch will run his final Xfinity Series race of the season Saturday (and possibly the last Xfinity Series race of his career). That extra seat time should help Rowdy this week. He has been the best driver for Joe Gibbs Racing over the last 2 months and I want one of their drivers in my betting portfolio this week. I will take a chance with Busch at 7-1 odds.
Chase Elliott (9-1): Chase Elliott is still looking for his first win at his home track. Everything is setting up for it to happen Sunday. Elliott will start from the pole, has the No. 1 pit stall, the 3rd fastest pit crew and a lot of momentum after his win last week. Winning at Atlanta is very important for Elliott. I am sure Hendrick Motorsports will give him their best car to help Elliott reach his goal of winning at home.
William Byron (12-1): William Byron and Alex Bowman are both good bets this week, but I like Byron slightly more. Whenever you can get a Hendrick Motorsports car for double-digit odds right now, you have to take it. Byron has finished every race on the 1.5-mile tracks this season in the top-10. That includes a win at Homestead and a 4th-place finish in the last race at Charlotte. Byron starts deep in the field but he should have no problem getting to the front.
Kurt Busch (30-1): Kurt Busch is my favorite bet this week at 30-1 odds. He is racing smart right now. He said he just wants points so his team is playing it safe to keep the No. 1 car in the top-10. They will go for the win at the end of the race if they are in a position to do so. Atlanta is the best track for Busch. He finished 6th, 3rd, 8th, 7th and 4th in his previous 5 races at Atlanta before he was wrecked by Denny Hamlin last March. Busch was running 4th at the time of the wreck. Busch has won at least one race for 7 consecutive seasons. If the streak is going to continue, it will happen this week at Atlanta.
Long-Shot Special: My Long-Shot Special this week is Austin Dillon (50-1). Austin Dillon has been pretty good at Atlanta. He finished 6th in the first race at Atlanta this season and the No. 3 car finished 11th last year. We have seen Dillon steal wins on 1.5-mile tracks before. He won at Texas last year and Charlotte in 2017. I will take a shot with Dillon at 50-1 odds this week.
Good luck this week!
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