The Cup Series will travel back to EchoPark Speedway (formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway) this week for another Superspeedway race. This is race No. 18 on the schedule. That means the 2025 season will be half-way complete after the race in Atlanta. It also means that there will only be eight races left in the Fantasy Live regular season. Most of the races remaining on the schedule are “wild card races”, so we should be able to make it to the end with enough allocations with our top drivers. The Quaker State 400 can be seen Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on TNT (not Prime Video anymore).
PRACTICE SPEEDS FOR ATLANTA
NASCAR no longer gives the team any practice time to dial in their cars for the races on the Superspeedways. The teams simply lined up for single-car qualifying on Friday to set the field for the race Saturday night. This means we will have to rely on the stats, instead of practice speeds for our picks at Atlanta. The drivers starting positions do not mean much on the Superspeedway tracks, so simply pick the best driver available. If they start in the back, they probably dialed in more handling in their car to make their way to the front Saturday night.
STRATEGY FOR ATLANTA
Predicting the finish of the Superspeedway races is tough, but Atlanta is an easier track to predict than Daytona and Talladega. There are a handful of drivers (mostly from Team Penske and Trackhouse Racing) who have had a lot of success on this reconfigured Superspeedway track. We need to focus our picks on these drivers this week and hope for some luck in the race Saturday night (this race is about 50% luck).
The question I get the most when the Cup Series competes in Atlanta is…. How concerned should we be about saving allocations at this track? The only drivers I would save my allocations with are Kyle Larson, William Byron and Denny Hamlin. These drivers are really good on the non-Superspeedway ovals. The rest of the field is in play for the Quaker State 400.
Here are the picks for the race in Atlanta Saturday night…
RYAN BLANEY (7): There are nine races left in the Fantasy Live regular season and I have seven allocations left with Blaney. He must be in all lineups Saturday night. Blaney finished 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 9th, 7th and 5th in the Gen-7 car at this track. He also led laps in every race and Blaney has averaged 15 Stage Points in his last 4 races in Atlanta. Blaney should be the safest pick in the field and the best pick for your Fantasy Live lineup.
AUSTIN CINDRIC (7): You cannot have too many Team Penske cars in your lineup Saturday night. Cindric’s average finishing position in the Gen-7 car at Atlanta heading into the February race was 6th. Cindric qualified 2nd, led 47 laps, Scored 10 Stage Points, before he was wrecked with 3 laps to go in the race. Cindric has a good chance to have a similar race Saturday night, but hopefully no one wrecks him this time as he makes a run for the checkered flag.
CHASE ELLIOTT (6): Chase “Don’t call me Clyde” Elliott is pretty good at his home track. Elliott has an average finishing position of 10th in the Gen-7 car in Atlanta. He has also scored Stage Points in six of the seven races. Elliott has some momentum after his back-to-back top five finishes (3rd in Mexico and 5th at Pocono). I have plenty of allocations left with the No. 9 car so Elliott gets a spot in my lineup Saturday night.
KYLE BUSCH (7): I know it is tough to trust Busch in your Fantasy Live lineup, but he has been one of the best drivers at EchoPark Speedway over the last two seasons. He came inches away from winning at Atlanta last year. Busch finished 7th, 7th, 3rd, 5th and 10th in his last five races in Atlanta. Busch likely needs a win in order to make the playoffs. The No. 8 team will use an aggressive pit strategy to get Busch track position at the end of the race. Busch should have a good chance to extend his top-10 streak at Atlanta to six, following the races Saturday night.
ROSS CHASTAIN (7): Chastain has the races at Atlanta figured out. The drivers are going to ride around for the first two Stages and then the action will pick up in the final Stage. Chastain knows he has to be aggressive in this final Stage because it takes a long time to make it from the back to the front at Atlanta. Chastain has an average finishing position of 11th in the Gen-7 car at Atlanta. That includes a pair of runner-up finishes. I will take a chance with the No. 1 car Sunday.
(GARAGE PICK) JOEY LOGANO (4): I only have four allocations left with Logano, but I know I am not using him on the road courses (Chicago, Sonoma or Watkins Glen). Dover ranks as the worst track for Logano, so that means I will only need him in Iowa, Richmond and maybe Indianapolis. Logano is the ultimate boom or bust driver at Atlanta. He has two wins and two finishes outside the top-25 in the Gen-7 car at Atlanta. He has also led the most laps and scored a lot of Stage Points. I at least want Logano in my lineup just in case he runs up front in the first two Stages.
Good luck and be sure to follow me on X (Twitter) @MrFantasyNASCAR. I will send out a Tweet during the race to let you know if I plan to swap out one of my drivers for my Garage pick.