The NASCAR Cup Series will travel back to Atlanta Motor Speedway this week for the Quaker State 400. This will be the first time that the Cup Series has traveled back to a track in 2023. Will the results be the same as what we saw in March at Atlanta? The track conditions will be different since this is a night race. I expect some wild racing in the ATL this weekend. The Quaker State 400 can be seen Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on USA.
How frustrating was the street course race in Chicago? I was so happy through the first two Stages. The Fantasy Live picks were winning almost every league and then NASCAR decided to shorten the race after some of the drivers made their final pits stops. This sent all of our Fantasy Live drivers to the middle of the pack and stuck in traffic. I am sure our drivers would have pitted earlier too, if they knew the race was going to be shortened. Our picks went from No.1 in most leagues to outside the top-10. Sometimes NASCAR’s decision making frustrates the hell out of me. The picks are still outscoring 99.3% of the entries on the nascar.com website.
Here are the Fantasy Live Points so far this year….
STRATEGY FOR ATLANTA
The strategy on the Superspeedways is to save your top drivers and take a chance with drivers that you do not plan to use all of your allocations with. That strategy is partially true this week. Atlanta is hybrid between an intermediate and Superspeedway track. We still have pack racing and the chances of seeing “The Big One” are there, but the top drivers have a better chance of finishing up front at Atlanta then they do at Daytona and Talladega. The three drivers who have won the races on the reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway include William Byron, Chase Elliott and Joey Logano. These drivers are not exactly long shots. I will have some of my top drivers and some drivers I am willing to take a chance with this week.
FANTASY LIVE LINEUP FOR ATLANTA
JOEY LOGANO (6): Logano smoked the field at Atlanta in March. He won the pole, led 140 of the 260 laps, scored 19 of the 20 Stage Points and went to Victory Lane. Logano also finished second in the Daytona 500 earlier this season. The No. 22 car has been the best on the Superspeedways this season so I will use one of my allocations with Logano Sunday night.
RYAN BLANEY (7): The Fords have been fast on the Superspeedways and the No. 12 car has been one of the best. Blaney qualified third, led five laps, scored seven Stage Points and finished seventh at Atlanta in March. He also finished fifth in this race last year. The No. 12 car should have the speed to run up front, score some Stage Points and finish in the top-five Sunday night.
CHASE ELLIOTT (6): Elliott “should” be a good pick this week. Atlanta is his home track and he dominated this race last year. Elliott won the pole, won both Stages, led 96 laps and went to Victory Lane last summer at Atlanta. Can he do it again? I like the Fords this week, but Elliott has a good chance to run up front and score a lot of points for your Fantasy Live lineup.
BRAD KESELOWSKI (8): Keselowski has been at his best on the Superspeedways. He finished second at Atlanta and fifth at Talladega earlier this year. Keselowski only finished 22nd in the Daytona 500, but he did lead 42 laps and had the best car in the race. It has been a long time since Keselowski won a race. I would not be surprised if he ended his 67 race winless streak Sunday night.
CHRIS BUESCHER (9): I will use another Ford in this spot. Buescher is one of the more underrated Superspeedway drivers in the Cup Series. Buescher finished eighth in Stage 1, sixth in Stage 2, but was caught up in the Ross Chastain and Kevin Harvick crash. Buescher also led the second-most laps in the Daytona 500 earlier this season. He starts right new to his teammate (Brad Keselowski). I expect the two RFK Racing drivers to work together to get to the front.
(GARAGE PICK) ARIC ALMIROLA (9): Almirola won the pole so now he is an interesting pick. He has run well on the newly Atlanta Motor Speedway, but he has had terrible luck. He was leading the race last year when he got a flat tire and finished 30th. Almirola then came back and finished eighth in the July race. This year Almirola was running third when Ross Chastain spun him into the grass. I will have Almirola in the Garage and if his luck changes in the first two Stages, I will use him in the race.
Good luck and be sure to follow me on 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.