The Cup Series will return from the west coast to compete at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race Sunday will be the first of two races at Atlanta during the 2023 season. This track was repaved and reconfigured before the racing last year, so it is now considered a Superspeedway. The racing at Atlanta was pretty good in 2022, so hopefully another year of wear on the surface makes it even better. The Ambetter Health 400 can be seen Sunday at 3 pm ET on FOX.
The One & Done picks got off to a slow start, but I played some of the top drivers last week and the results were pretty good. Kevin Harvick nearly won the race, but he was able to extend his top-10 streak at Phoenix to 20 races. Kyle Larson was everyone’s pick to win and he led the most laps and finished fourth. My other pick was Chase Briscoe, and he was able to finish seventh. Now we need this good luck to continue at Atlanta.
ONE & DONE CONTESTS
This pick is for games where you can only use a driver once throughout the season.
JUSTIN HALEY will be my pick in games where you can only use a driver once. Haley name stood out when I ran the stats for the race at Atlanta. The No. 31 car finished 11th in the first race at Atlanta and seventh in the second race at Atlanta last year. It was the best track for Haley. I do not trust Haley at the smaller tracks, but he has been good in the Cup Series at the Superspeedways. I will take a chance with him Sunday.
* I would take a chance with Corey LaJoie over Justin Haley if I could, but I use LaJoie at Daytona.
ONE & DONE (REGULAR SEASON/PLAYOFF GAMES)
This pick is for games where you are allowed to use a driver once in the regular season (the first 26 races) and then you can use them again in the playoffs, if your team advances in the playoffs. We only need 26 drivers in these games so we can be a bit more aggressive with our picks. Here are my picks for games that reset at the end of the regular season…
BRAD KESELOWSKI will be my pick in games that reset at the end of the regular season. The No. 6 car dominated the race at Daytona. Keselowski led 42 laps (the most in the race) and he won Stage 1. RFK Racing brought a pair of fast cars to the track this week. Keselowski qualified fourth for the race Sunday. I expect Keselowski to run up front, score some Stage Points and have a great chance for a top-10 finish.
ONE & DONE (USE A DRIVER MORE THAN ONCE)
I play in a game where I can use a driver three times throughout the season. I know some of you have told me you can use your drivers twice. We will only need 18 drivers in these games, so we do not need to dig too deep with our picks. Here is my pick in games where you can use a driver more than once….
RYAN BLANEY will be my pick in games where you can use a driver more than once. It has been 50 races since Blaney has been to Victory Lane. Could the streak end Sunday? I think so. Blaney is one of the best Superspeedway races in the Cup Series. His No. 12 car has a lot of speed. Blaney finished fifth in this race last year. I expect another top-five finish from Blaney at Atlanta.
Good luck Sunday!
Follow me on Twitter @MrFantasyNASCAR
If you like Fantasy NASCAR, LIKE my Fantasy NASCAR Tips Page on Facebook