RADIO
The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season continues on Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway with the Ambetter Health 400. Last week at Daytona, William Byron got his season off to a strong start, winning his first Daytona 500.
This week, the series heads to another drafting track. While we might not see as much chaos as we did at Daytona, this is still a track that really evens the playing field. When we were here in July, we saw J.J. Yeley get a top 10 finish, for example, while Aric Almirola led the most laps in the race. Anything can happen.
Below are my NASCAR DFS lineup picks for the Ambetter Health 400 on DraftKings and FanDuel this week. This slate locks on 2/25/24 at 3:17 p.m. ET. If you have any questions or want to talk about NASCAR, you can find me on Twitter at @juscarts.
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Joey Logano
Starts 2nd - DK: $10,300, FD: $12,500
It can be risky to play a driver who starts this high at a place like Atlanta because of the high chance of crashes happening, but the importance of clean air means that someone like Joey Logano could rack up the laps led early in this race. The last time the Cup Series was here, Aric Almirola led the first 39 laps of the race off the pole, for example. Logano fires off second, so as long as he gets past Michael McDowell at the start, he has a chance to lead all the laps up until pit stops begin.
Joey Logano is favored to win at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the second straight year. 👀 pic.twitter.com/MamZPxASwb
— NBC Sports Bet (@NBCSportsBet) February 24, 2024
Oh, wait. I've got a better example: the spring race here last year. Joey Logano had the pole for that one and wound up leading 140 laps on his way to victory lane. It was a dominant showing from Logano. Can he repeat that in 2024?
Chase Elliott
Starts 28th - DK: $9,800, FD: $12,000
Now we move on to the place differential plays. Chase Elliott starts way back in 28th. In the first two seasons on this re-surfaced track, Elliott has been really, really good.
In the 2022 spring race, he started and finished in sixth place, leading 29 laps in the race. He followed that up with a dominant win in the second Atlanta race, leading 96 laps and winning from the pole.
Elliott was injured and missed this race last year, but had a solid showing in the second race. He qualified just 23rd but managed to finish +10 in place differential with a 13th place result. Not up to his usual showing here, but Elliott struggled last year. We're betting he's back to his old self this weekend.
Brad Keselowski
Starts 24th - DK: $9,300, FD: $11,000
Brad Keselowski gets really aggressive these days at drafting tracks. Sometimes that's good. Other times it isn't. Last season, Atlanta was one of those spots where his style of driving really worked out.
In this race last year, Keselowski qualified fourth and managed a second-place finish, leading 47 laps in the process. In the second race, he qualified 11th and finished sixth, leading 19 laps.
Brad K hasn't won since moving to RFK Racing, but this could be a great spot for him to break that winless streak. The Fords were strong in qualifying, though Keselowski himself starts just 24th. But hey—that's just a chance for him to gain points via place differential, right?
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Erik Jones
Starts 37th - DK: $8,000, FD: $7,200
This is probably the chalkiest play of the race, so before I talk about Erik Jones, I'll add that Ty Gibbs and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are solid pivots if you want to differentiate your lineup a bit.
Casuals: That car barely moved 🙄
People who know: HOW DID @ERIK_JONES SAVE THAT 😱😮😳 pic.twitter.com/wKpgyq77TV
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 24, 2024
In head-to-head matchups, it's hard to not play Jones. Since the repave here, Jones has done a really good job of gaining spots on race day. He hasn't started better than 23rd in any of the four races, but he's managed to finish 14th or better in each one. In this race last year, Jones started 28th and finished eighth.
Corey LaJoie
Starts 32nd - DK: $6,800, FD: $5,800
Corey LaJoie always seems to find himself near the front at this new version of Atlanta. He doesn't always finish there, but he's found himself running well at times in all four races. He has a pair of top-five finishes here to show for it, including a fourth in this race last year.
At Daytona last week, LaJoie started 29th and finished fourth. He did manage to anger Austin Cindric and the feud has lingered through the week, but Cindric's not going to try for revenge at a place like this.
Justin Haley
Starts 31st - DK: $5,300, FD: $3,500
While he finished a lap down in 26th last week at Daytona, Justin Haley ran very well at times in his debut race for Rick Ware Racing. He ran as high as second in the race and spent 23.1% of the race in the top 15. I understand the concern that you, the reader, might have about playing a RWR car considering their poor track record, but this feels like a different RWR in 2024.
That's not to mention Haley's success at this track. He has three finishes of 11th or better in four starts since the repave, with a best result of seventh in the second race of 2022. He also ran both Xfinity Series races here last year, finishing 10th in the first one and then leading 80 laps in the second one, finishing fourth.
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