1 month agoDefending Cup Series champion Joey Logano will start Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Ambetter Health 400, from the fourth position. This will be the fifth top-10 starting spot in a row obtained by Logano at the Georgia track. In six races at Atlanta since the track was reconfigured in 2022, Logano has two wins, including the most recent from the September 2024 race, as well as three top-10 finishes overall. Logano also led 199 laps in this span of Cup events, the most of all drivers. The No. 22 Ford driver's history has been boom-or-bust at Atlanta, similarly to most tracks and based on his equipment and history, he will be one of the favorites to compete for the win this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 month agoKyle Busch of Richard Childress Racing will start sixth for this week's Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Busch was the only Chevrolet driver to qualify inside the top 10 for this week's race at the site. In six races at AMS since 2022, Busch has four top-10 finishes with positive place differential, which all were obtained in the last four Cup events. The No. 8 Chevrolet driver nearly won last year's February Atlanta race as part of the closest three-wide finish for a win in NASCAR history. RCR is one of the top teams at drafting tracks, and although he carries little upside from his starting position, he was the fastest of the Chevy drivers in qualifying and will be in contention for the win, especially as AMS is one of Busch's best tracks to score a victory.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 month agoTy Gibbs scored a starting position of 36th after qualifying for this week's Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This is the lowest starting position yet of Gibbs' Cup career at AMS. In four starts at Atlanta in the Cup Series, Gibbs has three top-20 finishes, including two in the top 10. The No. 54 Toyota driver led 37 laps in his last race at the site and earned positive place differential three times. Gibbs also nabbed positive PD in last week's Daytona 500, as he finished 16th at the end after starting 23rd. This week, Gibbs has enormous upside from his starting position, and with great finish history at Atlanta, Gibbs is one of the safer and better picks who should not be overlooked for all DFS formats.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 month agoTyler Reddick of 23XI Racing will start 18th after qualifying for this week's Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This will be the fifth time that Reddick will start a race inside the top 20 at the Georgia track since it was reconfigured in 2022. In six races since 2022, Reddick has two top-10 finishes and only gained positive place differential twice. The No. 45 Toyota driver was the runner-up in last week's Daytona 500 after starting 11th. Reddick will start around the middle of the pack, providing decent upside based on his starting position, but his Atlanta history has been mixed since 2022. Overall, Reddick is a playable driver in all DFS formats, but with other drivers having lower salaries, better history at AMS, and more upside, Reddick is not a prime option for lineups this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 month agoHendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman will start Sunday's Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway from the 13th position. This will be the 11th time that Bowman will start inside the top 20 at the Georgia drafting track. In six races at Atlanta since 2022, Bowman's history has been mixed with three finishes of 14th or better while scoring positive place differential four times. In last week's Daytona 500, Bowman had a solid performance as he led 11 laps, ended the first two stages inside the top 10, and placed sixth at the end of the race. Despite having some positive results at drafting tracks, Bowman is hard to recommend outside tournament lineups because his starting position is higher-than-average. The No. 48 Chevrolet driver is not the strongest tournament DFS option due to his inconsistency at Atlanta and several other drivers being cheaper than his salary ($8,000 on DraftKings) with higher upside.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 month agoCup Series rookie Shane Van Gisbergen will start 30th in Sunday's Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This is the lowest start position for Van Gisbergen at the Georgia track in his Cup career to date. In his only previous race at the site in September 2024 while driving for Kaulig Racing, Van Gisbergen placed 32nd after starting 28th. SVG's lack of experience at drafting tracks compared to the field makes him a complete wildcard for this week's race. Despite this, the No. 88 Chevrolet driver has a really low salary and starts deep in the field, providing high potential upside. Due to his cap flexibility and upside, Van Gisbergen is a driver worth consideration for all DFS formats and can even be a sneaky value for tournaments, where he is expected to carry below-average rostership.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 month agoJohn Hunter Nemechek will start 22nd for this week's Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This will be the highest starting position of Nemechek's Cup career at the site since the track's reconfiguration in 2022. In two races since 2022 at Atlanta, Nemechek has two finishes with position place differential and a best finish of 21st. In last week's Daytona 500, Nemechek started the race in 18th and ended up in fifth place. Nemechek's DFS salary this week is one of the cheapest on both sites, and he offers adequate upside based on his starting position. Although his history at Atlanta is fine, the No. 42 Toyota driver is someone who makes for a decent option for all DFS formats for this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 month agoSpire Motorsports driver and 2024 rookie of the year Carson Hocevar will start this week's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway from the 26th position after qualifying. This marks the first top-30 start for Hocevar in the Cup Series at AMS and is the highest start position yet for the second-year driver. In two previous starts at Atlanta, Hocevar has two top-20 finishes, with his highest being 16th in September 2024, his most recent race at the site. The No. 77 Chevrolet driver obtained positive place differential in both Cup starts at the site. Regardless of how few starts he has at Atlanta, Hocevar should not be underestimated as a member of Spire. Spire generally brings top-20 caliber equipment for drafting tracks like Atlanta. Hocevar offers cap flexibility with his low salary ($5,700 on DraftKings), upside, and overall favorable history, making him one of the best value options of the week for DFS players.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 month agoFront Row Motorsports driver Noah Gragson will start 10th in this week's Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It will be the highest starting position of his Cup career at the site and the first time he will start in the top 10 there. In six prior starts at Atlanta, Gragson only has one top-20 finish, a 12th-place result during the March 2023 Cup event, which was the only start of his to score positive place differential. In last week's Daytona 500, Gragson led two laps but finished the race three laps down and in the 28th position. Gragson's history at drafting tracks is not the greatest, especially in Atlanta. Despite driving for Front Row Motorsports, who generally is great at drafting tracks, Gragson offers too little upside to be considered a favorable DFS pick and is an overall fade this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 month agoCorey LaJoie will compete in the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway as one of the three open entries to make it into the race. LaJoie will start the race in the 35th position, which will be his lowest since the track was reconfigured in 2022. In six starts at Atlanta since 2022, LaJoie has four top-20 finishes, including two in the top five. The No. 01 Ford driver collected positive place differential at the Georgia track five times in the last six Cup events. In last week's Daytona 500, LaJoie led 10 laps before landing a finish of 21st. LaJoie's starting position provides great upside, and with his favorable recent Atlanta history and Rick Ware Racing equipment, LaJoie is a top bargain DFS value pick worth consideration for all formats.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 month agoA.J. Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing obtained a starting position of 12th after qualifying for the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This will be the highest starting position for Allmendinger at the site since the track was reconfigured in 2022. In two previous starts since 2022 at Atlanta, Allmendinger has two finishes of 16th or better with positive place differential scored. This includes a finish of third in his last appearance at the track in July 2023. Allmendinger's starting position does not offer a lot of upside compared to other drivers, but his overall history at Atlanta since 2022 is solid. The lack of upside and history make Allmendinger a tournament play to recommend at best, as he is one of the riskier value options available for DFS.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 month agoRichard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon will start 15th after qualifying for the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This will mark the third consecutive race where Dillon will start inside the top 15 at Atlanta. In the six most recent races at the site, Dillon has two top-20 finishes but has never finished placed than 20th and only scored positive place differential once. During last week's Daytona 500, Dillon lost place differential and finished in the 23rd position after starting 15th. Although RCR typically brings great equipment to drafting-based tracks like Atlanta, it is hard to recommend Dillon over other drivers for DFS in his price range due to his lackluster recent history at the Georgia track and lower-than-average upside. Fading the No. 3 Chevrolet driver would not be a bad call for this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 month agoBubba Wallace remains one of the best drafters in the Cup Series even though he tends to finish worse than he runs. Wallace qualified 14th for today's Ambetter Health 300 and was significantly faster than all other Toyota drivers in a qualifying session where Ford drivers claimed 10 of the top 11 spots. When considering that and his 18 laps and many lead changes in the Daytona 500, he seems like he might be a leading contender on the surface. However, his record at Atlanta isn't very good as his average finish of 20.3 and 18.8 since it became a drafting track is not very good, especially because he has not crashed out of a race here. Although he finished 5th in last year's race, he's only led 19 laps here so his strong qualifying and lack of dominance here suggest there are better options for DFS, although he might still be worth a bet for the win at 30-1.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 month agoChris Buescher qualified eighth as the fastest of the three RFK Racing drivers for Sunday's Ambetter Health 300. He has a history of being a pretty good drafter, but not an elite one. Although his record at Daytona is much stronger than his record at Atlanta, he did lead 39 laps in the 2023 summer Atlanta race, second-most in that event. Although just given his talent and the general Ford speed, he might be worth a bet for the win at 28-1, but he's probably both starting too well and too highly priced at $8,600 to be worth choosing for DFS play. While the Ford drivers are not necessarily worth avoiding since they will likely dominate the race, it seems much more likely that the Penske team drivers will dominate the race than Buescher, which means he probably won't earn enough bonus points to become more valuable.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 month agoBrad Keselowski has won twice previously at Atlanta, but that came in the era when he drove for Roger Penske and it was a traditional 1.5-mile track before it was turned into a drafting race. Nonetheless, Keselowski has a history of being one of the best drafters in the Cup Series. In the 2023 winter Atlanta race, Keselowski had his greatest laps led total at the track with 47, although he was eventually snookered on the last lap by his ex-teammate Joey Logano. Keselowski is likely not as fast as he was nor does it look like the RFK Racing cars are as fast as the Team Penske cars. Nonetheless, he has had enough wins and dominant runs on this track type that he can't be ruled out as a possibility either for DFS lineups (where he is worth $9,300) even though he is starting 9th or for the win, where he is listed at 20-1.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
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