Atlanta Fantasy Racing Preview

Driver Averages | Laps Led Leaders | Driver Ratings | Past Race Winners | Past Pole Winners | Rules Overview/Weekend Schedule

Detailed driver notes and statistics to help set your fantasy racing lineup for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which will feature the new rules package.

Who’s HOT at Atlanta

• Kevin Harvick, the defending race winner, has posted a 7.4 average finish and has combined to lead 915 laps in the last five races.
• Brad Keselowski finished second last year for his fourth consecutive top 10, which includes a win in 2017.
• Chase Elliott has finished in the top 10 in his three starts with a 7.7 average finish.
• Martin Truex Jr. has finished eighth or better in his last four starts.
• Kyle Busch, last year’s pole winner, has finished in the top 10 in two of the last three races.
• Kurt Busch, who is making his first track start with Chip Ganassi Racing, has posted an average finish of 6.3 in the last three races.
• Joey Logano has finished sixth or better in three of the last four races

Who to Keep an Eye On at Atlanta

• Jimmie Johnson, a five-time winner at Atlanta Motor Speedway, will look to turnaround a streak of two finishes outside the top 15 at AMS in his first intermediate track start with crew chief Kevin Meendering. Johnson also participated in the Goodyear tire test at Atlanta with the Chevrolet wheelforce car and tested at Las Vegas last month with 2019 rules (with aero ducts).
• Kyle Larson has posted a 5.5 average finish in his last two starts at Atlanta.
• Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones and Paul Menard participated in the Goodyear tire test at Atlanta last October. Blaney was driving a Fusion at the test and has not been in a Mustang with the 2019 rules.
• Aric Almirola (13.0) and Clint Bowyer (13.1) ranked in the top 10 in average finish in the 11 races at 1.5-mile tracks in 2011. Almirola tested the new rules package at Charlotte last October and Bowyer last month at Las Vegas.
• Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin finished fourth at Atlanta last season.
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon and Ryan Newman rank sixth, eighth and ninth, respectively, in laps completed while running in the top 15 in the last three races at Atlanta.

Notes: Atlanta will be the first race with the new rules package…While this race will not utilize the aero ducts to transfer air to the side of the car away from the front tires, it will have the tapered spacer to reduce horsepower…The baseline package also includes a taller 8-inch by 61-inch rear spoiler, a larger front splitter with a 2-inch overhang, and a wider radiator pan that measures 37 inches wide in the front tapering to 31 inches at the rear…The most winners (16) at Atlanta have come from the fifth starting spot with Brad Keselowski the last to win from that position in 2017…55.9% of Atlanta winners have come from a top five starting position…Kevin Harvick has the best driver rating in the last three races at Atlanta.

*Best Average Finish at Atlanta

* – The best average finish is based off a driver entered in the race who has competed in every race during that time span.

Laps Led Leaders at Atlanta

Click Here to view all laps led leaders at Atlanta over the past 10 races.

Atlanta Loop Data Stat Leaders (2005-2018, 20 Races)*

Top 10 Stage 1 &2 Points Earned at Atlanta
Two Races

2018 Atlanta Stage Finishes

Rookie Report

MRN.com Staff Picks

Jeff Wackerlin: Kevin Harvick
Pete Pistone: Kevin Harvick
Tyler Burnett: Kevin Harvick
Kenneth Lee: Kevin Harvick

Driver Notes – Ordered by Average Finish (Top 15) in the Last Five Races at Atlanta

Kevin Harvick has finished ninth or better in seven of the last eight races at Atlanta, including a win last season, and has combined to lead a series-high 1,016 laps in that span. He also dominated the 2017 race, leading 292 laps and posting a 1.5 average running position, but finished ninth after a late-race speeding penalty. Last year, Harvick posted four wins and an average finish of 9.8 in the 11 races at 1.5-mile tracks. Harvick’s teammate Clint Bowyer tested the new rules package for Stewart-Haas Racing at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway last month. The Atlanta race package will not use the aero ducts that were on the cars in Vegas.

Chase Elliott has finished in the top 10 in his three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Atlanta, with a 7.7 average finish. Elliott, who has yet to lead a lap at Atlanta, has finished in the top 10 in his last three starts at 1.5-mile tracks, including a win at Kansas Speedway last October. Elliott’s teammate Jimmie Johnson tested the new rules package (with aero ducts) for Hendrick Motorsports at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last month.

Kurt Busch will making his 21st start, and first with Chip Ganassi Racing, at Atlanta this weekend. In his prior four starts with Stewart-Haas Racing, Busch posted an 8.0 average finish and one pole. Busch’s last of three wins at the track came in 2010 when he was driving for Team Penske. Busch did test the new rules package (with aero ducts) at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway last month. Ross Chastain participated in the Goodyear tire test for CGR at Atlanta with the new package last October.

Joey Logano has finished sixth or better in four of the last six races at Atlanta. His sixth-place finish last season was one of 10 top 10s in the 11 races at 1.5-mile tracks last season that included a win at Homestead-Miami Speedway that gave him the championship. Logano’s teammate Brad Keselowski tested the new rules package (with aero ducts) for Team Penske at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last month.

Martin Truex Jr. has finished eighth or better in his last four starts at Atlanta. This weekend he will make his first track start with Joe Gibbs Racing. Last year, Truex posted a 6.7 average finish and one win in the 11 races at 1.5-mile tracks.

Jimmie Johnson is a five-time winner at Atlanta with two coming recently in 2015 and 2016. Johnson, who only scored one top 10 at 1.5-mile tracks last season, tested the new rules package (with aero ducts) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last month with new crew chief Kevin Meendering. He also participated in the Goodyear tire test at Atlanta last October with the Chevrolet wheelforce car. Johnson has 28 career wins on 1.5-mile tracks.

Kyle Busch is a two-time winner at Atlanta with the last coming in 2013 September race. He scored his best finish in the three races since Atlanta went to the second race of the season in 2016, finishing third after starting 39th. Last year, Busch started from the pole and finished seventh. Last month, Busch tested the new rules package (with aero ducts) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Brad Keselowski has finished first and second, respectively, in his last two starts at Atlanta. He’s finished in the top 10 in the last four races with an average finish of 5.3. Keselowski tested the new rules package (with aero ducts) last month at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and was the fastest on the final day. Last year, Keselowski posted an 8.6 average finish and one win in the 11 races at 1.5-mile tracks.

Erik Jones has posted a 12.5 average finish in his two starts at Atlanta with his best finish coming last season, 11th. Jones has testing time with the new rules package at both Charlotte Motor Speedway and Atlanta last October during Goodyear tire tests.

Kyle Larson has finished in the top 10 in his last two starts at Atlanta, including a runner-up finish in 2017. Larson’s teammate Kurt Busch tested the 2019 rules package (with aero ducts)last month at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Last year, Larson posted an 8.5 average finish (six top fives) in the 11 races at 1.5-mile tracks.

Aric Almirola finished 13th last season in his first Atlanta start with Stewart-Haas Racing. In his seven previous starts at Atlanta, Almirola posted one top 10 (Richard Petty Motorsports) in 2014. He did get some track time with the new rules package last October at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Almirola is one of three drivers that have finished in the top 10 in each of the last five races at 1.5-mile tracks going back to Kentucky last July.

Daniel Suarez has posted an 18.0 average finish in his two starts at Atlanta. This weekend he will make his first track start with Stewart-Haas Racing. Last year with Joe Gibbs Racing, Suarez saw his only top 10 in the 11 races at 1.5-mile tracks come at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September.

William Byron finished 18th last season in his first start at Atlanta in the Cup Series. Byron’s only top 10 at a 1.5-mile track (11 races) last season came at Texas Motor Speedway in April. He did get some track time (about 30 laps) with the new rules package in a Goodyear tire test at Charlotte Motor Speedway last October.

Paul Menard finished 17th last season at Atlanta in his first track start with Wood Brothers Racing. In his previous 16 starts, he posted three top 10s. Menard has had track time with the new rules package at both Atlanta during the Goodyear Tire test last October and the test at Las Vegas last month.

Ryan Blaney finished 12th last season at Atlanta with Team Penske. Blaney, who has finished in the top five in three of the last five races at 1.5-mile tracks, participated in the Goodyear tire test at Atlanta last October with the Ford Fusion body.