Joey Logano becomes the first multiple race winner of the 2020 season in only the fourth week. Those playoff points he has earned will come in very handy during the last ten races of the year. Once again Martin Truex Jr. had to start at the back of the field, made it to the front of the field and then had some issues that took him out of the race. Still a lot of time and racing to go before the start of the playoffs.
FOLDS OF HONOR QUIKTRIP 500
This week the series heads back towards the east as the drivers and their teams head to the Atlanta Motor Speedway for the running of the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. This is another of the mile and a half tracks and is similar to the Texas Motor Speedway. We will see how engines hold up this week with the distance of 500 miles.
Kevin Harvick: I am going to go with Kevin to win his first race of the season after a runner-up finish last week at Phoenix. He has led more laps at this track than any other active driver. He won this race two years ago, has six top five and eleven top ten finishes here in his last thirteen starts and is hungry to get that first win of the season.
Jimmie Johnson: I have a really good feeling that this is going to be a very good week for Jimmie. They have shown a lot of speed so far this year on the longer tracks along with all of the Hendrick teams and Jimmie leads all active drivers with five wins at this track. Along with that he has also finished in the top five in sixteen of his twenty-eight starts here. This is going to tell us how good he can be in his last full-time season.
Kyle Busch: Kyle has finished in the top seven in six of his last nine starts at this track. I think this team is going to keep improving as the season wears on and he will be getting his first win soon. It seems like the Gibbs teams aren’t hitting their stride yet as they struggle through practice right now and it takes a while during the race for them to get their cars dialed in. That will be fixed very soon.
Martin Truex Jr.: Martin is having a start to his year like Kyle Larson did last year. He has started from the back in three of the four races so far this season and that is a lot to overcome. He has done that only to have something happen in the pits or on the track late in the race that takes him out of contention. Once this team can get through inspection they will fair much better at the end of races.
Brad Keselowski: Brad has won two of the last three races here and finished second in the other race. I think all of the Penske teams are going to be strong once again this weekend and if Brad and his new crew chief can get on the right page early on this weekend they will have a great shot at winning once again.
Joey Logano: Seeing that Joey has Brad’s old crew chief, Paul Wolfe, on his team now he very well could be the driver to beat once again. After the way they ran at Las Vegas they should come to the track this week with a car that is very fast right off the truck. If things go right through the race they are going to find themselves in contention once again.
Kurt Busch: Kurt has been good here throughout his career no matter whom he has driver for. He has three wins, has finished in the top eight in eleven of his last fifteen starts, and has lead over five-hundred laps in that stretch while racing for five different teams. He finished third in this race last season racing for Chip Ganassi, which is the team he is on once again this year.
Chase Elliott: If the speed we have seen so far this year from the Hendrick teams is evident once again this weekend then Chase will have a shot at winning his first race of the season. He has only run four races at this track and has finished in the top ten in three of those races. This years speed might let him pick up his first career win at his home track.
Kyle Larson: Kyle has three top ten finishes in his six career starts at Atlanta. Last year he led 142 laps in this race and finished first and second in the two stages before the bad luck bit him and he finished twelfth. His best finish is a second and if they can make the right adjustments as the race progresses this week he will have a shot at improving on that finish.
Clint Bowyer: Clint wasn’t very good here when he raced for Michael Waltrip Racing but, in his last three races while he has been with Stewart-Haas Racing he has run pretty well. In fact, he has finished in the top five in each of his last two starts here. He won the pole at California but didn’t have the handling he needed there. If he can get his car to handle the way he wants, he could be a threat for the win this weekend.
DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Driver Group Game Group A
- Kevin Harvick
- Joey Logano
Driver Group Game Group B
- Jimmie Johnson
- Kurt Busch
- Kyle Larson
- Clint Bowyer
Driver Group Game Group C
- Ross Chastain
- Cole Custer
MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
- Kevin Harvick
- Joey Logano
- Kyle Busch
- Brad Keselowski
- Martin Truex Jr.
Dark Horse: Jimmie Johnson
Stay Away From: Austin Dillon
Big 18: Jimmie Johnson
10 replies on “2020 Atlanta Motor Speedway, Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500”
4-2-19-22-18-11-14-9–48-1-your next two picks?
?
12 and 10
i always refer to prior races on a track at least a little bit. this might be the first time ever i won’t do that. for 2 reasons: if you recall, this was the only 1 1/2 track last year that didn’t use the race package they used for every other race on that style of track & are using again this year. before i mention my 2nd reason i want to ask you: why do you compare this track to texas? i’ve come to compare a track less on layout & banking… than PAVEMENT. so to me, the closest comparative to atlanta is the other super old pavement track, california.
so with that in mind i look at who’s done good at atlanta & who did at that race at cali a couple weeks ago & it’s a pretty significant difference. with that in mind i’m rolling 2, 1, 88, 6 at this point with 18, 48, 10, 8 on bench.
again… please share why you chose texas as the closest comparative than Cali.
thanks.
To me a 2 mile track and a 1.5 mile track are totally different. I don’t see how you can compare them? GoodYear changes tires every year so, looking at the track surface doesn’t seem to help in my opinion. You are picking Keselowski with a new crew chief. That should come into your thought process also.
because tires are going to wear out on long runs at atlanta and california, no matter what goodyear brings. you’re going to slide around & then drivers often with a dirt background like larson or, back in the day, carl edwards – tony stewart liked slippery surfaces too – are going to excel.
as far as Kes… yes i am mindful of a new crew chief. wolfe going to logano definitely seems to be making a big difference with Kes being left behind somewhat. but if i had Kes in my final 2 last week i would have started him. in practice he was the most dominant car. so we’ll see. i am having my typical super slow start to a season but i’ll get locked in in time to hoist the trophy in my league, i have minimal doubt.
appreciate the discussion Jeff. have a great week.
AJ,
I think Chicago is the most similar track to Atlanta, in regards to surface and distance. Also, think about the west coast swing and the teams bringing betters cars to Atlanta based on their performance out west. They should make some adjustments to the “east coast” cars. I still look at track history, track type history (Chicago, Miami, Darlington for surface and then Vegas because that’s the 1.5 they already ran at). With that said, I’ll put most of my eggs in the basket based on Atlanta history because the track is so unique. You shouldn’t look past momentum and which cars are coming out of the gate strong.
Jeff,
Any thoughts on the 10 car this weekend?
Thank you!
yeah. chicago is the other worn track. but california was this season so i’ll put more stock in the results there. bowman dominated both so he’s probably a no brainer to start. prob with atlanta like i said was 1 full year ago & a complete different car package. that’s why for the first time in my life ever i will not be looking at previous history on a track. and darlington, yeah, worn surface but a beast of it’s own. even just from playing NASCAR video game… racing on that track is COMPLETELY unlike anything else.
Ford Chevy then Toyota in that order for best performing brands so far in 2020? Logano is dialed in, can he dominate?
I would agree with you on the manufacturers at this point of the season and yes, I do think Logano can keep his streak going once racing resumes.