The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 will take place this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which was demolished, modified, and rebuilt in 163 days. Immediately after the Quaker State 400 race on July 11, work began on a multimillion-dollar project to resurface the 1.54-mile track. There had last been a redesign of the track in 1997, so it had been 24 years since then.
The majority of the field will arrive at the race without any knowledge of what to expect, but there will be a few of them who have had a sneak peek. Earlier this year, a small group of Cup drivers tested out the new track layout, including Kurt Busch, Chris Buescher, and Ross Chastain.
“Basically, let’s just call this a new race track,” RFK Racing driver Chris Buescher said, reported by nascar.com. “With the new car, with the new surface, with the new configuration, it’s not even something where you’re trying to compare it.
Rather than having separate warm-up sessions, all Cup Series teams were meant to practice together on Friday afternoon. But inclement weather forced NASCAR to cancel Friday’s events. Instead of qualifying, NASCAR will determine the starting lineup using the formula they used the past two seasons.
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Strategy
As with the Next-Gen car, this event will be completely different from previous Atlanta races. By repaving the track, increasing the bank, and using the superspeedway rules, NASCAR hopes to duplicate the two superspeedway tracks in Daytona and Talladega. Despite all of the cosmetic changes, this is still a dominators-track.
Atlanta will feature 325 laps, which translates into 227 dominator points on DraftKings. In contrast, Daytona and Talladega require 200 and 191 laps respectively to finish. Playing the Superspeedway strategy of stacking your roster with drivers from deep in the field is a bad idea because you will be disappointed. The single-file racing you’re used to here will be a lot more common than the drafting you see at Daytona.
This week, the Money Train delves into the DFS options for Sunday’s Cup Series event in Atlanta, GA. The selections are broken down between high salary, mid-range, and value play. Included are player salaries from both FanDuel (FD) and DraftKings (DK). Best of luck to everyone with lineups this weekend.
High Salary
Kyle Larson (14,000 FD | 10,500 DK)
Larson looked to be in a good spot after taking the pole at Phoenix. But it would not be his weekend, as he would face numerous mechanical issues. The last nail in the coffin would be an unreliable valve spring with less than 100 laps remaining. He would ultimately finish out the race in the pits. During the race last year, Larson did everything right, except close the deal. After winning both stages, he would lose out to eventual winner Ryan Blaney. Although he failed to win the race, he led 269 of 325 laps. As this race is over 300 laps, Larson should be a factor assuming he has the speed throughout the day. Regardless of starting position.
Kevin Harvick (11,000 FD | 9,600 DK)
A 16th place starting position would not stop Harvick from continuing his streak of 18 consecutive top-10 finishes at Phoenix. It is certainly encouraging to see Harvick showing good speed on race day, despite poor qualifying positions. For the first time this season, Harvick has qualified within the top-10, giving him a quicker path to challenge for laps led early on. Before last season’s letdown, keep in mind that Harvick led at least 151 laps in six of seven Atlanta races. Some owners seem to be giving up on him as a potential dominator. Those numbers are just too impressive to ignore. Dominant performances can come from anywhere, as Busch demonstrated last season. Harvick is the most bankable of the tier two drivers this weekend in my book.
Mid-Range
Kurt Busch (7,800 FD | 8,400 DK)
Despite the failure of the Toyota camp as a team last Sunday, Busch was the one shining star. Despite being let go by Chip Gannasi last season, many of us knew Busch still had some good racing left in him, and he has so far proved that. Already, he’s finished in the top ten in two of the four races. Minutes after beating his brother Kyle last year in Atlanta, the remodelers began tearing apart the track. Having flamed out in the first Atlanta race, the win was quite the turnaround. In addition to winning the follow-up race, Busch led 154 laps. The last time he led more than 100 laps was at Talladega three years ago.
Value Play
Chris Buescher (6,000 FD | 6,700 DK)
Following a seventh-place finish at last year’s Folds Of Honor Quik Trip 500, Buescher has had some recent success to consider. Furthermore, he knows how to maneuver around a Super Speedway if that is how this race plays out. He finished sixth at Talladega last October. As stated previously, Buescher is one of just three drivers that has had a chance to experience the newly designed Motorspeedway for himself, which should give him an added edge regardless. Buescher is at worst a top-15 driver, which represents good value for his price.
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