After a crash-filled Daytona 500, NASCAR moves into Atlanta’s weathered 1.54-mile asphalt trail.
Many NASCAR drivers favor the monitor as the surface allows for side-by-side racing in multiple grooves. Tires wear out setting a greater significance on rate.
Kevin Harvick won the first two phases at Atlanta This past year, but a punishment allowed Brad Keselowski in for the checkered flag. Keselowski handed Kyle Larson for the lead with six laps to go for his first win of 2017.
All eyes will be on Georgia native Chase Elliott this weekend gets he seems to capture his first Cup Series win. Back at the No. 9 car, a number made famous by his Hall of Fame father Bill, Chase does have a fair shot to win according to last year’s figures.
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Elliott listed two second-place endings, seven top fives, and nine top-10s at 1.5-mile paths in 2017. The Dawsonville, Ga., native also averaged the third-best average end of Cup drivers (9.82) on 1.5-mile monitors last year.
Before Keselowski’s win Elliott’s teammate Jimmie Johnson was successful in two Atlanta races that are consecutive. Johnson, who possesses a Cup Series record 28 wins on 1.5-mile paths in his profession, has five wins, 14 top fives along with a series-best driver evaluation of 105.4 in Atlanta.
While Johnson has become the old king of 1.5-mile monitors, our pick to win Sunday is reigning champion Martin Truex Jr., who has been nearly unbeatable at intermediate ovals.
Truex won seven of those 11 1.5-mile speedway races last season with nine top fives for an average finish of 2.5. He’s still looking for his first win at Atlanta but we expect him to get the job done Sunday (if the rain stays off) despite starting from the back of the area.