Atlanta Post Practice Fantasy NASCAR Predictions

Well, this weekend sure has been interesting. This is the first race under NASCAR’s 2019 rules package, so there’s already some uncertainty there, and then we had guys like Chase Elliott, all three Penske cars, and Kevin Harvick–who has dominated Atlanta lately–all qualify outside of the top 15 on Friday. Oh, and to make things even more questionable, NASCAR only scheduled one post-qualifying practice for this race, so we have limited practice data, too. My strategy for Fantasy NASCAR in this race is to pretty much approach this like any other race we would’ve had last season, and then adjust moving forward based on what we see with this new package.

This weekend, we had one practice session followed by qualifying on Friday, and then one final practice practice session on Saturday. Aric Almirola won the pole for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, and the full starting lineup can be found by clicking here. You can find the practice speeds for each session here: Practice #1 — Happy Hour. You should also read our in-depth notes for each practice here: Practice #1 — Happy Hour.

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Final Top 25 Fantasy NASCAR Rankings for Atlanta

1. Kyle Larson – Starts 7th – DraftKings Price: $9,300 – FanDuel Price: $11,000 – Slingshot Price: $11,000

I fully expect Kyle Larson to challenge for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 win on Sunday. He finished 2nd in this Atlanta race back in the 2017 season, and also has finished of 9th and 8th to his credit here (in 2018 and 2014, respectively). As far as this weekend goes, Larson was the only one that was sort of close to Kyle Busch in ten-lap average during that final practice session on Saturday, and the #42 Chevrolet also had the best 20-lap average during Happy Hour as well. Last season, Kyle Larson solidified himself as a 1.5-mile contender (he had nine top 10s in the ten races) and I’d bet money that he wins on one of them this season. Will it be this weekend? It wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see that McDonald’s car in victory lane on Sunday. It’d look nice there, too, as that paint job is top notch.

2. Kevin Harvick – Starts 18th – DraftKings Price: $12,200 – FanDuel Price: $14,000 – Slingshot Price: $12,400

This weekend has been pretty wacky, but it hasn’t been wacky enough for Kevin Harvick to not be a good Fantasy NASCAR pick. Honestly, in any leagues, Harvick is a top pick. He has been insanely good at Atlanta Motor Speedway over the last seven years, averaging 145.1 laps per race over that span, although he only has one win. That was in this race last year. This weekend, Harvick got off to a rough start, qualifying 18th thanks to a power steering issue, but the #4 team seemed to have figured that out, and Harvick should be good to go on Sunday. For what it’s worth, he started 24th here back in 2012 and still led 101 laps before finishing 5th. Harvick is still a contender for the win here on Sunday, and if this new race package does indeed promote passing, then he should have no difficulty coming up through the field once the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 goes green.

3. Kyle Busch – Starts REAR (scored from 6th) – DraftKings Price: $10,500 – FanDuel Price: $13,500 – Slingshot Price: $11,900

If Kyle Busch didn’t destroy his primary car in the Happy Hour practice session on Saturday, we’d probably be talking about him as a potential race dominator. Unfortunately, he’ll have to start from the rear because of the wreck, but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad Fantasy NASCAR pick. Rowdy was putting down some blazing fast speeds while he was on the track on Saturday, and as long as he can get through the field on Sunday without wrecking, there’s plenty of time for Busch to get to the lead. As far as track history here at Atlanta, Kyle won here in 2008 and 2013, and has finished 7th or better in five of the last eight events. He’ll be racing in a backup car for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, but that really isn’t much of a disadvantage. Busch should be fine.