The Low Tier – Atlanta
David Ragan – At Atlanta, David Ragan will be making his Cup return and he’ll be driving the Rick Ware #15. In the season opening Daytona 500 when he piloted this very car he finished 8th, so there’s hope. Atlanta’s also his home track, so perhaps there’s a little intangible there since he’ll be racing in front of his friends and family, for perhaps the last time. On Sunday, I think Ragan’s the top low tier option.
Greg Biffle – Greg Biffle and NY Racing will be returning to the track to race at Atlanta. How will they fare? So far this season he’s 2 for 2 at having fuel pump issues in races, so that’s certainly a problem and it’s resulted in finishes of 34th (Las Vegas) and 36th (Daytona). He’s certainly risky, but in terms of talent among drivers of this tier he’s the best.
BJ McLeod – At Atlanta, attrition will be BJ McLeod’s friend. If the attrition rate is just the norm, I would pencil him in as a high-twenties to low-thirties driver. If it gets high, then he might be able to sneak in a good finish. In the Daytona 500, McLeod finished 27th. At the two intermediates visited this year he has results of 22nd (Auto Club) and 28th (Las Vegas).
Cody Ware – Like all low tier drivers, attrition will be Cody Ware’s friend. The more the better for him, and of course he has to dodge trouble himself. To start the season, Ware finished 17th in the Daytona 500. Of course, attrition benefitted that result. At the two intermediates visited this year, Ware has results of 26th (Las Vegas) and 32nd (Auto Club).
Josh Bilicki – So far in 2022 we’ve seen Josh Bilicki twice and he’s raced at both intermediates. At Auto Club he finished 30th and then at Las Vegas he finished 29th. I’ll note, if the superspeedway attrition element comes into play it would be a huge benefit to him. Last year at Daytona he finished 11th in the summer and then 24th in the 500. Both of those results are unusually good for him.
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