Atlanta Fantasy NASCAR Confidence Ranking Picks/ Post Practice Predictions
On Sunday, NASCAR will be racing at Atlanta! Throw away your old Atlanta notes because in 2022, it’s a brand-new track. Atlanta has been repaved and reconfigured. I would consider Atlanta to now be a hybrid track in the sense it’s an intermediate / Quasi-Superspeedway. In practice, Bubba Wallace said it was 50/50 between the two track types. Using the “eye test” in practice, I would say that’s about right.
The Atlanta Starting Lineup was set by the formula, so check it out!
Wondering how practice went? Check out our Atlanta Practice Notes and Atlanta 5,10,15,20,25 Lap Average Speed Cheat Sheet.
Atlanta Full Field Rankings
1) Ryan Blaney / Start 2nd / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Speed Rankings / 5 Lap Average – 12th / 10 Lap Average – 8th / 15 Lap Average – 5th / 20 Lap Average – 6th
Fantasy Spin – At the newly repaved/ reconfigured Atlanta, Ryan Blaney will be a driver to be reckoned with. Atlanta is now an intermediate / quasi-superspeedway, and Blaney ranks as one of the premiere performers on both of those track types. Of the two superspeedways, Daytona is far more relevant and at that venue since 2020 minus last year’s 500 where he wrecked early, Blaney has a 3.25 average finish. In this year’s Daytona 500, Blaney led 36 laps and finished 4th. Last summer, Blaney raced his way to victory lane. This year at intermediates, Blaney has been one of the best, but he’s had problems and has a pair of misleading results. That said, his Total Speed Ranking which is tied with Hamlin for being the best in the series doesn’t cover up that fact (pit problems at Auto Club and an accident at Las Vegas). In practice, the #12 looked very racy.
DraftKings $10,700 / FanDuel $13,500 / DK Betting Odds To Win +950
Further Recommended Reading – Atlanta Projected Finish Ranges, DraftKings Atlanta Playability Value Chart, FanDuel Atlanta Playability Value Chart
2) Joey Logano / Start 3rd / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Speed Rankings / 5 Lap Average – 11th / 10 Lap Average – 3rd / 15 Lap Average – 7th / 20 Lap Average – 7th
Fantasy Spin – Joey Logano has won at 2 of the 3 debuting ovals since 2021, so don’t be surprised to see this quick adopter in victory lane once again on Sunday. Without question, I think he’ll be a factor. Logano’s one of the premiere superspeedway performers, and he’s also a strong intermediate track performer. A combination of those two variables will be key this weekend. This year at intermediate tracks, Logano has been solid. For the season on this track type, Logano has the 5th best Total Speed Ranking, a 9.5 average finish, an 8.1 average running position and his Driver Rating is the 5th best. At superspeedways, Joey Logano is a super-elite performer, but his luck has gone south in recent races, but make no mistake he’s one of the best. This year at Daytona, Logano finished 5th in Stage #1, 2nd in Stage #2 but was involved in an accident in the final Stage which led to his 21st. In his Duel 150, Logano crashed on the final lap while leading. Last year at Daytona, Logano had problems while running in the top five late in the summer and then of course in the Daytona 500 he was wrecked while leading on the last lap.
DraftKings $9,900 / FanDuel $13,000 / DK Betting Odds To Win +1200
3) Denny Hamlin / Start 15th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential –Medium
Speed Rankings / 5 Lap Average – 3rd / 10 Lap Average – 1st / 15 Lap Average – 1st / 20 Lap Average – 1st
Fantasy Spin – 2022 has been brutal for Denny Hamlin, but he has to bounce back at some point, right? He can’t have problems in every race. Hamlin really hasn’t been running bad and over the last three races heading into the weekend his driver rating is the 9th best, despite his average finish being 20th. This weekend, there’s two key variables I like about Hamlin. I like his superspeedway racing prowess, which is second to none, and I like how well he performed at Las Vegas. At “Sin City”, Hamlin had the best Total Speed Ranking, led 31 laps and then during a post-DNF interview after he damaged his drive train, Hamlin said he had the best car. The relevance of practice speeds this weekend is debatable, but Hamlin did rank #1 in terms of 10,15 and 20 lap averages. Also in practice, Hamlin did a 39 lap run, so you can be confident he knows what he’s working with this weekend.
DraftKings $10,100 / FanDuel $12,000 / DK Betting Odds To Win +1200
