The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will run the second race of the 2017 season in the Folds Of Honor QuikTrip 500 Sunday afternoon at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Last week at Daytona the three-segment racing debuted in NASCAR. While it seemed to create more exciting racing from start to finish of the race, I will reserve judgment on if I like it for after some more races have been run under the format. Putting that aside, lets just look at the basic facts of the second race to use the new three-segment format.
This weekend in Atlanta the NASCAR Cup series race will be divided with 85 lap runs for the first two segments and a final segment of 155 laps to total 325 laps around the 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway. During the 500.5 miles of racing the drivers will have to safely navigate through the 24 degrees of banking through the turns 650 times (that’s one time for each time through turns 1 & 2 and one for each time through turns 3 & 4) if they want to have a shot at winning at the end of the race.
The average speed around the track will be above the 150 MPH mark. That means the cars will need to have power and handling to avoid being left behind or getting out of control and crashing. Either of these scenarios would take the chance of a win out of the day for the drivers that experience them.
We saw last week that there will likely be different strategies to deal with the new three-segment racing. That also puts pressure on the pit crews and teams to execute flawlessly in the pits to ensure they don’t cost the driver too much time in the pits.
Take a look at the drivers who have performed the best during their careers at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Top 10 Active Driver Ratings at Atlanta Motor Speedway:
- Jimmie Johnson – 107.1
- Matt Kenseth – 98.3
- Denny Hamlin – 95.5
- Chase Elliot – 95.5
- Kurt Busch – 95.4
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 95.1
- Kevin Harvick – 94.7
- Kyle Busch – 93.1
- Martin Truex Jr. – 92.4
- Brad Keselowski – 87.7
(Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2016 races {18 total} among active drivers at Atlanta Motor Speedway)
Some of the drivers on the list above like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch need to rebound from disastrous races last week to get their seasons headed in the right direction. Others on the list like last week’s Daytona winner Kurt Busch can further strengthen the start of the season with another strong showing this week at Atlanta.
Defending NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson is one of the drivers that did not have a great start to his season last week. However, this week could be a great opportunity for Jimmie to rebound since he has won the last two Atlanta races and holds the most wins at the track with a total of five Atlanta victories.
Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch are next on the Atlanta win list with three each followed by Kyle Busch with two victories at the track.
Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick have each visited Victory Lane a single time during their Cup Series careers.
We will all see what strategies are used, which drivers fall victim to mishaps and which are there in the end when the Folds Of Honor QuikTrip 500 gets under way starting at 1:30 PM central time (2:30 PM eastern time) live from Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday. March 5th.
By: Buck Stevens
