NASCAR
Stratta’s Six: Who Will Reign Supreme on Atlanta Motor Speedway?
Only eight races remain in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series regular season. The race to the Playoffs is in high gear, with another possible wildcard week on deck from Atlanta Motor Speedway. Just four months ago, the spring Atlanta race saw Joey Logano’s only victory so far this year. Fords were the class of the field that day. Can another manufacturer dominate under the lights? Here are a few drivers who could play upset winner in the Quaker State 400.
Joey Logano
The most recent Atlanta Motor Speedway winner, Joey Logano had a nearly perfect day in March. Starting on pole, the No. 22 Mustang led 140 laps and was one spot shy of a max points day. Logano was part of a Ford contingent that swept the top-nine spots on the grid. The 22 team took great advantage of track position, remaining up front nearly all day. The biggest question surrounding Logano coming into Sunday is whether or not he can pull off an Atlanta repeat.
“It’s gonna keep changing,” Logano said on Atlanta’s racing. “Atlanta’s evolved a lot just as the teams have gotten better from the first couple races to the last race. I’m sure it will evolve again one more time. It’s turning more and more into a superspeedway it seems like, although it will probably be warm. We’ll see.”
Winless across the 13 starts since Atlanta, Logano has looked average at best since March. The 22 only has six top-10s in this span, highlighted by a Martinsville runner-up. Recent weeks have seen Logano be brutally honest about Ford’s shortcomings as a manufacturer this year. Logano yearns to enter the Playoffs as a high seed with multiple wins. If that is to be the case, then Atlanta may be a do-or-die weekend.
Chase Elliott
The defending Quaker State 400 winner is hometown hero Chase Elliott. Much like Logano in March, Elliott’s No. 9 was nearly untouchable in this race 12 months ago. Starting on pole, Elliott swept all three Stages, leading 96 laps en route to victory. Fast-forwarding a year, the 9 now all but certainly needs a win to make the Playoffs. Elliott eyes a realistic shot at back-to-back summer Atlanta triumphs.
“That was a really nice weekend,” Elliott said about last year’s race. “Obviously, it’s a little different than having a dominant performance at a track that’s not a superspeedway, but we were really solid. It’s not like you’re getting out to a four or five second lead. We just had a car that had the ability to be on offense all day. When you’re on offense and you can be that guy to make lanes move forward and make a difference and pushing somebody to the front, it just puts you in a different league. It puts you in a really nice position to have a good day. We’ve certainly been on both sides of that fence.
“I missed Atlanta the first time this year. Hopefully we can go back and have a good run again like we did last year. I know a lot of the people around home are super excited about it being a night race. Getting under the lights down there I think is a really big deal. So I’m looking forward to that.”
Last year’s Quaker State 400 was part of Chase Elliott’s incredible summer stretch. This run ended with the 9 as regular season champion. The Atlanta win was one of five straight top-2 results for Elliott. He has a similar run of consistency going now, with three-straight top-fives. Entering Atlanta 24th in points, Elliott’s 2022 dominance should have him firmly on the short list of favorites.
Brad Keselowski
One last-lap block over Joey Logano is what kept Brad Keselowski from pulling into Atlanta victory lane. The RFK Racing No. 6 was one of few cars who could face off against the 22 in March, leading 47 laps. The final 44-lap run to the checkers was a chess match against BK and Logano. A nonstop back-and-forth affair took place between two of the best superspeedway masters.
Keselowski was proud of the near-flawless execution from his team. The entire 6 team will aim for one spot better though this time around Atlanta. Solidly ahead of the Playoff cut line by 91 points, Keselowski comes into Sunday with some of the shortest odds.
Corey Lajoie
Nobody has become a more favored underdog for Atlanta especially over the past two years than Corey Lajoie. Across the three races on Atlanta’s new surface, Lajoie has two top-fives. The lone exception was the Quaker State 400 last season. That day the No. 7 was wrecked from second on the last lap.
Spire Motorsports definitely has the swagger and speed figured out for Atlanta. Can they convert it into a win? Lajoie has a knack for knowing where to put his car and when to force the issue in the draft. Should Lajoie be in the front few rows on a late restart, driver 7 may upend the Playoff grid with a maiden NASCAR victory.
Ryan Blaney
Right on the heels of Logano for much of the spring Atlanta race was teammate Ryan Blaney. A superspeedway ace like few others, Blaney boasts three wins at both Daytona and Talladega. Across the last three races at the reconfigured Atlanta, the 12 has two top-10s. Blaney’s team hopes the Ford strength in numbers returns this weekend for a Penske-perfect Atlanta sweep.
“I thought all of our cars were fast in the spring,” Blaney said. “Obviously, Joey won, but I think we qualified 1-2-3 and I think eight or nine of the top 10 in qualifying were Fords, so I look forward to going there. Hopefully, our cars are still as good there and it’s a night race, so hopefully the track still has similar grip to what we had. The first time we went there with the new configuration you didn’t know what to expect, but now I think we have a pretty good idea. I’m curious to see how the track ages. Hopefully, it’s aged well, and I think handling comes more and more into play.”
Blaney had a nearly day-ending mistake four months ago, but was able to battle back to finish seventh. The 12 was speeding on pit road, having to serve his penalty on the redesigned apron through turns three and four. The speed limit through this section has been tweaked for this weekend. Hopefully no similar penalty is quite as costly. If not for this misstep, Blaney could have been up front all day with Logano and Keselowski. The 12 was going for the win at the most recent superspeedway race. Expect Blaney to be a stout contender again in Atlanta.
Bubba Wallace
Another driver always fast on superspeedways is the No. 23 Toyota of Bubba Wallace. Still searching for a win this season, Atlanta is the first of a string of strong tracks for Wallace. Currently 15th in points, the 23 hovers just above the Playoff cut line. An Atlanta win would only further emphasize what has been Wallace’s best season to date.
Three months ago, Wallace and Ryan Blaney tangled going for the lead on the last lap at Talladega. If the 23 is in similar position late on Sunday, Wallace may not hold anything back. A win for Wallace would mean securing a first career Playoff appearance.
Thanks to the ultimate equalizer of drafting, Atlanta provides a much wider array of potential winners. The Georgia green flag will fly Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. ET on USA, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Following Chicago, the Quaker State 400 is another week where a driver below the top-16 could snag a Playoff spot.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Sean Gardner/Getty Images for NASCAR
