Ambetter Health 400: What you need to know
- Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott won the most recent stop at Atlanta in July 2022, but he is sidelined due to a broken tibia. Josh Berry will once again fill in during Elliott’s absence
- HMS driver William Byron, who enters on a 2-race win streak, picked up checkers in last spring’s race at Atlanta. Byron starts Sunday’s race in the 11th spot
- Penske Racing driver Joey Logano is on the pole after posting a best speed of 177.374 mph in Saturday’s qualifying
- Penske Racing’s Ryan Blaney leads all active drivers with a 12.1 Average-Finish Position (AFP) with 4 top-5 finishes, and 85 laps led in 9 career Cup starts. Blaney will go off 3rd Sunday
- Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick leads all active drivers in the field with 3 Cup wins at Atlanta, posting 15.5 AFP while managing 9 top-5 finishes, 16 top-10 runs and 1,359 laps led. Harvick starts 6th in Sunday’s grid
- Austin Dillon has had difficulty in his career in Atlanta, posting just a single top-10 run with no laps led and a 21.6 AFP in 12 career Cup starts. Dillon will start in the 13th position
- 23XI’s Bubba Wallace has also struggled in suburban Atlanta, going without a top-10 finish in 7 career Cup starts, while posting a 19.6 AFP. Wallace qualified poorly, starting 19th
It’s hard to bet against Byron (+900), as he is brimming with confidence after 2 consecutive wins. He is the defending spring winner at Atlanta, too. However, RYAN BLANEY (+1000) is a slightly better value. Ford qualified 1 through 8 in Saturday’s session, and Penske Racing is a good bet to be there when the dust settles at the venerable Georgia track.
Ambetter Health 400 – Long shot(s)
It’s rather surprising to see Joe Gibbs Racing driver MARTIN TRUEX JR. (+3000) with such long odds compared to the rest of the field, but take advantage.
Although MTJ has no victories in 26 career Cup starts at AMS, he hasn’t been bad, either. He has posted 6 top-5 finishes and 10 top-10 runs with 383 laps led with 4 DNFs.
Across his last 5 starts in Atlanta, MTJ has managed a 6.8 AFP with 2 top-5 finishes and all but one top-10 finish. His AFP is 2nd during the 5-race Cup span only to Blaney (6.4).
Ambetter Health 400 prop pick(s)
MARTIN TRUEX JR. TOP-10 FINISH (+110)
As mentioned above, Truex has had some solid numbers over the years at Atlanta, so it’s uncertain why he faces such long odds.
He is plus-money (+110) to finish inside the Top 10, which is where he has been in 4 of his last 5 starts at the track, while totaling 13 top-10 runs in his 26 career Cup starts.
