A look at the good news and bad news for NASCAR Cup teams heading to Atlanta
02/19/2025 10:20 AM
NASCAR heads next to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the second consecutive race at a drafting track.
It was this race a year ago that Daniel Suarez beat Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch in the closest three-car finish in NASCAR history.
Here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup teams heading to Atlanta.
23XI Racing —Good news: Tyler Reddick is coming off a runner-up finish in the Daytona 500. … Reddick finished sixth at Atlanta in last year's playoff opener. … Cup rookie Riley Herbst had three top 10s in six Xfinity starts at Atlanta. … Bubba Wallace won his qualifying race at Daytona. Bad news: Wallace has gone 80 starts since his last Cup points win.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Todd Gilliland led a race-high 58 laps in the Atlanta spring race last year. … Gilliland has started in the top 10 in each of the last three Atlanta races. Bad news: Noah Gragson has only one finish better than 33rd in six starts at Atlanta. … Zane Smith is coming off a 36th-place finish at Daytona.
Haas Factory Team — Good news: Cole Custer has one top-10 finish in three starts on the reconfigured track at Atlanta. … Was challenging for the lead on the last lap at Daytona. Bad News: Custer was involved in the last-lap crash in the Daytona. … He has made 118 Cup starts since his last series win (Kentucky in July 2020).
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: William Byron won his second consecutive Daytona 500, becoming the youngest driver in NASCAR history with multiple Daytona 500 wins. … Byron's 12 wins in the Next Gen car trail only teammate Kyle Larson, who has 13 wins. … Byron has nine top 10s, including three wins, in the last 11 races at drafting tracks. … Alex Bowman placed sixth in the Daytona 500, marking his third consecutive top-six finish in that event. … Chase Elliott has an average finish of 8.6 in the six races on the reconfigured Atlanta track, ranking behind only Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suarez. Bad news: Kyle Larson has failed to finish five of the last six races at Atlanta due to an accident.
Hyak Motorsports — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has finished in the top 10 in two of the last three Atlanta races. … All four of his Cup wins have come at drafting tracks. … Stenhouse has made 365 consecutive starts, ranking fourth on the active list. Bad news: He was collected in an accident and finished 18th in the Daytona 500.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Christopher Bell placed fourth at Atlanta in last year's playoff race there. … Bell has 13 poles with the Next Gen car, most among all drivers. … Ty Gibbs has two top 10s in four Atlanta Cup starts. … Chase Briscoe finished fourth in the Daytona 500. Bad news: Denny Hamlin has finished 23rd or worse in four of the six races on the reconfigured Atlanta track. … Briscoe has never finished in the top 10 in a Cup race at Atlanta.
Kaulig Racing — Good news: Ty Dillon finished 14th in the Daytona 500, one of six cars not involved in an accident. Bad news: AJ Allmendinger finished 41st in the Daytona 500 after an engine issue.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: Jimmie Johnson finished third and John Hunter Nemechek placed fifth in the Daytona 500 to equal the number of top-five finishes the team had in 2023 and 2024 combined. … Erik Jones finished second in his qualifying race at Daytona and placed 12th in the Daytona 500. Bad news: Nemechek has not finished in the top 20 in two starts at the reconfigured Atlanta track.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Kyle Busch has finished in the top 10 in all four races at Atlanta with RCR. Bad news: Austin Dillon has not finished better than 20th in the six races at Atlanta since the track was reconfigured.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Corey LaJoie is back in the No. 01 car this weekend. … Two of his four career top-five finishes in Cup have come at the reconfigured Atlanta track. Bad news: Cody Ware was collected in a crash and finished 25th in the Daytona 500.
RFK Racing — Good news: Chris Buescher enters Atlanta after a 10th-place finish at Daytona. … Brad Keselowski's seven wins at drafting tracks leads all active drivers. Bad news: Ryan Preece has failed to finish three of the last four races at drafting tracks due to accidents.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: Michael McDowell won the pole for both Atlanta races last year while at Front Row Motorsports. … Justin Haley has an average finish of 13.3 on the reconfigured Atlanta track to rank seventh among active drivers. Bad news: Carson Hocevar placed 30th in the Daytona 500 after fuel pressure issues.
Team Penske — Good news: Joey Logano won last year's playoff race at Atlanta, the most recent Cup race there. … With Martin Truex Jr.'s streak of 685 consecutive races ending, Logano will rank first in that category. Logano has made 577 consecutive starts. The record is 797 by Jeff Gordon. … Ryan Blaney's average finish at the reconfigured Atlanta track is 7.17, best among active drivers. … Blaney has finished in the top 10 in the last five Atlanta races, the longest active streak at the track. … Since last year, Team Penske drivers have run first and second for 190 laps at drafting tracks. No other team comes close to matching that figure during the same span. Bad news: Austin Cindric led 92 laps at Atlanta in last year's playoff opener but had multiple issues on pit road and finished 10th.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Daniel Suarez won at Atlanta a year ago in the closest three-car finish in series history. … Suarez has finished first or second in the last three Atlanta races. … Suarez has four top-five finishes in six races on the reconfigured Atlanta track, most in the series. Bad news: Ross Chastain finished 40th in the Daytona 500 after he was eliminated in a crash. … It marks the second consecutive race at a drafting track that Chastain has finished 40th. … Shane van Gisbergen finished 32nd at Atlanta last September in his first Cup start there.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Josh Berry qualified fourth for last year's playoff race at Atlanta while at Stewart-Haas Racing. Bad news: Berry has failed to finish four of the last six races at drafting tracks due to accidents.
