June 28, 2025
Fifth-place Atlanta starter Ryan Preece does not have a good record here, but that doesn't really matter too much when evaluating him since he typically has run better almost everywhere this year than he ever has before. Although Preece has only led three laps and has never finished better than 16th here, he does have a knack for finishing and he's likely to be faster in today's race than he ever has been before, as his career-best qualifying run attests. When considering Ford's speed in general and the fact that Preece battled for the win at Talladega before being disqualified, he could be a threat to dominate and at $6,700 he's much cheaper than the other drivers who could do that. The problems are that he qualified better than he usually finishes and also that he tends to be more consistent than dominant. You probably shouldn't start him, but at least there's a case for doing so.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
June 28, 2025
The good thing about Austin Dillon's record at Atlanta is that he has been consistent as he has only crashed out of two races (both in 2022) and has finished between 16th and 22nd in all five races since. The bad thing is that he's never remotely been competitive either in the Gen 6 era when it was a regular intermediate track or in the Next Gen era when it was a drafting track. Dillon has never led a lap here and only earned a single top ten in 2021. The fact that he qualified 12th for today's race suggests that he is almost guaranteed to lose positions in the race while also not contending. Despite the fact that he costs only $6,000 in DFS, he is absolutely one of the worst options to start for DFS.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
June 28, 2025
Although Ty Gibbs has had a slight uptick in performance recently, he is still one of the year's biggest disappointments considering what the other three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have been doing. Don't expect that to change much at Atlanta. Although he did lead 37 laps late in last year's summer race, he absolutely tanked from the lead to 17th over the last ten laps. Besides that, he has never finished better than ninth or led any other races here and drafting tracks aren't really his best track type. Couple that with the fact that he qualified 16th (better than he usually starts here) and he's both unlikely to be a serious contender or have much value for DFS teams either.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
June 28, 2025
With Legacy Motor Club's recent uptick in speed and Erik Jones' historic record on drafting tracks, Jones is strongly worth considering for DFS play, particularly because he qualified 26th, has a lot of place-differential potential and only costs $6,300. Although Jones' record at Atlanta isn't as strong as his record at Daytona or Talladega, he has finished every race he has started here and did finish fourth in the Next Gen in 2022 while leading 10 laps. Now that his speed has improved and he is consistently finishing in the top 20, this track type offers him a strong chance for a top-10 finish. Although he probably isn't the absolute best choice for DFS play since he has struggled to lead laps this year and better drivers are qualifying worse, Jones will definitely be undervalued and he'd be an excellent pivot option as a result.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
June 28, 2025
Although Noah Gragson has had a pretty miserable season to date, he's definitely worth considering for DFS play at Atlanta on Saturday. People are likely to stay away from Gragson because he has crashed in four of his seven Atlanta starts, including the last three in a row, but the Fords in general and Front Row Motorsports cars in particular continue to be fast on drafting tracks, albeit not quite as fast as they once were. Nonetheless, Gragson starts 27th behind all the chartered Ford drivers except for Cody Ware, so there's a lot of upside here given Ford's dominant speed on these tracks. Gragson also started 27th at Talladega earlier this year and got his best finish of the season, finishing fourth there. Although there's a big risk that Gragson might crash again, you should strongly consider starting him for DFS, especially because he only costs $6,200.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
June 28, 2025
Riley Herbst finished 17th in his first Atlanta race in the NASCAR Cup Series last February, the second in a run of three consecutive 17th-place finishes he had to start the season. However, not surprisingly, the rest of the season proved that was an uncharacteristic run for him as he has only finished better than 22nd twice since then. He does have some speed in drafting track races as he earned top tens at Daytona and Talladega in 2023 and his 23XI Racing teammates Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace both won at Talladega for the team. However, the team is slumping somewhat perhaps due to 23XI's lawsuit against NASCAR. Despite the fact that he could have speed, even if he does, he's almost certain to run worse than 15th and Atlanta doesn't tend to be as chaotic as Daytona or Talladega, so you should probably avoid starting him.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
June 28, 2025
Ty Dillon earned his best starting position at Atlanta on Friday, qualifying a career-best 14th for Kaulig Racing, a team that has at times shown unexpected speed this year. However, he is almost guaranteed to lose positions since he has never finished better than 15th here, and his best finish in the Next Gen/drafting-track era is a mere 19th. Kaulig has admittedly shown bursts of speed here at times, with A.J. Allmendinger finishing third in 2023 and leading six laps, and Daniel Hemric finishing 11th last year. Dillon himself did win a stage at Talladega in 2019, albeit with an entirely different generation of car. It's possible he could be a dark horse for a top-10 finish, but the odds are far more likely that he won't, and even though he only costs $5,000, he likely qualified too well to consider him for DFS.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
June 28, 2025
Two days ago, it was announced that Spire Motorsports co-founder T.J. Puchyr is buying Rick Ware Racing. Rick will continue as a partner while his son Cody will continue to drive the No. 51 car. Although you might think Atlanta offers an opportunity for Ware to potentially have a good run since drafting tracks tend to be more chaotic with a lot of crashes, Atlanta is nowhere near as chaotic as Talladega or especially Daytona and tends to reward the fastest drivers and cars on this track type. As a result, Ware has never finished better than 23rd in the Next Gen races here. Since he starts 39th, it is likely he'll gain at least a few positions in the race over other drivers who crash out, but not nearly enough for his Place Differential to overcome his likely poor finish and make him valuable for DFS play.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
June 28, 2025
Look for Ryan Blaney to be a contender in Saturday night's Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta). The Team Penske driver has the best average finish at this track in the Next Gen era and has wound up ninth or better in each oft he last six races here. Over the last three at this track, Blaney hasn't finished worse than fourth. Not surprisingly, the No. 12 Ford has had the best average speed ranking as well in the Next Gen era. When it comes to DFS this weekend, Blaney is a tournament option due to his high starting position (third). He's likely going to need to lead a bunch of laps and earn a podium finish in order to be in the optimal lineup, and while the finish possibility is definitely there, it's worth noting that Blaney has led five or fewer laps in three of the six Atlanta races. The ones where he did lead a decent portion of the race, he ended up with 33, 31, and 20 laps led.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
June
28,
2025
Joey
Logano
will
lead
the
field
to
the
green
for
Saturday
night's
Quaker
State
400
at
EchoPark
Speedway
(Atlanta),
as
the
No.
22
Ford
put
down
a
lap
of
30.979
seconds
(178.960
mph)
during
qualifying
on
Friday.
This
is
Logano's
second
read more...
June 28, 2025
Denny Hamlin is sure to be one of the most popular DFS picks for Saturday night's Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta), as the Joe Gibbs Racing driver qualified in 33rd place for this weekend's race. That means that Hamlin has massive place-differential upside in a race where those fantasy points should reign supreme with the final scoring. And while Hamlin does have upside to grab plenty of place-differential points, this weekend's race could be an opportunity to go underweight on him from a strategy perspective. Hamlin has zero top-five finishes in the seven races on the "new" Atlanta tracks and only two top-10s. Additionally, he has finished outside of the top 20 entirely in four of the last seven races here. The upside is definitely there, but if you're feeling like rolling the dice and going against one of the most popular DFS plays on this slate, you could go underweight on Hamlin in tournaments.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
June 28, 2025
Although he has yet to make it into victory lane since the repave and reconfiguration of Atlanta Motor Speedway (now known as EchoPark Speedway), Kyle Busch has been one of the best on the new surface. Over the last five races at this track, Busch has the second-best average finish (6.4), the fifth-best driver rating (89.6), and he hasn't finished worse than 10th in any race. That should be music to the ears of DFS players considering Kyle Busch qualified 29th for Saturday night's Quaker State 400 race and has very high Place Differential upside if he can perform at his normal level in this weekend's race. At $8,800 on DraftKings and with his strong track history, expect Kyle Busch to be one of the higher-owned drivers on the slate, but he's also likely to be one of the highest-scoring DFS plays this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
June 28, 2025
Ross Chastain will roll off the starting grid from 34th place when the Quaker State 400 goes green on Saturday night, making him one of the top DFS targets on the slate in a race where place differential is king. And even though Chastain wasn't able to find a ton of speed in qualifying, he should be just fine once the green flag waves. Since Atlanta was repaved and reconfigured prior to the 2022 season, Chastain ranks fifth-best in average finish (11.4) among active drivers and sixth-best in average driver rating (85.5). Back here in February, he started way back in 33rd but ended up eighth once the checkered flag flew. Chastain could easily have a similar performance here this weekend. Getting up front at this "new" Atlanta requires aggressiveness and precision, and we all know Chastain is capable of both, especially the former.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
June 28, 2025
Daniel Suarez hasn't won in over 50 races, since he took the three-wide victory in dramatic fashion at Atlanta back in February 2024. And with contract concerns looming--Suarez is in the final year of his contract at Trackhouse Racing--nothing would help move negotiations along like another win at the 1.54-mile track. Since Atlanta was repaved and reconfigured before the 2022 season, Suarez has been one of the best here--at least in terms of average finish. In addition to that aforementioned victory, Daniel has two runner-up finishes along with five total results of sixth or better in the seven races on this "new" track. This weekend, the No. 99 Chevrolet ended up 31st-fastest in qualifying, which means Suarez has a ton of Place Differential upside for Saturday night's race. He's a strong DFS play when you combine that with his strong track history.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Motorsport
June 28, 2025
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. qualified 37th for Saturday night's Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta), making him one of the most obvious DFS picks on this weekend's slate. Constructing a solid DraftKings lineup at Atlanta is all about focusing on place differential, and Stenhouse's upside in that category is sky-high for this race. Additionally, Atlanta is a good track for Ricky, as he has posted finishes of fifth, 14th, sixth, 10th, and 17th in the last five races here. At just $6,900 on DraftKings and with super-high place-differential upside, DFS managers should have plenty of Stenhouse exposure on Saturday night, unless you want to take a strategy play and go underweight on him and hope he has issues (as he will likely be one of the highest-owned drivers). Over the last five Atlanta races, Stenhouse has a plus-92 place differential.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
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