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NASCAR DFS Pit Stop:Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 – Atlanta 2/24

By Matt Vecchio

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 17: Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, and Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, race during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 61st Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2019 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)
DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 17: Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, and Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, race during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 61st Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2019 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images) /
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HAMPTON, GA – FEBRUARY 22: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Busch Beer Ford, drives during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 22, 2019 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) NASCAR DFS
HAMPTON, GA – FEBRUARY 22: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Busch Beer Ford, drives during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 22, 2019 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) NASCAR DFS /

Welcome to NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway. Forget everything you saw at Daytona last week because this race will be the complete opposite when it comes to the amount of cautions flags thrown and the amount of cars with damage or wrecked. When it was all said and done there were only three cars in the 40-car field that were not involved in one of the many numerous wrecks, which resulted in two red flags for nearly 40 minutes, and 12 cautions for 47 laps. When you add up the caution flags thrown in the previous 3 Atlanta races you get 14, so needless to say it is highly unlikely we have a wreckfest like last Sunday

* Atlanta finish average is from races run from 2015-2018

NASCAR DFS: Leaders of the Pack

Kevin Harvick ($12,200) 

Avg Atlanta finish: 7.4

Qualified: 18th

Kevin Harvick owns this track, so much so they should rename it Kevin Harvick Motor Speedway. Harvick swept the Xifnity and Cup series races last year and will look to make it back to back in the cup series. Over the past 4 Atlanta races Harvick has led 915 laps nealry 800 more than second place Jimmie Johnson, for an average of 228.5 laps per race, which will give him on average 57 DKFP for leading laps

Chase Elliott ($9,700)

Avg. Atlanta Finish: 7.7

Qualified: 22nd

Elliott was not very fast in practice or qualifying but his track history here at Atlanta suggests he will still have a good finish. Over the last 4 years Elliot’s average starting position is 20.7 with an average finish of 7.7. Elliott also runs 88.2% of the time inside the top 15 which is good for 7th of all active drivers.

Clint Bowyer ($9,100)

Avg Atlanta finish: 22.2

Qualified: 3rd

Atlanta is a track that you can use guys who qualify towards the top because of the lack of passing here. Bowyer doesn’t have a great track record here but does have a fast car this weekend. After qualifying 3rd, Bowyer then went out and ran the fastest lap in final practice on Saturday.

Also consider Kyle Larson ($9,300)

HAMPTON, GA – FEBRUARY 22: Matt DiBenedetto, driver of the #95 Procore Toyota, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 22, 2019 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
HAMPTON, GA – FEBRUARY 22: Matt DiBenedetto, driver of the #95 Procore Toyota, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 22, 2019 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /

NASCAR DFS: Middle of the Pack

Kurt Busch ($8,500)

Avg Atlanta finish: 8.0

Qualified: 8th

Busch ran the 6th fastest lap in practice on Saturday and has a pretty good history in Atlanta. In his last 4 races here, Busch has led 136 laps as well as running 10 fastest laps.

Jimmie Johnson ($8,300) 

Avg Atlanta finish: 10.4

Qualified: 11th

Jimmie Johnson is looking for win number 6 in Atlanta and he has a pretty fast car right now. Johnson has led 146 laps over the last 4 races in Atlanta (2nd to only Harvick in that span). All the numbers come out positive for Johnson with an avg starting position of 22.4, and run avg of 11.4 and a finish of 10.4 on avg.

Matt DiBenedetto ($7,600)

Avg Atlanta finish:  29.3

Qualified: 20th

I am not going to break down the stats for DiBenedetto because honestly they don’t matter. DiBenedetto has a new team, with a better car and a great crew chief in Mike “Wheels” Wheeler (Long Island’s own, so I might be a little biased), Denny Hamlin’s former crew chief. If it wasn’t for all the carnage last week DiBenedetto had a car that could have won.

Also consider: Autsin Dillon ($7,700)

NASCAR DFS: Back of the Pack

Daniel Hemric ($6,800)

Avg Atlanta finish: N/A (Rookie)

Qualified: 28th

Hemric is the perfect example of how qualifying trim can be deceiving as opposed to race trim. While he did not fair well in qualifying, coming in at P28, his race trim car was great on the track on Saturday.  Hemric’s Chevy ran the 8th fastest lap on Saturday and the 5th best 10 lap average.

Michael McDowell ($6,000) 

Avg Atlanta finish: 28.3

Qualified: 12th

After how well McDowell and his team did at Daytona last week I am not concerned with his qualifying in P12. I can understand if you want to fade him and look elsewhere because you are concerned with his high starting spot. McDowell did have the 4th best lap in final practice on Saturday.

Also consider: Ryan Newman ($6,900), Corey Lajoie ($5,200)

HAMPTON, GA – FEBRUARY 22: Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, drives during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 22, 2019 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
HAMPTON, GA – FEBRUARY 22: Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, drives during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 22, 2019 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images) /

NASCAR DFS: Driver to Fade

Kyle Busch ($10,500)

Busch had a great car and also had a great start to his weekend with a win in the truck series race Saturday afternoon, but he will be switching to his backup car on Sunday which means he will start at the back of the field.

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Even though he is being moved to P40, he will still be credited with starting P6 so he will be starting with negative points. Since he using a back up and the damage to his car happened in final practice he was not able to get any laps on this car, so they don’t know how this car will handle.

NASCAR DFS: Place Differential Play

Joey Logano ($11,700)

Avg Atlanta finish: 8.4

Qualified: 27

The reigning NASCAR MENCS Champion had the car to beat last week at Daytona but just couldn’t get it done. Logano has an average 8.4 finish at this track over the last 4 years and had the 7th fastest lap during Saturday’s final practice and the 9th best 10 lap average. Don’t be surprised if Logano finds his way into the top 10 before we even get 20 laps into this race.

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