2022 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Predictions and Pick

Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick were among my top picks at Phoenix, and they were in contention. Elliott arguably had the car to beat but dropped back after a late spin. Harvick scored a sixth-place finish.

The NASCAR Cup Series is back on the East Coast as they head to Atlanta Motor Speedway. Atlanta underwent a repave last season, and there’s talk we could see a superspeedway element to Sunday’s race. That’ll only add to the excitement.

Will we see another first-time winner? Here are my top picks for the 2022 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.

Ryan Blaney had the car to beat at Phoenix. He started on the pole and dominated the first half of the race. Blaney dropped back on a late pit stop and never made it back to the lead. He led 143 laps, finishing fifth.

It wasn’t a great idea to pick against Blaney last week, and I’m not making the same mistake at Atlanta. Aside from leading 41 laps in the 2019 race, Blaney was a non-factor in his first four Atlanta starts.

Then, he turned the corner. Let’s check out his last three finishes.

Kyle Larson had the car to beat in the Spring 2021 race. Blaney was the only driver that had anything for him. Larson was cruising to victory, but Blaney tracked him down, passing Larson with less than 10 laps to go.

If this race takes on a superspeedway feel, that’ll only play into Blaney’s hands. He has three wins on the track type and finished fourth in this year’s Daytona 500.

Blaney should have momentum from his dominant performance at Phoenix. He’d like to finish the deal with a victory at Atlanta.

Last week was a rare time Kyle Larson didn’t appear in my top picks or DFS lineup. Larson had a solid top-five car, but engine troubles relegated him to a 34th-place finish.

Larson has only finished two of the four races this season. He won at Auto Club and finished second at Las Vegas, so I’d say he isn’t far off his championship form. We should see that on display at Atlanta.

He nearly won at the track in 2017 but lost the lead with under 10 laps to go. He had the dominant car in 2019, leading 142 of the first 223 laps. Unfortunately, he couldn’t recover from a pit road penalty, finishing outside the top 10.

Then came last year’s performance in the Spring race.

Larson was by far the best car, but he overused his tires on the final green-flag run. That allowed Ryan Blaney to run him down and steal the victory.

He won’t have to worry about that this year because the new Atlanta doesn’t wear tires as much. The repave shouldn’t stop him from contending for another win.

Alex Bowman’s 2022 season has been interesting to say the least. He has three finishes of 14th or worse, but scored a victory at Las Vegas. It’s always a mystery to see which version of Bowman will show up. I have a feeling we’ll see the good version at Atlanta.

Bowman has steadily improved throughout his career at Atlanta. He finished 20th, 15th, and 12th in his first three starts with Hendrick Motorsports. Then came these finishes in 2021.

His streak of improving upon his previous finish ended, but I don’t think he’ll mind scoring a pair of top-five finishes.

We’ve gone over last year’s Spring race with Kyle Larson having the car to beat. Ryan Blaney had the second-best car, but Alex Bowman was right there with him. Had things gone a little different, he could’ve been the one to run down Larson.

Kurt and Kyle Busch had the cars to beat in the Summer race, but Bowman was a consistent top-three driver. Those performances should give him confidence for Sunday’s race.

Bowman has been very boom or bust this season so hopefully, we’ll see him boom at Atlanta.

The Next-Gen car promised to bring parity to the NASCAR Cup Series, and it hasn’t disappointed. Chase Briscoe became the second first-time winner in four races. Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick joined him in the top three. Both drivers were looking for their first career win.

Austin Dillon has three career Cup Series victories but could the parity trend return him to victory lane? It’d be wise to pick at least one longshot on the top NASCAR betting sites.

Dillon finished second at Auto Club and was in position to finish top 10 last week before crashing on the final lap. He should be in contention to score a surprise victory at Atlanta.

Dillon is trending in the right direction to contend for a win. The new superspeedway package could be what he needs to score his first victory since 2020. It might surprise some to see Dillon in victory lane, but I love his value.

Bettors shouldn’t be afraid to bet on any longshot with the parity this season.

I just finished talking about all the parity in the Cup Series, so of course, I’m picking the favorite. Ryan Blaney has been fast in every race this season. He failed to score a quality finish at Auto Club or Las Vegas, but we can’t discount his speed.

Blaney’s momentum should carry over to Atlanta. His success on superspeedway tracks gives him the edge as my race winner.

This is a race you won’t want to forget. Tune in to FOX at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday. Check out my top betting picks for more NASCAR action this weekend.