We’ve completed one week of the 2025 NASCAR Cup season with the DAYTONA 500 securely in the books. A few hours up I-95 and we’re set for Week 2 at Atlanta, a track that has become a mini-Daytona of sorts. Gone are the days of worn out pavement, giving way to a repaved, ultra-fast surface. Fords led 143 (of 201) laps last week but didn’t factor in the finish; what does today hold?
Here’s what to look for:
–Ryan Blaney finished 7th in the 500; he was the top finishing Ford then, and now he leads a Penske contingent — and the field — to the Green. It is his first Pole of the season, and a lot of his success should carry over from last week. He has a lifetime average finish of 10.0 in Atlanta, but finished 2nd in this race last year, and followed it up with a 3rd in the Fall.
–Austin Cindric, his teammate, missed the top spot by .002. Too close! Cindric, like Blaney, also has had some success at Daytona (including 59 laps, the most of any driver). Cindric, like Blaney, has also experienced some solid days in Atlanta. His worst finish since the Fall of ’22 was 12th, and finished 4th in this race last Spring.
–Daniel Suarez won this race last year in the closest ever 1-2-3 finish in Cup history (subject of an FS1 documentary, “So Damn Close: Atlanta ’24”). He edged Ryan Blaney (above) and Kyle Busch (below) for the Win. He drove his #99 to a 2nd in Fall as well, and has finished no worse than that over his last three attempts here. Saturday did him no favors though as he Qualified 29th; can he tap into that recent run of Top 2s?
–Kyle Busch was the only Chevy in the Top 11 in Saturday’s Qualifying session, all of the other positions were filled by Fords. We’ve already mentioned his 3rd here last Spring, did you know that Kyle Busch won the Truck race here on Saturday after Qualifying? Seems like he’s got a pretty good idea of what this track has to offer in ’25. Rowdy has eight Top 10s over over his last ten attempts.
-Sure, why not? Let’s finish out that Penske Trio with Joey Logano, the winner of the Atlanta race last Fall. That was the first time he’d won here since…why, the previous Spring! Joey Logano took the checkers in March of ’23. Fair to say they’ve got a good handle on this joint, yeah? He’ll start this race from 4th today.
Coverage of the race from Atlanta starts on FOX at 3:00pm.
Roc Sports NOW 