NASCAR at Atlanta: How to watch Cup race, odds, starting lineup

NASCAR’s Cup stars return to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the first time since the 1.54-mile track was repaved and reconfigured. The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 is 3 p.m. Sunday on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM.

Phoenix winner Chase Briscoe will start on the pole based on NASCAR’s qualifying formula. Saturday’s qualifying session was canceled due to inclement weather that altered the weekend track activity schedule. Ryan Blaney is slated to start in the front row with Briscoe.

NASCAR odds at Atlanta

Blaney won last year’s QuikTrip 500. He’s tied with Kyle Larson for the best odds to win this year’s race at +1000, according to BetMGM. The sportsbook lists Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano as the next favorites to win tied at +1200, followed by Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch and William Byron tied at +1400.

Atlanta track changes

The track will feel dramatically different for drivers due to the reconfiguration project, which updated the turns from 24 degrees to 28 degrees of banking, making Atlanta the steepest intermediate track on NASCAR’s schedule.

Officials said that they expect the racing product to more closely resemble that of a superspeedway. Teams will use the same aero package used at Daytona and Talladega. Other changes to the track include widening the frontstretch and a reduction in the width of the backstretch with narrower turns.

Joey Logano leads the series in points followed by Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe heading into the fifth race of the season. Austin Cindric, Larson, Bowman and Briscoe have won the first four races, respectively, this year.

The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 is 325 laps with stages ending on laps 105, 210 and 325.

How to watch NASCAR at Atlanta

• Race: Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500
• Distance: 500 miles (325 laps) with stages ending on laps 105, 210 and 325
• Where: Atlanta Motor Speedway
• When: Sunday, March 20 at 3 p.m.
• TV: FOX at 2:30 p.m.
• Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
• Purse: $8,263,045
  
  

• 2021 Race Winner: Ryan Blaney

NASCAR at Atlanta Cup starting order

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription