With one race already under its belt at this circuit, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to the "new" Atlanta Motor Speedway for Sunday's Quaker State 400 (3 p.m. ET, USA).
What was once a very abrasive, intermediate-style race track is now an extremely smooth superspeedway-type layout that provides the pack racing we typically see at Daytona and Talladega.
This results in racing that can be quite unpredictable and allows some longer shots to contend and even cash for bettors.
So with this in mind, here are two bets I'm making for Sunday's (weather permitting) Quaker State 400 at Atlanta.
NASCAR Picks for Atlanta
*Odds as of Sunday morning
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 50-1 to Win
Our very own Nick Giffen highlighted this as his favorite early bet, and with no practice and qualifying rained out, it's my top value as well heading into today's race.
Since Giffen has already done the legwork on this one, there's no need for me to reinvent the wheel (pun intended).
So, take it away Nick (that means click here to read his analysis)!
But before you place your bet, be sure to shop around to snag Stenhouse at the best number.
His price varies wildly across the market, with Caesars Sportsbook offering an extremely delightful 50-1.
Corey LaJoie (+325) for a Top-10 Finish
LaJoie is the king of minding his own business, keeping his car clean and scoring better-than-expected finishes at superspeedways.
Through three superspeedway races this season (Daytona, Atlanta and Talladega), LaJoie has the fifth-best average finish in the Cup Series.
In fact, if we look back to the start of the 2020 season, LaJoie still has the eighth-best average finish in the series over a much larger sample of 11 races.
He's not typically the type of driver who will get up front and contend for wins, but there are other ways to extract value from LaJoie.
At +325 (BetMGM), I like backing LaJoie to once again bide his time, stay out of trouble and be in contention for a top-10 finish with the laps winding down at Atlanta.
