Folds Of Honor QuikTrip 500 Picks and Preview: Favorites, Values, and Longshots

A brand new Atlanta Motor Speedway awaits drivers this week as they dive once again into another unknown in this Next Gen season. Read on for our Folds Of Honor QuikTrip 500 picks.

For years, the Atlanta Motor Speedway has been referred to as the fastest track in NASCAR. This season that designation may be put to the test even more with the recent facelift that was applied after last season’s fall race.

Over the offseason, the AMS increased the banking on the turns from 24 degrees to 28 degrees. They also shrunk the racing surface in the corners from 55 feet wide to 40 feet wide. No one knows quite yet what this will do to the overall racing here. Many speculate it will have the feel of a Superspeedway race. Most teams will be running the same type of package used for Daytona and Talladega. All things considered, it will be an exciting experiment.  

Ryan Blaney took home the checkered flag last season at this race. Kurt Busch won the last race run on the old AMS surface last fall. It’s a new ball game though and most of the old stats no longer hold up here. Picking a winner this week will deal more with their recent performance this season than their past here. 

Here are my picks and predictions for NASCAR’s Folds Of Honor QuikTrip 500 (odds via FanDuel Sportsbook and DraftKings Sportsbook).

Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Odds

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Fold Of Honor QuikTrip 500 Odds Analysis

There is very little deviation in terms of the odds among the favorites here to win. Across the board though, Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney share the same price. On DraftKings and FanDuel that price is set at +1000. On BetMGM, it’s slightly discounted at +900. Further down the line, it seems as if DraftKings and FanDuel are in lockstep on a majority of the other drivers.

Worth noting here is last week’s winner, Chase Briscoe, has three different listings across these three books. FanDuel is giving you a +1900 line to win, while DraftKings has him at +1800 and BetMGM even lower at +1600. Ross Chastain is also a contested driver on the books. He comes in at +2500 on DraftKings, +2400 on FanDuel, and +2200 on BetMGM. Right now, it looks as if DraftKings is offering the best values on many of these drivers. 

Folds Of Honor QuikTrip 500 Picks

Ryan Blaney (+1000 via FanDuel)Kurt Busch (+2200 via FanDuel)Ross Chastain (+2500 via DraftKings)

SEE ALSO: March Madness Top Picks and Odds

Who Will Win the Folds Of Honor QuikTrip 500?

Blaney (+1000)

It seems the No. 12 car has become an emerging player in NASCAR over the last couple of seasons. Last season, he enjoyed a career-high three wins. One of those just happened to be in Atlanta in the Spring race. Kyle Larson absolutely dominated most of that day leading 269 laps. But, with nine laps to go, Blaney got a huge run on old tires. He shot past Larson for the lead and hung on his first win of the season. That fall, he turned in another solid finish crossing the finish line in fifth place. 

Blaney has run seven times in Atlanta as a Cup driver. In those starts, he has three top 5 finishes. All three of those have come within the last three races here. Although, as was stated before, this is a new look to this track and a lot has changed since last Spring. So, for Blaney, his potential comes largely by way of his recent success.

Last week, the No. 12 Ford started from the pole. Blaney led 143 laps in Phoenix before he ultimately surrendered the lead to Chase Briscoe with 24 laps to go. He would eventually go on to a fourth-place finish. That said, he’s run at least 90% of his laps inside the top 15 in three out of the four races this season. The only time he failed to reach this mark was at Daytona in which he still managed a fourth-place finish. He’ll do enough to keep himself in contention again this week and deserves to be one of the favorites to win again here.

Busch (+2200)

Even though it’s basically a new track now, Kurt Busch knew how to win in its previous configuration. Of active drivers, the older Busch brother accounted for the most wins in Atlanta. That said, all four of his past wins may not translate well to what he is up against this weekend. Even still, looking back at what he’s done here is impressive nonetheless. If he can achieve even a fraction of that with his new team, he stands a very good chance of getting back to Victory Lane. 

Busch has made 31 starts at the AMS in his career. More than half of them have resulted in a top 10 finish. This includes 11 out of his last 15 races. He also has eight top 5 finishes. One of those is represented by his win here last Fall. In the seven races since the 2015 season, he has led 236 total laps. His average finish in Atlanta hovers just under 15th place.

The 2022 season has been a frustrating one for Busch in his new ride. But, he does have two top 10 finishes so far including a promising top 5 finish last week in Phoenix. Practice on Friday will show us a lot about what the No. 45 has for its new opponent. This is a situation worth monitoring especially given Busch’s current listing.

Chastain (+2500)

Don’t look now, but Ross Chastain has worked his way into the conversation. He and his new Trackhouse Racing team have begun to gain some momentum over the last two races. Two weeks ago in Las Vegas, he worked his way up to a third-place finish. Last week, he overcame a 17th place start to be in a battle for the lead at the end of the race. Ultimately, he finished second. 

The reason you are getting a value on him is because of the super unknowns this week. Not only is this a new racing surface, but Chastain is in a new car as well. Historically, the AMS has not been kind to him either. His best finish was for 14th place in last season’s Spring race in the No. 42 car for Chip Ganassi. His other three attempts failed to yield even a top 20 day. 

All things considered though, it looks like Chastain has hit a stride lately. Riding the momentum here is not a bad idea. DraftKings Sportsbook is offering the best odds for him at the moment giving you a 300 point swing over both BetMGM and FanDuel. He’ll be a fun dart throw in what should be an exciting race.

Where to Bet on the Folds Of Honor QuikTrip 500

Here are our top-rated sportsbooks:

FanDuel SportsbookCaesars SportsbookDraftKings SportsbookPointsBetBetMGM

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