🏎️ Autotrader 400 Predictions 2026: NASCAR Picks & Best Bets for Atlanta

After a thrilling race at Daytona to open the NASCAR season, we've treated to the best possible encore with the Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta), which is set to begin at 3 p.m. ET (FOX) barring any weather delays.

This track has been one of the most entertaining on the Cup Series schedule since the repave ahead of the 2022 season, and our Autotrader 400 predictions expect another high-speed thriller this weekend as we target a few of the best superspeedway drivers on the circuit.

You can follow all of my actual picks for this race below, including all of the outright winner picks and prop bets that I've placed ahead of Sunday's race in Atlanta.

💡 How I'm betting the Autotrader 400

There are only two "superspeedways" on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule - Daytona and Talladega - but Atlanta has been the unofficial third drafting track on the circuit since it was reconfigured ahead of the 2022 season with increased banking (28 degrees), narrower corners (40 feet), and high speeds only seen at other superspeedways.

Those track conditions produce the same style of pack racing that has come to define Daytona and Talladega, but tire wear and handling matter more here than it does at those other true superspeedways. The packs are also smaller and more isolated, which benefits those elite drivers on high-level teams that can work well together.

This is personally my favorite race of the entire year, in part because I won my first-ever NASCAR bet in this race two years ago when Daniel Suarez won in a historic three-wide finish as a 40/1 long shot. So while this weekend doesn't have the pomp and circumstance of the Daytona 500, this is still one of those races worth circling on your calendar and sprinkling on some long shots, too.

🏆 Best bet to win the Autotrader 400

Austin Cindric to win Autotrader 400 (+1500, 1u)

Since this track was reconfigured in 2021, Team Penske has been a dominant force at this track with the most total laps led (645) and in the top 15 (4,457) with a pair of wins to show for it (2023, 2024).

While Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney are among the betting favorites across all of the best sports betting sites, Cindric is priced as a second-tier driver for this race despite ranking second in laps led (205) and third in percentage of top-15 laps (79.7%), which includes a pair of top-five finishes in 2022 and 2024 and three more top-12s since the repave.

In fact, the only two times he didn't finish in the top 12 both came last year in races that he could have won. He led 47 laps in February and wrecked from the front with three laps to go, and he led 12 laps in June before another accident took him out on lap 68. Even with those wrecks, he still leads the field in average running position (12.25) over the last two years at this track.

If the No. 2 car can remain intact on Sunday - which is a risk for any driver in the field - he has the experience at this track and arguably the two best drafting teammates in Logano and Blaney to help push him to Victory Lane for the first time. That's why I love the value at these +1500 odds via Caesars, though I'd be willing to play this down to 12/1.

🏁 More Autotrader 400 picks to win

One of the most enjoyable aspects of watching (and betting on) races at Atlanta is the unpredictability of this track, which operates somewhat like a superspeedway but with less risk of "The Big One" taking out half the field.

That creates a scenario that is favorable to long shots, like Suarez winning in 2024, but still tends to reward the best pack-racing drivers for the teams with the best equipment. That's why I'm targeting a few top drivers with outright winner bets at smaller units.

William Byron to win Autotrader 400 (+1600, 0.5u)

Byron is one of three drivers with multiple wins at this track since 2022, joining Logano and Chase Elliott, but he has the longest odds of that trio despite ranking second overall in total laps run in the top 15 (82.20%) and third in laps led (179) - trailing only the three Team Penske cars in either of those two metrics.

I tend to stay away from Hendrick Motorsports cars on volatile tracks because they are often overvalued for my taste. This is one of those rare cases where Byron is underpriced, and I don't want to enter Sunday's race without some exposure on the No. 24 car.

Carson Hocevar to win Autotrader 400 (+2000, 0.3u)

Hocevar is always a wild card at drafting tracks, but his aggressive racing style has paid off for him at Atlanta, where he ranks fourth in average finish (11.75) among those with at least three career starts since the repave. I don't exactly trust him to finish near the front given his reckless streak, but if he survives 400 miles, I like the value here on him to finish first - especially with FanDuel offering such an outlier price with others sitting at 12/1.

Daniel Suarez to win Autotrader 400 (+4500, 0.2u)

How could I leave Suarez off my betting card after his win hooked me into NASCAR betting in the first place? He's wrecked out of the last two races at Atlanta, but he strung together three consecutive top-two finishes at this track from 2023-24 including that win two years ago, and he had two top-six finishes in 2022, too. He ranks sixth in average finish (13.88) since the repave, so the value is very real at these odds via DraftKings.

🔥 Best Autotrader 400 prop bets

At a track as chaotic as Atlanta, it pays to supplement your outright race winner picks with a few prop bets that include more drivers or offer leeway for your top picks to finish just outside the top row and still help you profit. Here are the actual prop bets I'm targeting for the Autotrader 400 on Sunday.

Team Penske winning team (+300, 2u)

We bet this one last week and fell short with Logano finishing third, but I simply can't stay away from the best superspeedway team in the field. As mentioned before, Team Penske has dominated this track in terms of total laps led and average running position, both in the overall Next Gen Era and over the last two years, and I'm smitten with this number for a bet that includes three of the five best drivers in the field in my view.

Chase Elliott top-5 finish (+220, 0.5u)

I don't love the outright value on Elliott to win the race given that he's among the favorites across the board, but I'm puzzled as to why bet365 is offering such generous odds on Elliott to finish in the top five. He's won this race twice with a combined 166 laps led since 2022, and his average finish (9.14) leads the field in that stretch. This should be closer to +150, where it sits at some shops, so I'd pounce on anything at +200 or better.

Austin Cindric top-5 finish (+250, 0.5u)

I'm tempted by Cindric's odds in all three major prop markets (top-3, top-5, top-10), but this feels like the sweet spot for a driver with two top-five finishes in his last seven races at this track. That's good for a 28.6% top-five rate over that stretch, which is nearly identical to the 28.57% implied probability according to our odds converter, but that doesn't consider his pace last year when he was wrecked.

💰 My best Autotrader 400 bets

Here's a look at the actual bets I'm placing for the Autotrader 400 with the best odds from all of our best sports betting apps at the time of writing:

Total wagered: 5 units | Max profit: 23.35 units

📈 Autotrader 400 betting insights

Here's a look at the most popular bets to win the Autotrader 400 according to betting data from BetMGM ahead of Sunday's race:

📺 How to watch NASCAR at Atlanta: 2026 Autotrader 400

• Date: Sunday, Feb. 22
• Time: 3 p.m. ET
• Location: EchoPark Speedway (Hampton, Ga.)
• TV: FOX