NASCAR Atlanta 2024 Schedule: Timings of Race and Qualifying for NASCAR Races at Atlanta This Weekend

As NASCAR prepares to leave Florida and head back to Carolina, the fandom buckles up to witness the triple-header weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. For something as thrilling as a second straight week of superspeedway racing, the hype is quite justified. Let’s look into the full schedule, including the practice, qualifying, and race times for the upcoming race weekend at the 1.5-mile racetrack, all in ET.

The action starts on Friday, February 23 with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series qualifying at 3:05 p.m. and continues to the Xfinity Series qualifying to be held at 4:35 p.m. Both races can be watched live on FOX Sports 1.

The schedule for the following day is particularly busy with the Ambetter Health 400 (NCS) qualifying laps panning out at 11:30 a.m., followed by the Truck Series race; Fr8 208 at 2:00 p.m. and the RAPTOR King of Tough 250 (NCS) at 5:00 p.m. Just like the previous day, these three events will be aired on FOX Sports 1.

The most-awaited action is expected to unleash on Sunday, February 25 at 3:00 p.m., with the Cup Series Race Ambetter Health 400 only on FOX.

Top picks to win the upcoming NASCAR race, the Ambetter Health 400

Thankfully, Atlanta Motor Speedway expects a brighter Sunday than the rain-drenched weekend at Daytona. There was a time when Atlanta used to be a track where tire strategy played a huge role. But since its revamp ahead of the 2022 season, the Atlanta Motor Speedway has transformed into a hybrid between an intermediate tri-oval and a superspeedway. Needless to say, there will be more stress on drafting.

So, who are the ones with the highest chances to grab the checkered flag?

Team Penske’s Joey Logano is the reigning champion at the Ambetter Health 400. Moreover, he won the pole for Daytona and, arguably, had the best pit stall. Despite his wreck, leading 45 laps at Daytona is indeed a commendable job. The #22 driver has won at Atlanta from the pole before and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he did it again.

With the resurgence of the Fords in 2023 and the Cup Series champion being one of their star drivers, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to posit Ryan Blaney as the one to have the second-highest chances of winning on Sunday, right after his teammate, Logano. This man has three top-10 finishes in the four races at the new layout of Atlanta. Besides that, he has been able to get to the front of the pack with an average driver rating of 107.9 in all of those races. With a previous win at Daytona and three victories at Talladega, Blaney is a serious threat to everyone on the grid.

Last but not the least, we have Chase Elliott. Despite suffering from the snowboarding injury, Elliott did start 23rd in last year’s summer race and after flaunting six fastest laps, he finished 13th. Back in the Spring race of 2022, the Dawsonville native started sixth and finished sixth, leading 29 laps and in the summer, he started from the pole, led 96 laps, and won the race as well.