The 2024 Cup Series playoffs will begin this Sunday at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Unlike last season, when the postseason kicked off with the Southern 500 in Darlington, the curtains will be parted with the Quaker State 400. The 400-mile thriller on one of the fastest tracks on land will be the first of the three steps in the Round of 16 and it comes with attractive monetary rewards packed in it.
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Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass has reported on X that the purse size for the upcoming Cup Series race is $7,801,384. This figure includes the payouts for performance, year-end points-fund contribution, historical results, contingency awards, and so on. Last year, the purse for this fixture was $7,449,067. Could the increase be attributed to the change in schedule? Probably not.
The Southern 500 which opened the playoffs last year had a purse size of $8,260,258. It was marginally higher at $8,644,143 this time. The minimal differences that come with these figures don’t point to the notion that the placement of the races has anything to do with the size of their purses. Atlanta will be hosting the Xfinity Series as well this weekend.
The second tier is still a few weeks away from its first postseason race. This makes the upcoming event a crucial one. The purse for it weighs $1,480,058. It is no surprise that it has honors that are considerably lighter than its premier counterpart. JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier is currently leading the points table followed by defending champion Cole Custer.
A statistical analysis of the Quaker State 400
Thanks to the introduction of Loop Data in 2005, NASCAR has been able to track driver performance like never before. This technology has yielded positive results over the past two decades and made way for educated predictions. And it is what reveals certain noteworthy facts about the active field in Atlanta.
Kyle Larson has two top-5s and four top-10s on it. His average finish of 18.846 is the 20th-best in the field and his average running position of 13.051 is the eighth-best. Regular season champion Tyler Reddick has fared even worse with an average finish of 20.875 and an average running position of 18.496.
If two of the best drivers struggle in such deep waters, who is comfortable in them? Ryan Blaney has the series-best average finishing position at 10.583. His average running position of 9.595 hasn’t been topped by another name either. Sunday could quite easily end up in the pockets of the defending Cup Series champion.
