After a rollercoaster ride of 26 races, the playoffs are ready to shave down the field further. This weekend, NASCAR Cup racers head to Atlanta Motor Speedway where the four-round, 10-race playoff schedule will get underway. The four-turn, 1.54-mile Georgia oval acts closely like a superspeedway, so expect some tightly packed racing drama featuring bent fenders and smoking rubber!

With 16 playoff drivers vying to get into the round of 12, emotions will be tense. As drivers build stage points and pave the path to a potential championship, fans are in for a treat. So buckle your seatbelts as it is going to be a bumpy ride this weekend!

All you need to know for Atlanta Motor Speedway’s second segment

The high-banked Georgia track has not hosted a playoff race since 2008. But things have changed hugely since then, especially because of the superspeedway-style reconfiguration in 2022. So unpredictability would be rampant at Atlanta Motor Speedway, as one ill-timed driver’s twitch can turn the front stretch into rubble. Yet a long list of 38 drivers is ready to battle it out at the Quaker State 400 for a lucrative purse of $7,801,384. Among them, 34 are full-timers and are accompanied by four others.

They include Shane van Gisbergen, the Xfinity road course star who would embark on his seventh Cup start of 2024 under Kaulig Racing. Then Cody Ware is back in the No. 15 car for Rick Ware Racing. Also, B.J. McLeod will drive the No. 78 for Live Fast Motorsports. In the absence of practice, only a two-round qualifying session will ensue on Saturday, 12:30 PM, and the ten fastest drivers will advance to the final round. The final calculations would ensure that the non-playoff drivers are slotted in before the playoff drivers in the qualifying order. Finally, on race day, the pre-race activities would unfold at 2:30 PM ET, followed by the green flag waving at 3:11 PM. Journalist Bob Pockrass updated the schedule in an X post.

Fans can catch all this exciting action at Atlanta Motor Speedway. According to the track’s official website, Quaker State tickets cost $55-$119 for adults and $10 for kids 10 years and younger. Additional perks include pre-race track passes at $75 for adults and $35 for kids, along with a Daniel Suarez fan section ticket for $99. For people hoping to catch up from home, USA Network and the NBC Sports app will satisfy their needs. The electric voice of Leigh Diffey will accompany Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte in the booth. Marty Snider, Dave Burns, and Kim Coon will serve as pit reporters.

As fans clear up their schedule for the race weekend, drivers mentally prepare for possible wreck-fests.

Atlanta poses a rough challenge

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The February race at Atlanta Motor Speedway was exciting, to say the least. Trackhouse Racing driver Daniel Suarez won the race in a 3-wide photo finish, being trailed by Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch. However, the high speeds and bunched racing make for a wreck-fest. So yellow flags would decorate many drivers’ championship dreams, including Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson. He commented in a reserved manner: “Yeah, I don’t love seeing Atlanta in the playoffs at all. Even Watkins Glen (next week’s stop) for that matter. I like those tracks, but they’re just sketchy places.”

Larson’s teammate Chase Elliott, who missed the playoffs last year but stands 7th in ranking this time, is hopeful despite the risk. “We’re going to try to make the very most of it. It would be nice to get out of there with a win. If we can’t, just try to avoid the carnage.” Instead of worrying about possible wrecks, Elliott is focused on stage points. He said, “Early on when the stages were introduced, there really wasn’t a lot of thought in that, people were just selling out to try to win the race. Then people started realizing just how valuable those points could be throughout. Now it’s a total chess match trying to balance your stage points versus your racing finish.”

Evidently, Atlanta Motor Speedway is going to be the seat of neck-to-neck racing, as playoff drivers contend for the championship. Buckle your belts for this bumpy ride and do not miss the action this weekend!