From a NASCAR Fan’s View
If the qualifying says anything about this race it would be the Fords are looking pretty tough. Of the top qualifiers for the lineup for the Ambetter Health 400 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway ten of the top eleven are Fords. Kyle Bush piloting a Chevy qualified fifth and was the only other manufacturer other than a Ford in those eleven. That makes quite a statement. I guess the next thing to consider is whether or not their qualifying like they did holds true throughout the four hundred miles.
Taking a closer look at the qualifying times and speeds doesn’t tell that much of a different story. The Fords are fast and most of them are at the top of the lineup. Sure, there are a few stragglers spaced further back in the field but they aren’t the usual real contenders. The Fords at the top of the heap are made up of the Penske and Wood Brothers Fords. Ryan Blaney on the pole and Austin Cindric outside pole. That puts two Penske teams leading the field to the green and then Josh Berry and Joey Logano – another Penske team – on the second row. Pretty strong starting positions for all the Fords but those four showed a lot of speed last weekend at Daytona even though circumstances didn’t really work out for them in the 500.
The Toyotas looked to be looking for speed if the qualifying is accurate. Only two of them qualified in the top twenty and that was Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick. After that, the rest were spread out between twenty-second and thirty-seventh. The big surprise to this fan was that the JGR Toyotas of Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs and Denny Hamlin qualified so far back on the field. Of those three, Denny qualified lowest at the thirty-seventh spot. Considering how the Fords and Toyotas did at Daytona, I thought they would do better. I am sure they will show more speed in the race today but it is still surprising even though not totally unexpected. After all, this is Atlanta.
Skipping over the fifth place qualifying effort of Kyle Bush, the Chevys also looked to be hunting for speed. AJ Allmendinger qualified twelfth and Alex Bowman thirteenth. Mixed in amongst several Toyotas are where the Chevys mostly are. When I say mixed in, I really mean mixed in. Austin Dillon, fifteenth, William Byron, sixteenth, Kyle Larson, seventeenth and Chase Elliott nineteenth. I could go on with more but it seems a little pointless because all of them are going to have a lot of work to do to move towards the front. The fords just look that strong to this fan.
Speaking of Chevys, the Hendrick camp is the one that really surprises me this season. Sure, I realize this is only the second week of points-paying racing but it is a little different to not see them starting nearer to the front. Yeah, I know William Byron won the Daytona 500 but that was more being at the right place at the right time and being able to take advantage of the seas parting for him. Taking all of that in, they just don’t look to have a grip on the speed they need and they are probably looking for more consistent performance soon. If not, it could be a long season for them.
There are a couple of other surprises showing up pretty obviously in this early part of the season. The first is the RCR Chevys showing up looking a little ahead of the Hendrick Chevys. Usually, it is the other way around. I’m not saying they are that far apart but it is interesting how this season has shown the RCR Chevys ahead of the Hendrick Chevys.
The other surprise to this fan is the TrackHouse teams. They haven’t shown up with a lot of speed either weekend so far and Daniel Suarez appears to be struggling the most. Do I mean he isn’t performing at all? No, but he has been lacking speed and that isn’t a good thing. TrackHouse in general hasn’t quite shown what this fan thought they would to start this season and I just add that to my surprise of the Chevys in general.
So… What will today’s race be like at Atlanta? Well, unless the speed of the Fords in qualifying was an illusion, it could be a day dominated by Ford performance. They were definitely the class of the qualifiers. Does this fan expect it to be a day of total Ford domination? Not at all. From my view and as an observation, races generally don’t go like qualifying.
Four Hundred miles is a long way, especially at Atlanta and I expect when this one gets started, a lot of things can or will happen. I’m not saying Ryan Blaney or any of the other Fords won’t win this one but, barring the completely unexpected, I expect the Chevys and Toyotas to make a fight of it…
Hey, this is Russ and that’s my view… See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
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Rusty Norman, Nascarfansview.com and Justafansview.com
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