GFT Facts and Stats Friday: Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
21 February 2025
By Bob Francis, Managing Editor
Go Full Throttle Racing News
HAMPTON, GA — This weekend will be the seventh Atlanta Motor Speedway Cup race on the new surface and configuration (since 2022), and the 122nd NASCAR Cup Series race all-time at the 1.54-mile speedway. Eight of the 49 NASCAR Cup Series Atlanta Motor Speedway race winners are active this weekend: Joey Logano (2023, 2024), William Byron (2022, 2023), Brad Keselowski (2017, 2019), Kyle Busch (2008, 2013), Daniel Suarez (2024), Chase Elliott (2022), Ryan Blaney (2021) and Denny Hamlin (2012).
· Both winners at Atlanta in 2024 led only nine laps in each race; Daniel Suarez won in February with a last lap pass and Joey Logano won in September by leading the final two laps.
· Ryan Blaney finished in the top-10 in the last five Atlanta races, the longest active streak at the track and his third-longest streak at a single track.
· Kyle Busch finished top-10 in all four races at Atlanta with Richard Childress Racing, his most at a track since moving to the №8 car.
· Kyle Larson failed to finish five of the six races at Atlanta due to accidents, including the last four (he was involved in an accident in all six).
NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Track Length: 1.54 Mile Asphalt Oval
Sunday, February 23, 2025 at 3 p.m. ET
The Purse: $11,055,250
TV: FOX & FOX Deportes, 2 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 400.4 miles (260 Laps)
- Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 60)
- Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 160)
- Final Stage (Ends on Lap 260)
Track Facts
Track Length: 1.54 Miles
Race 1 Length: 500.5 Miles (325 Laps)
Race 2 Length: 400.4 (260 laps)
Grandstand Seating Capacity: 71,000
Banking: 28 degrees in corners, 5 degrees on straights
Frontstretch: 2,332 feet
Backstretch: 1,800 feet
Qualifying & Race Records
Qualifying: Geoffrey Bodine, Ford, 197.478 mph (28.074 sec.); Nov. 15, 1997
Race: Bobby Labonte, Pontiac, 159.904 mph (3:07:48); Nov. 16, 1997
Track Records
Most Wins: 9 — Dale Earnhardt
Most Poles: 7 — Buddy Baker, Ryan Newman
Most Top Fives: 26 — Dale Earnhardt
Most Top 10s: 33 — Richard Petty
This is the fourth-time Hendrick Motorsports won the Clash and DAYTONA 500 to start the season, more than any other team (The only time in history that a team won the Clash and the first two races of the season was Hendrick Motorsports in 1997 with driver Jeff Gordon).
· 2025 is the 40th straight season Hendrick Motorsports won a race, the most all time.
GFT AI Driver Rankings after the Daytona 500 on 16 February 2025
NASCAR 2025 DRIVER POINTS AFTER THE DAYTONA 500
DRIVER RATINGS
NASCAR Cup Series 2025 Top 16 in the Driver Standings at Atlanta
TOP 10 IN ATLANTA-SPECIFIC LOOP DATA STATISTICS
(Drivers are listed in alphabetical order; Loop Data stats in the below section are from 2005-Present)
Christopher Bell — (№20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
· Two top 10s
· Average Finish of 17.000, 10th-best
· Average Running Position of 16.768, 13th-best
· Driver Rating of 75.1, 14th-best
· 1,157 Laps in the Top 15 (46.9%), 18th-most
Ryan Blaney — (№12 Team Penske Ford)
· One win, six top fives, eight top 10s
· Average Finish of 10.000, series-best
· Average Running Position of 9.317, series-best
· Driver Rating of 100.7, series-best
· 3,084 Laps in the Top 15 (81.8%), series-most
Alex Bowman — (№48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)
· Three top fives, four top 10s
· Average Finish of 17.385, 11th-best
· Average Running Position of 16.922, 13th-best
· Driver Rating of 79.1, 12th-best
· 1,874 Laps in the Top 15 (49.6%), 12th-most
Kyle Busch — (№8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet)
· Two wins, ten top fives, 15 top 10s; one pole
· Average Finish of 11.966, fourth-best
· Average Running Position of 12.845, seventh-best
· Driver Rating of 92.7, sixth-best
· 5,755 Laps in the Top 15 (63.9%), seventh-most
William Byron — (№24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)
· Two wins, two top fives, four top 10s
· Average Finish of 16.909, ninth-best
· Average Running Position of 15.540, 11th-best
· Driver Rating of 82.8, 11th-best
· 1,658 Laps in the Top 15 (53.2%), 11th-most
Austin Cindric — (№2 Team Penske Ford)
· Two top fives, three top 10s
· Average Finish of 13.429, fifth-best
· Average Running Position of 13.517, eighth-best
· Driver Rating of 84.4, 10th-best
· 1,095 Laps in the Top 15 (58.2%), 10th-most
Chase Elliott — (№9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)
· One win, two top fives, eight top 10s
· Average Finish of 11.500, third-best
· Average Running Position of 11.315, fourth-best
· Driver Rating of 93.2, fourth-best
· 2,762 Laps in the Top 15 (78.7%), second-most
Ty Gibbs — (№54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
· Two top 10s
· Average Finish of 17.500, 12th-best
· Average Running Position of 16.448, 12th-best
· Driver Rating of 77.2, 13th-best
· 482 Laps in the Top 15 (49.6%), 13th-most
Denny Hamlin — (№11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
· One win, six top fives, ten top 10s; one pole
· Average Finish of 17.310, 10th-best
· Average Running Position of 12.146, fifth-best
· Driver Rating of 92.8, fifth-best
· 6,368 Laps in the Top 15 (70.7%), sixth-most
Brad Keselowski — (№6 RFK Racing Ford)
· Two wins, five top fives, 11 top 10s
· Average Finish of 15.150, sixth-best
· Average Running Position of 12.171, sixth-best
· Driver Rating of 90.1, seventh-best
· 4,357 Laps in the Top 15 (71.7%), fifth-most
Kyle Larson — (№5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)
· Two top fives, four top 10s
· Average Finish of 20.143, 13th-best
· Average Running Position of 14.258, ninth-best
· Driver Rating of 85.8, ninth-best
· 2,546 Laps in the Top 15 (62.0%), eighth-most
Joey Logano — (№22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Ford)
· Two wins, four top fives, eight top 10s; two poles
· Average Finish of 15.864, eighth-best
· Average Running Position of 14.417, 10th-best
· Driver Rating of 88.0, eighth-best
· 4,067 Laps in the Top 15 (60.4%), ninth-most
NASCAR FANTASY LIVE — Preliminary Race Prediction Model Output for Atlanta
Ryan Blaney is the heavy favorite in all the pre-qualifying data. Blaney has one win, six top fives, eight top 10s and the top Driver Rating at 100.7 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
NEXT: The model will update after Cup Series qualifying on Saturday, Feb 22. Once the data is ingested into the model, we will publish the FINAL race prediction on our X (formerly Twitter) channel on Sunday, usually 2 hours before the Green flag. Follow us at https://x.com/BobFullThrottle
