The 2025 NASCAR season began the same way the 2024 season did with William Byron claiming victory at the Daytona 500. Now NASCAR makes its way to Atlanta for the second race of the regular season – the 2025 Ambetter Health 400.
For the second straight week, we are primed for high speeds and tight racing at a drafting-style track. Can Willy B repeat his Daytona success or will a new driver punch their playoff ticket? Let’s dive in.
2025 Ambetter Health 400 Entry List
Unlike last week at Daytona, we don’t have over 40 entries for the field for Sunday’s race. That means we aren’t looking at qualifying to eliminate some teams and every one of the 39 entries will be in the big show on Sunday.
Let’s go racin’, boys! 😤 pic.twitter.com/J5lLMZRRMW
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 21, 2025
The open cars for the 2025 Ambetter Health 400 are Corey LaJoie in the #01, J.J. Yeley in the #44, and BJ McLeod in the #78. The field of charter entries remains unchanged from last week.
Atlanta’s spring finish last year produced one of the closest finishes of all time, with Daniel Suarez narrowly edging out Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney in a three-wide dash to the line. Could we be in for more of the same this year?
2025 Ambetter Health 400 Predictions
Once again, while the drafting-style tracks do have a level of unpredictability, there is a usual cast of characters who tend to be competitive and near the front at the end of these races. The Penske cars excel at these tracks. Denny Hamlin knows how to find his way to the front. Kyle Busch tends to be near the front.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Michael McDowell tend to be near the front running for smaller teams as well.
Of course, there’s also the risk of a large pileup at some point in the race that could eliminate several contenders.
Daniel Suarez shocked the world last year in Atlanta. 🌎
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) February 20, 2025
Here's how the closest three-wide finish in NASCAR Cup Series history, 0.007 seconds between first and third, sounded across the globe. pic.twitter.com/IVywBZDdiT
We do have a couple of things to keep an eye on for Sunday in addition to the typical superspeedway items.
First, as the track surface at Atlanta wears down, this track will run less and less like a superspeedway. Its 1.5-mile length already makes it different from Daytona and Talladega but the drivers will likely have to lift more often than they did in 2024 meaning handling will be extremely important.
Second, with pit road entry on the backstretch before turn three, any unscheduled green flag pit stop could be disastrous and any scheduled green flag stop will be challenging. We didn’t get a single green flag cycle at Daytona last week so we’ll see if that changes this week.
As for my race winner prediction, I feel like a Penske car will survive to the end this week and that squad had the best-performing cars at Daytona. Give me Ryan Blaney to win the 2025 Ambetter Health 400.
Be sure to check out the schedule below so you don’t miss any on-track action from the weekend.
Friday 02/21
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying – 2:05 p.m. CT on FS1
NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying – 4:05 p.m. CT on the CW App
Saturday 02/22
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – 10:05 a.m. CT on Prime
Fr8 208 (NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series) – 12:30 p.m. CT on FS1
Bennett Transportation and Logistics 250 (NASCAR Xfinity Series) – 4:00 p.m. CT on the CW
Sunday 02/23
Ambetter Health 400 (NASCAR Cup Series) – 2:00 p.m. CT on FOX and Max
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