The NASCAR Cup Series world will shift its focus to Georgia on Sunday as the 2024 season moves from the Daytona International Speedway to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Ambetter Health 400.
The Cup Series race will mark the end of the trifecta in Hampton, Georgia. The Craftsman Truck Series kicked off the weekend with the Fr8 208 on Saturday, which was followed by the Xfinity Series’ RAPTOR King of Tough 250.
William Byron will enter the race looking to do something not seen since Matt Kenseth accomplished it in 2009 – win the first two races of the regular season. Byron eked out a win against Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman as the Daytona 500 ended with a caution as the pack received the white flag.
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Byron celebrated the win with a trip to the top of the Empire State Building earlier in the week.
He guided the No. 24 Chevrolet to Victory Lane at the Quaker State 400 in Atlanta in July last year. Over his last 37 regular-season races, Byron has won seven times. The eyes of the racing world will be on him Sunday afternoon.
The pressure will mostly be off Byron as he has the inside track into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs now, but the spotlight will shine on a few drivers who finished toward the end of the Daytona race.
Ten drivers did not finish the race at Daytona because of accidents, including Harrison Burton, Austin Dillon, Joey Logano and defending NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney. Logano won the Ambetter Health 400 in March last year.
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It will be important for a lot of the drivers jostling for position early to remain accident-free with some of the smaller tracks on the schedule in the next few weeks.
The Daytona 500 was pushed to Monday due to the storms that passed through the Sunshine State. This time, Fox Weather says Hampton is set to experience sunshine and 63-degree weather for the event.
Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Bobby Labonte and Jimmie Johnson each are tied for the most wins in the Ambetter Health 400 with four. Brad Keselowski is the only other active driver with multiple wins in the race with two.
The track has been a quad-oval since 1997. It is 1.540 miles in length. The turns have 28-degree banking, and the straightaways have 5-degree banking.
The Ambetter Health 400 will begin on Feb. 25 at 3 p.m. ET. NASCAR fans can tune into the race on Fox.
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