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NASCAR at Atlanta: Quaker State 400 picks, preview

NASCAR at Atlanta: Quaker State 400 picks, preview
Daniel Suarez is a driver to watch this week. Photo via: Wiki Commons.

The NASCAR Cup Series makes its second visit to the famed Atlanta Motor Speedway this week for the Quaker State 400. As we saw the last time they came here, this is not your father’s Atlanta Motor Speedway. We will continue to see the pack-style racing that we saw in the spring, and let's hope that the tires can hold up better than they did then. This has been a season of parity, we have seen 13 different winners, five of them being first-timers. Because of the many changes we have seen to the track, there is a legitimate chance we see a fourteenth different winner on Sunday. The key to the race this weekend will be figuring out how to manipulate the draft and finding the right person to work with, just like we see at Daytona and Talladega. Obviously, when you have big groups of cars, there is always a risk of a major pileup. The biggest cause of these crashes has been flat tires. Every driver will be sweating bullets trying to manage their tires and while we haven’t had too many major issues over the last few weeks, the high rate of speed that the cars are traveling will cause a fair amount of concern all throughout the day.

Last week, Tyler Reddick scored his first career win at Road America. The race was akin to what we are accustomed to seeing in F1, with lots of strategy, very little drama, and only two drivers in Chase Elliott and Tyler Reddick being in the hunt for the win. The opening two stages were won by Chase Briscoe and Ryan Blaney as they stayed out longer to try and get the stage victory. This came back to bite them as they would fall to the back and be out of the hunt. In the late stages, the race ultimately came down to the final pit stop as Reddick followed Elliott into Pit-Lane and was able to keep pace with him exiting, thus setting up the race-winning pass.

After this week, the future remains unclear for Road America. With a race on the Chicago Street Course looming, one track will need to be removed and unfortunately, Road America is looking like it will be that track. While it’s certainly never ideal to see a racetrack lose its date, the silver lining is how many forms of racing there are at this track. Many F1 drivers have said they would love to race there, so the future remains bright.

As I mentioned earlier, NASCAR is almost more than certain to host its first race ever on a temporary street course. Ever since the 1980s, NASCAR has tried to keep up with its open-wheel opposition, but hasn’t ever been able to make a street course race happen. Whether the cars were too heavy to race on that type of surface or certain cities wouldn’t oblige. As hard as they tried, NASCAR just couldn’t seem to make it happen. Fast-Forward nearly 40 years and now it seems as if we are on the cusp of seeing the first-ever NASCAR Street Course in Chicago in 2023. What was once an idea is now becoming reality, and I for one, am extremely excited to see how this plays out.

While Chicago is on the horizon, the focus this week remains on Atlanta and the driver I predict will win this weekend is Daniel Suarez. For many, this seems like an out of left field type of pick, but if you have been following this season, he is in the midst of a career year. This year, Suarez has scored six top tens with four top-fives and has led 203 laps, the most in his career. There have been many occasions this season where he’s had the fastest car on the track, but something would come along to mess everything up. In the spring, he had a great car and finished fourth. If he can show the same type of speed on Sunday, he should be a serious threat to win.

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The Timberwolves beat the Rockets, 127-114. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Anthony Edwards had 41 points, seven rebounds and six assists on Thursday night as the Minnesota Timberwolves rallied to beat the Houston Rockets 127-114.

One night after scoring 49 points in a win over Chicago, Edwards dominated the game early and late. He scored 18 points in the first quarter and 16 in the fourth, which began with Houston leading by six.

Rudy Gobert had back-to-back dunks to start the quarter before Edwards took over with three 3-pointers as Minnesota outscored Houston 35-16 over the final 12 minutes.

Jaylen Clark scored a career-high 17 points for the Timberwolves while Naz Reid had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Jalen Green led Houston with 28 points. Alperen Sengun had 16 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Rockets, who lost their fifth straight.

Takeaways

Rockets: Houston is one of the league's top road teams with 17 victories, more than all but one NBA team entering the night. But the Rockets have lost their last four on the road.

Timberwolves: Minnesota was playing the fourth of five straight games at home, where they are 14-12 (compared to 15-11 on the road). But with two strong fourth-quarter performances in as many nights, the Wolves might be figuring it out.

Key moment

With less than 5 minutes to play, Edwards missed a 3-pointer but Clark tracked down the rebound. He passed it back to Edwards, who drove to the hoop and drew a foul while hitting a short jumper. He made the free throw, then hit a 3-pointer on the next possession to put Minnesota on top 113-106.

Key stat

Minnesota outrebounded Houston, the No. 1 rebounding team in the NBA, 47-39.

Up next

Both teams are back in action on Saturday, when the Rockets visit Dallas and the Timberwolves host Portland.

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