Y! picks: AdvoCare 500

STAT OF THE WEEK

Chase watch: Four drivers can clinch Chase spots Sunday night: Matt Kenseth (by finishing 40th or better), Martin Truex Jr. (14th or better), Clint Bowyer (11th or better) and Brad Keselowski (seventh or better).

LAST YEAR'S RACE

RECENT WINNERS

ALSO THIS WEEKEND:

Nationwide Series
NRA American Warrior 300, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Sat., 7:16 p.m.

Camping World Truck Series
Jeff Foxworthy's Grit Chip 200, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Fri., 8:19 p.m.

EXPERT STANDINGS

YAHOO! SPORTS FANTASY AUTO RACING

Check your team | Expert picks
Atlanta preview (PDF)

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway for Sunday's AdvoCare 500.

Jeff Gordon is the defending race winner.

Jimmie Johnson: Double J has won, should have won or been a threat to win at pretty much every intermediate track race this season (15 races, 12 top 10s, nine top fives and three wins). One of those non-top 10s was two weeks ago at Michigan, a race he had in the bag until his motor let go with just six laps remaining. He's in top form and will show it Sunday night. – Jay Hart

Kasey Kahne: We know Hendrick is going to be dominant this weekend, it's just a matter of which driver. I'm rolling with Kahne, as he strikes me as one of the few drivers with the ability to take on Jimmie Johnson head to head and not embarrass himself. A win this weekend would obviously nail down the wild card beyond a shadow of a doubt, but it would also put him in position to jump into the top 10 and get those bonus points for his wins. He's won at Atlanta before; look for him to do it again. – Jay Busbee

Kasey Kahne: Kahne has arguably been the best performing driver on intermediate tracks since his disastrous start to the season, and he seals up at least a wild-card berth with his third win of the season. Plus, if Tony Stewart struggles, Kahne could sneak into the top 10, which would mean he'd have a chance of starting the Chase as the top seed. Not too shabby, eh? – Nick Bromberg

• What else? The wild card shenanigans are in full cry. Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Marcos Ambrose will be watching each other closely, with Carl Edwards doing all he can to stay in front of the entire crew. The best action may not come at the front of the pack but somewhere in the middle. If ever there was a time for ESPN to use six cameras at once, this would be it. – Jay Busbee

• It's impossible to think that the drama we saw at Bristol last week will directly carry over to Atlanta, but when you combine a track that drivers love with the urgency of many to get a win for better Chase seeding (or simply to get into the Chase), we could be in for the most entertaining intermediate track race of the year. Of course, we could also be looking at something like we saw at Texas in April, but there's a chance. That'll get you to tune in, right? – Nick Bromberg

• As far as Hail Mary opportunities go, this will be it for the regular season. That means look for some desperate moves not on the track, but on pit road where crew chiefs for those in the wild-card hunt will be playing the fuel-mileage game. It ain't always exciting, but it sure could make for some tense who's-gonna-make-it moments as the laps wind down. – Jay Hart

"We're gonna go to Atlanta to win the race and get all the points we can and I'm telling you if we make the Chase, if we're in it, we are going to be a force in that Chase." – Carl Edwards