2019 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Vegas picks and NASCAR predictions: Fade Kyle Larson, back Ryan Blaney at Atlanta

The restrictor plates come off as NASCAR heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday for the 2019 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. Aric Almirola is the pole-sitter and is now going off at 12-1 in the latest 2019 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 odds. Kevin Harvick, however, remains the heavy favorite at 3-1, with Kyle Busch (5-1) and Kyle Larson (8-1) among the other drivers near the top of the NASCAR at Atlanta odds board. This 1.5-mile track presents different challenges than what drivers saw at the Daytona 500 last week, so before locking in any 2019 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 picks of your own, first see the optimal NASCAR at Atlanta predictions from renowned SportsLine NASCAR expert Micah Roberts.

Roberts pioneered wagering on NASCAR races and went with Jimmie Johnson as a hefty 25-1 long shot at the season-opening Advance Auto Parts Clash. The result: Johnson survived a huge crash and went on to win the rain-shortened race as Roberts’ followers raked it in. He entered the 2019 NASCAR season after finishing big-time in the black in 2018. In fact, those who wagered $100 on each of his picks last year have $1,750 in profit to show for it. 

His biggest wins came when he went against the grain, taking Keselowski at 12-1 to win the South Point 400 at Las Vegas in the opening race of the NASCAR playoffs and going with Logano, also 12-1, to take the First Data 500 at Martinsville. He also nailed four of Harvick’s nine series victories and three of Busch’s nine wins.

That success continued an astonishing run in which Roberts picked nine of the 10 winners in the 2017 NASCAR playoffs. In 2016, he took Denny Hamlin to win the Daytona 500 at 15-1 and took him again at 40-1 at Watkins Glen later that year. Anyone who’s following his picks is up huge.

Now, he has analyzed Sunday’s 2019 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 lineup from every possible angle and locked in his 2019 NASCAR at Atlanta picks and NASCAR predictions. One shocker: Roberts is fading is Larson, one of the top Vegas favorites at 8-1 NASCAR at Atlanta odds. 

Larson has never won a race on a 1.5-mile track, which includes Atlanta. He finished ninth last year in this event, and Roberts has him even further back on his leaderboard for 2019.

Another curveball: Roberts is high on Ryan Blaney, who opened at 20-1 and is now going off as a 30-1 long shot in the latest NASCAR odds. 

“Blaney has three career starts at Atlanta and his best finish (12th) came last season in his first with Team Penske,” Roberts told SportsLine. “He gets the luxury of getting Brad Keselowski’s Vegas Motor Speedway notes, which should transfer over well to Atlanta.” Both tracks are 1.5 miles in length.

An accident kept Blaney from finishing the 2019 Daytona 500, but he showed plenty of speed leading up to the event, taking fourth at the Clash and sixth in his qualifying Daytona Duel. Blaney had 16 top-10 finishes and eight top-fives last season, so Roberts says he’ll vastly out-produce his 2019 QuikTrip 500 odds. He’s a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. 


Roberts is also projecting three drivers with 2019 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 odds of 25-1 or longer make a strong run at the checkered flag. His picks will shock many, but anyone who backs them could be in line for a massive payday. 

So which drivers are must-backs in the 2019 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500? And which underdogs shock NASCAR? Visit SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard from the nation’s premier NASCAR handicapper, and find out.