Kevin Harvick predicts winner for Atlanta NASCAR race

The NASCAR Cup Series barely has time to breathe after the Daytona 500 before shifting to another drafting battleground. Atlanta’s EchoPark Speedway will be the cathedral for this weekend’s race.

According to Kevin Harvick, the next winner might not be the obvious superspeedway favorite. On the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, the former Cup champion made his pick for the weekend, backing Kyle Larson to take the checkered flag in Georgia. 

Harvick’s co-hosts went in different directions, with Kaitlyn Vincie selecting Joey Logano and Mamba Smith rolling with Austin Dillon, highlighting just how unpredictable the reconfigured Atlanta has become.

That unpredictability has defined the track in recent seasons. Christopher Bell won the spring race last year, while Chase Elliott captured the summer event, two very different outcomes on a surface that races more like Daytona or Talladega than the intermediate track it once was. 

Pack racing, late cautions and momentum often matter more than long-run speed, making forecasting the result a challenge even for veterans. Still, Harvick sees something in Larson this week.

The reigning champion of the Cup Series enters the race 15th in the standings after a quiet 16th-place finish in the Daytona 500. While Atlanta has never been a dominant venue for the Hendrick Motorsports driver, he has consistently shown more comfort in the draft, including a third-place finish last spring and several near-misses. 

If the race trends to a slightly calmer event than Daytona’s closing chaos, Larson’s precision and car control could give him an edge late, and the elusive drafting-track victory he’s coveting. 

Logano, meanwhile, may be the statistical and betting favorite. He finished third in the Daytona 500 and is currently second in points. More importantly, he won back-to-back Atlanta races in 2023 and 2024, establishing the track as one of his strongest drafting circuits. Vincie’s pick reflects the safe choice, going with a driver comfortable managing lanes and late restarts.

Finally, Smith’s Dillon prediction stands as the boldest call. Dillon crashed out at Daytona and sits deep in the standings, and Atlanta has never historically been a standout track for him. 

His best finish is sixth, and top tens have been rare — that’s his only one, to be exact. But at a drafting track where positioning in the final lap can outweigh the previous 399 miles, long shots occasionally steal the spotlight.

Hovering over all of it is Daytona winner Tyler Reddick, who could attempt to start the season two-for-two for 23XI Racing. That would be a heck of a beginning to the year.

All told, Atlanta rarely follows expectations, and that’s exactly why Harvick’s Larson pick carries some weight. Skill sometimes beats chaos when the final lap finally settles, and nobody has more of it in the Cup Series than the Elk Grove, California native.