NASCAR Cup Series teams return to action on Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway with the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart.
This race is the first in the Round of 16, and it's the first opportunity for playoff drivers to lock up a spot in the next round with a win. It's also an event drivers have called a true wild card.
"I really don't know what to expect going into this weekend -- how aggressive people are going to be," Ryan Blaney said during Playoff Media Day.
"You just never know how these things are going to go. It could be really, really calm, for the most part, until the end or it could just be chaos the whole time. I have no idea."
Quaker State 400 race information
Weather: The WeatherUnderground forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies. A high of 77 degrees and a 4% chance of rain at the start of the Cup Series race.
Green flag time: Bobby Labonte will give the command to fire engines at 3 p.m. ET. The green flag will wave at 3:11 p.m. ET.
Starting lineup: Michael McDowell wins the pole, full starting lineup
Pre-race: Driver introductions will take place at 2:25 p.m. ET. Pre-race coverage begins with "Countdown to Green" on USA Network at 2:30 p.m. ET. Race coverage continues on USA Network at 3 p.m. ET.
Stages: The race will consist of three stages. The first stage ends at Lap 60. The second stage ends at Lap 160. The scheduled end of the race is Lap 260.
Playoff picture: The 16-driver playoff field is complete after last weekend's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Points have reset and NASCAR has distributed the playoff points earned through the regular season.
Kyle Larson leads the standings after the reset. He is 35 points above the cutline, followed by Christopher Bell (+27), Tyler Reddick (+23), William Byron (+17), and Ryan Blaney (+13).
The other drivers above the cutline are Denny Hamlin (+10), Chase Elliott (+9), Brad Keselowski (+3), Joey Logano (+2), Austin Cindric (+2), Daniel Suarez (+1), and Alex Bowman (+0).
Chase Briscoe and Harrison Burton are both in a tie with Bowman on the cutline heading into the playoff opener, but they are below the cutline. Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. are both one point behind Bowman, Briscoe, and Burton.
Past winners: Cup Series teams have competed on the new configuration of Atlanta Motor Speedway five times since 2022. Byron has won two of these races. Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, and Daniel Suarez have won the other three races on the mini-superspeedway version of the track.