Atlanta was a repeat race, but Atlanta is a plate track. Watching the first Atlanta race to prepare for the second race was pointless. Richmond is different. We can glean a lot from the first Richmond race. As always, trust the spreadsheet but also trust your eyes. Here are the best bets for the NASCAR Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond, which gets underway Sunday, August 14 at 3 p.m. ET.

It’s been years since Michigan was a real race. The low-horsepower, high-downforce car introduced by NASCAR in 2019 put on a poor show at the two-mile intermediate track. Even before that miserable racing package, the racing in Michigan was suspect. Will the Next Gen car bring Michigan back to life?

If it seems like NASCAR is road racing every week, it’s because they are. This is the third Cup Series road course event in little over a month. With the proliferation of road races, there are plenty of data points to analyze. As always, trust the spreadsheet but also trust your eyes. Here are the best bets for the NASCAR Cup Series Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis, which gets underway Sunday, July 31 at 2:30 p.m. ET.