NASCAR Cup Series

Must-see TV: Why you need to tune into today's Sprint Cup race

Published Mar. 1, 2015 9:35 a.m. ET

Tom Jensen

Five reasons to watch today's Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway (FOX, 1 p.m. ET):

1. UNPREDICTABILITY -- In the last six races at Atlanta Motor Speedway, there have been six different winners: Kasey Kahne (2014), Kyle Busch (2013), Denny Hamlin (2012), Jeff Gordon (2011), Tony Stewart (2010) and Kurt Busch (2010). There's a good chance that pole-winner Joey Logano or Kevin Harvick or someone else could make it seven consecutive different winners.

2. HAPPY TIME -- Speaking of Harvick, the reigning Sprint Cup champion has two victories and two runner-up finishes in his last four points races. And he won Saturday's XFINITY Series race to boot. But thanks to a rare engine failure in his Stewart-Haas Chevrolet, Harvick will start at the back of the grid. Expect him to move forward quickly.

3. QUALIFYING KERFUFFLE -- The back of the pack will be filled with top cars at the start. On Friday, 13 cars failed to get through tech inspection and make qualifying attempts. Included in that bunch are four past Cup champions with a total of 14 championships: Jeff Gordon starts 35th, Matt Kenseth 36th, Jimmie Johnson 37th and Tony Stewart 39th. Collectively, these four drivers alone have 11 victories at Atlanta.

4. KID STUFF -- Second-year driver Kyle Larson will start from the outside of Row 2 in his Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Chevrolet. The 2014 Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year is still looking for his first race victory, and this could be the place where he gets it done.

5. WEATHER OR NOT -- Yes, it's raining this morning at the 1.54-mile Atlanta superspeedway. But according to weather.com, the rain should end by 10:45 a.m. ET, with zero percent chance of rain at 1 p.m. The chance of rain never gets higher than 20 percent the rest of the afternoon.

VIDEO: Check out the Las Vegas odds for today's Sprint Cup race in Atlanta