For racing fans this is gonna be a great weekend from Formula 1, IndyCar, and NASCAR all in the span of 2 days! So let's first start off of a Saturday doubleheader at Atlanta! In the afternoon shall be the Truck series for the Fr8 208, lovely wordplay lol. Anyway this isn't the Atlanta we use to know however. Now it's a reconfigured repaved to act more like a superspeedway or at least a taperedspacer track like Cup has had from 2019-2021 

John Hunter Nemecheck
There are few drivers with Cup experience in the Trucks and that can come into play with aot of unknowns. With that experience and Kyle Busch as your boss can be a very powerful combo to keep it clean survive and be in victory lane when it's all over.

Ross Chastain
Yes he is a Cup regular but will run the Truck race to try to gain extra and after all the experience he has had racing in Trucks themselves and what he has matured to in his career could get him to the end of the race to possibly pull his signature move in victory celebrations, SMASHING WATERMELONS 🍉

Matt Dibenedetto
After qualifying 6th Matty D could bring some hope to his fans to just maybe get his 1st NASCAR win. After what seems like fighting for his career year in and year out he has shown he could do it. Most notably at the 2019 Cup night race at Bristol, should he prevail today imagine there being tears of joy while he does some donuts .

Ty Majeski

From being part time for a bunch of his career Ty Majeski has finally gotten a full time seat at ThorSport. In Daytona he was fast leading some laps and has started the year with 2 top 10s so definitely something to be proud of. Obviously he wants to get a win to show that he belongs and after working even in team shops to give himself a chance an Atlanta victory would be oh so sweet.

Xfinity:

Daniel Hemric
In a series that's full of young guns the reigning Xfinity champion is one of few that has been in the Cup series before. As repetitive as I sound experience is gonna be crucial here and some mental strength is something Hemric has after such a long wait till he got to victory lane, patience could get him in position late in the race.

Landon Cassil
4 different races with 4 different winners showing the talent that the Xfinity series has to offer. There have also been 4 different organizations to win this season however one of them is Kaulig, Cassil could make the diversity continue to win his 1st race to join Austin Hill as a first time winner.

AJ Allmendinger
Now as strange as this might sound Kaulig Racing has been the dominant force when it comes to superspeedways and while Atlanta isn't going to be like Talladega or Daytona it'll definitely have some similarities given that the rules package is gonna be like Daytona and Talladega. Momentum based racing is definitely in AJ's wheelhouse and could be holding a pretty wheel with an enthusiastic celebration should car number 16 cross the finish line first
F1:

Soon it'll be lights out and away we go for the Bahrain 🇧🇭 grand prix! 2022 has a lot of unknowns but if it's anything like last year we fans are in for a TREAT.

Max Verstappen🇳🇱 the reigning world champion is on cloud 9 with a long term contract with Red Bull and clinching his 1st championship on the last lap of the last race in Abu Dhabi. But he is still hungry and motivated for more victories and wants to defend his championship, the way to do that with style starts in the season opener where 1 year ago he made the winning pass but had to give it back for exceeding track limits. The Netherlands will be cheering for redemption for Super Max in Bahrain this weekend.

Lewis Hamilton 🇬🇧 is another driver seeking redemption in a different way. For the first time since 2016 Hamilton lost the world championship but he was a fierce driver throughout 2021 and showed he can still go up against his rivals when they have just as fast of a car as he does. Lewis was 1 lap away from becoming the 1st ever driver to win 8 Formula 1 world championships in Abu Dhabi, he'll definitely be laying down the hammer from the start of the year to win this race just as he did in 2021.

George Russell 🇬🇧 now has a opponent to constantly go win races and possibly be a world champion like many fans believe he can. Last time he was with Mercedes in Bahrain (albeit a different layout) was for the 2020 Sakhir grand prix when Lewis Hamilton tested positive for Covid-19. Russell who was full time for Williams recieved the call to substitute for Hamilton and had in my mind the big break which eventually got him the full time seat now in 2022. Now I know some of my friends might see this and have their hearts sink for their beloved Brit but ultimately Russell's 1st win wasn't meant to be in 2020, he started 2nd and took the lead from Valtteri Bottas 🇫🇮 and commanded the pace but after a safety car came out for Russell's temporary replacement at Williams Jack Aitken 🇬🇧 saw George's safety pitstop turn into a nightmare. Russell would have to pit again cause Mercedes accidentally gave him a mixed tyre set (a mixed tyre set is some if not all of your teammates tyres) which was against the rules. Russell would restart 5th but would get back up to 2nd and still looked like he would win the race or AT LEAST get his first podium but a puncture ultimately destroyed his race and had to settle for 9th. Will Russell win? Potentially but he'll definitely be competing for the podium to vanquish the demons there in 2020

Sergio Perez 🇲🇽 some have nicknamed him the minister of defense after backing Hamilton up in the Abu Dhabi grand prix last year, but he had a career year finally being a car that was consistently able to fight for wins and now he wants a world championship and Bahrain can be a great start to that for Checo, after all he is a tyre whisperer and on an abrasive track could definitely see him make the podium or win the race.

Charles Leclerc 🇲🇨 the penultimate driver to win for Ferrari, proves how hard F1 is when the most successful team ever hasn't won a grand prix since 2019. I don't know if they'll be back to winning races right of the line cause before in pre season testing just when you think they can win the championship they come up short or massively struggle. Sometimes it's just baby steps to regain the victories like Leclerc was so close to winning the British grand prix last year but a podium for this year's season opener will definitely be good for Leclerc to start 2022.

Carlos Sainz 🇪🇸 first season in Ferrari last year and to be honest is very underrated. He scored 5 podiums and was the best of the rest, Sainz has also scored a couple of podiums in his McLaren days so the smooth operator is looking for his first win but he'll have to be smooth on the tyres and on track to get on the top step especially against Red Bull and Mercedes.

Lando Norris 🇬🇧 Oh Lando Norris has gotten better as the years go on since 2019, McLaren has also gotten a resurgence since his arrival and had a 1-2 finish last year in the Italian grand prix. Norris was 2nd in that and last year in Sochi nearly got his 1st win but ultimately mother nature had other plans. Nothing to worry about this time in Bahrain, the fireworks and fans will light up and fill the sky with glee should Lando make the podium or claim the victory this weekend.

IndyCar: Race 2 of the year at Texas

Scott Dixon 🇳🇿 Texas is plain Scott Dixon territory, from old pavement to new pavement he has 5 wins and 10 podiums and

Helio Castroneves 🇧🇷 he is back folks. The man who is a 4 time Indianapolis 500 winner and has 4 victories at Texas as well. He showed in the Indy 500 last year that he can still race and at last is back full time in IndyCar, they say it's bigger in Texas so imagine the celebration if he were to win Sunday

Romain Grosjean 🇫🇷 originally last year the Swiss born Frenchman was only gonna run the road courses but ran at Gateway and had a strong race before getting into trouble late. But he still made brilliant moves and looked like a boss out there, now with teammates to lean off of can only make him better.

Cup

Last but certainly not least is the Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 for NASCAR'S highest level.

So here is my dark horse pick

Kurt Busch
The experience drivers could have an edge in this race and in this new car has given smaller teams an edge. Erik Jones for Petty GMS had a strong race in Auto Club, both Trackhouse drivers Daniel Suarez 🇲🇽 and Ross Chastain nearly got their first wins in Auto Club and Las Vegas so who knows? Kurt Busch just might ahock everyone by getting 23XI to victory lane.

Aric Almorola
In his final season in Cup he has been under the radar, all top 11 finishes in the first 4 races. While under the radar the competition won't see you coming so the bacon powered car just might shock everyone by a win just like he did at Loudon last season.

Kevin Harvick
So remember Texas? It got repaved in 2017 and since then at has been the playground of Kevin Harvick and Atlanta you could say was a place Harvick could win and now it's been repaved and reconfigured. Is this about to be the Kevin Harvick show? 🤔