The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs get underway Sunday with the first of three Round-of-16 races, the 2024 Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Reigning champion Ryan Blaney enters the postseason as the No. 5 seed, while regular-season champ Tyler Reddick is seeded third behind Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell. Blaney is looking to become the first driver to repeat since Jimmie Johnson won five consecutive titles from 2006-10. Fourth-seeded William Byron won this race last year.

Joey Logano, Chase Elliott and non-playoff driver Kyle Busch are 10-1 co-favorites in the latest 2024 Quaker State 400 odds. Sunday's race is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET.

Before making any NASCAR at Atlanta picks, be sure to see what CBS Sports NASCAR writer Steven Taranto has to say.

Taranto, who moonlights as a sim racer and has 20 career wins in iRacing, is the lead NASCAR writer for CBSSports.com, and he chronicles stock car racing with the same thoroughness and passion that he's had since becoming a full-time race fan in 2001. He has an annual NASCAR media credential and also publishes a popular weekly NASCAR predictions column, famously calling Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez's breakthrough wins in 2022. Taranto has been red-hot for SportsLine in 2024 as he has nailed 12 winners, including 16-1 longshot William Byron at the Daytona 500 and 14-1 longshot Chase Elliott at Texas. Anybody following his NASCAR picks has seen HUGE returns!

For the 2024 Quaker State 400, we can tell you Taranto is high on Austin Cindric, even though he's an 18-1 longshot. Another curveball: He's fading Chase Elliott (10-1), who won this race in 2022 and has posted seven top-10 finishes in 11 Cup Series starts at Atlanta. "Elliott hasn't finished better than ninth since mid-June, and he's had four finishes of 18th or worse in his last nine races," Taranto told SportsLine. "Despite his regular season being good enough for third in points, I'm just not feeling it right now with the 2020 Cup Series champion."

Taranto also locked in four more Quaker State 400 best bets and is high on a MAJOR dark horse who is getting triple-digit odds! You ABSOLUTELY need to see his picks before locking in any NASCAR picks of your own.

So who wins the Quaker State 400 2024? And which MASSIVE longshot do you need to target NOW? ...  Join SportsLine right now to see the 2024 NASCAR at Atlanta best bets, all from the expert who has nailed a colossal 12 race winners this year!