Kobalt Tools 500 News and Notes

Kobalt Tools 500 Preview
By Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com

This week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Atlanta could have the same questions raised and asked as last week when they visited Las Vegas. An important variable has changed. We now have seen two races run on intermediate tracks with the new car and we also have one race run on a mile and half high banked track with the “car of tomorrow.” After all the data and stats are run through the high priced computer, the calculations come quickly with the conclusion that Carl Edwards is FAST!

Everything accumulated over the last two weeks will go a long way into figuring out who is going to be the driver to beat this week, if you don’t know already. Atlanta has a rich long history in NASCAR and has been the site of some of the closest finishes of all time because the track allows for tight racing and lots of passing.

One of the things the drivers have all discussed with the new car on these tracks is that the passing is the one noticeable thing from the old car. Jeff Gordon noted last week in Las Vegas that the difference entering into turns was huge with the new car being much tougher to get a handle on than the older version. Mix that fact in with the existing raciness of the track and we should have a pretty eventful race this Sunday.

Just like Las Vegas last week, the story coming in should have been Jimmie Johnson because he swept Atlanta’s two races last season. However, Carl Edwards has taken over the show. While Johnson looks to be a little behind with the COT on these type of tracks, Edwards is way ahead of everyone. Two intermediate tracks? Two Wins! The writing doesn’t get much more bold than that. Edwards showed that his California win two weeks ago was a sign of things to come. He took two separate cars and dominated at two different tracks. A wise proposition would include not betting against Edwards until he shows some kind of weakness and vulnerability.

Edwards now goes to the site of his first career Cup win and a place that he swept in 2005 as a rookie. Last season, as if that matters based on how he currently is running, he finished seventh and second in the two Atlanta races.

The Vegas race was interesting because of how good so many different teams were late and conversely how bad so many supposed good teams were late. The Gibbs trio of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Tony Stewart were non-factors while Jack Roush dominated the track as if it were 1998 all over again. Roush is still King of the Cookie Cutter and he’s setting himself up nicely for a third Championship with a third different driver.

Making a nice appearance at Vegas much to the delight of the fans was Dale Earnhardt Jr, who finished second. While everyone was wondering where Gordon and Johnson would finish in the Top 5, Junior took the Hendrick reigns and led the charge for Chevy and Hendrick. It was encouraging for that team to have a good run and take some pressure off after poor runs in Daytona and California. An observation I took from the race after looking at all from Junior nation was that the sea of Red was much more powerful than the Mountain Dew Amp Green. It will take almost as long for me to get used to that as it will for me to call the Busch series, the Nationwide Series.

The Childress drivers had a tremendous run finishing fourth and fifth while doing it seemingly very ordinary. Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick just hung around all day until the race was finally over and both were Top 5’s. It may be a sign to come for the organization on the mile and half banked tracks. Last season Jeff Burton had Top 5 finishes in both Atlanta races.

And Harvick? Well, things haven’t been so kind to him in Atlanta over the years. After winning his first career Cup race in his third start for the team back in 2001. He followed up that race with a third place run in the fall and then ever since, he’s been about as bad as anyone could possibly be. His 15th place finish in the fall last season was his best run since finishing third seven years ago.

What happened in Vegas, doesn’t stay in Vegas for NASCAR. They gave us a preview of what we can expect in the next few months at tracks like Atlanta, Texas, and Charlotte. Roush-Fenway Racing got it done right and they are going to be tough to beat. When drivers like David Ragan start rolling in with seventh place finishes, as was the case at Vegas, you know that team has got it dialed in. Much like Hendrick last season in the COT on the shorter tracks, Roush-Fenway has a huge advantage over the rest of the garages and don’t look for them to share anything anytime soon.

If in fact Roush is who we think they are, now is the time to start firing away on odds to win the 2008 Sprint Cup championship. The intermediate tracks comprise of close to 40% of all the races on the circuit. Edwards, Kenseth, and Biffle each have a great shot at winning it all. They have a great head start.

Top 5 Finish prediction

1) #17 Matt Kenseth (7/1)
2) #31 Jeff Burton (20/1)
3) #99 Carl Edwards (5/1)
4) #24 Jeff Gordon (8/10
5) #16 Greg Biffle (13/1)

Skinner to replace Allmendinger at Atlanta

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -Mike Skinner will replace AJ Allmendinger at Red Bull Racing for this weekend's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Skinner, a former Cup driver who now races full time in the Truck Series, will attempt to qualify the No. 84 Toyota for Sunday's race.

Allmendinger, who was testing Monday at Phoenix International Raceway, was disappointed but understood the decision.

``Let's not kid ourselves. I'm a racer and I want to be racing, but I get the big picture here and obviously we need to improve our program,'' he said. ``Do I want to be out of the car? No. But, I know Skinner can help both me and my team.

``All I can say is he better be prepared for me to eat, drink, and sleep with him. OK, well maybe not the sleeping part, but I'm ready to attach myself to him and learn everything I can.''

Allmendinger failed to qualify for last week's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, making him 0-for-3 on the season. Teammate Brian Vickers has made all three races in the other Red Bull car.

Allmendinger is in just his second season of NASCAR after a successful open-wheel career. The 25-year-old left the Champ Car Series to drive for Red Bull, and the team gave him a Sprint Cup ride he perhaps wasn't prepared for.

He qualified for 17 of 36 races last season, and his best finish was a 15th at Charlotte in October.

``We're at a crossroads where we need to make a change that will elevate the No. 84 team to success,'' general manager Jay Frye said Monday. ``AJ's our guy and he's a talented driver, but there's a lot being asked of him.

``In order for him to be successful, we have to get this team pointed in the right direction. We hope we can do that with the help of a veteran driver.''

Skinner is former Truck Series champion who currently races a Toyota for Bill Davis Racing. He has a history with Red Bull Racing, when he was a test driver for the team in 2006.

He also worked with Allmendinger that year when Allmendinger occasionally drove for BDR's truck team.

``The first time I ever met AJ, I took an immediate liking to him,'' Skinner said. ``He's not just a great personality - he also has a remarkable amount of talent. He took on a huge challenge jumping into stock cars last year, and I'm glad I can be the one to help him and his team figure out where the glitches are in their program.''

Analyzing The Kobalt Tools 500
NASCAR Media

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 3, 2008) - In his six full seasons in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, only once has Jimmie Johnson been lower than his current 14th-place points position after the first three races.That was in 2004, when he was 19th after three races.

Actually, he's been in the top five most of his career at this point:

2007 - 4th
2006 - 1st
2005 - 2nd
2004 - 19th
2003 - 3rd
2002 - 13th

But, no worries. Why? Because Atlanta Motor Speedway is on the horizon.

Johnson has three wins there, and in 2002 and 2004 - the only other years he wasn't in the top five in points after three races - the Atlanta race righted the ship.

In 2002, he scored a third-place finish to move into 10th place in the standings and in 2004, he used a fourth-place Atlanta finish to catapult into ninth place in the series standings.

There's no reason to believe he won't have similar success in this weekend's Kobalt Tools 500.

Johnson, who swept last season's Atlanta races, has been statistically brilliant at the 1.54-mile track. In the six races since 2005, he has a Driver Rating of 118.3, an Average Running Position of 5.7, 161 Fastest Laps Run and has spent 94% of the total laps in the top 15.

And over the last nine races, he has eight top 10s - three of which were wins and two others that were runner-up finishes.

Selected Driver Highlights - Atlanta Motor Speedway

Note: All driver statistics that follow are from Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Loop Data statistics - Driver Rating, Average Running Position, etc. - in this release, however, cover the last six races at Atlanta. NASCAR's scoring loops began collecting data for statistical purposes in 2005.

Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford)

* Two top fives, five top 10s
* Average finish of 15.9
* Average Running Position of 9.4, second-best
* Driver Rating of 103.5, third-best
* Series-high 201 Fastest Laps Run
* Average Green Flag Speed of 176.433 mph, second-fastest
* 1,651 Laps in the Top 15 (84.5%), second-most

Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet)

* Seven top fives, 12 top 10s
* Average finish of 16.8
* Average Running Position of 11.4, fourth-best
* Driver Rating of 92.4, eighth-best
* Average Green Flag Speed of 175.827 mph, ninth-fastest
* 1,533 Laps in the Top 15 (78.5%), sixth-most
* 186 Quality Passes, eighth-most

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 AMP/National Guard Chevrolet)

* One win, seven top fives, nine top 10s; one pole
* Average finish of 12.2
* Average Running Position of 12.0, sixth-best
* Driver Rating of 100.2, fifth-best
* 154 Fastest Laps Run, third-most
* 410 Green Flag Passes, second-most
* Average Green Flag Speed of 176.329 mph, third-fastest
* 1,367 Laps in the Top 15 (70.0%), eighth-most
* Series-high 210 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green)

Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford)

* Two wins, four top fives, six top 10
* Average finish of 8.7
* Average Running Position of 11.7, fifth-best
* Driver Rating of 102.8, fourth-best
* 131 Fastest Laps Run, fourth-most
* Average Green Flag Speed of 175.991 mph, seventh-fastest
* 1,606 Laps in the Top 15 (82.2%), third-most
* 200 Quality Passes, third-most

Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet)

* Four wins, 12 top fives, 19 top 10s; one pole
* Average finish of 13.1
* Average Running Position of 13.0, seventh-best
* Driver Rating of 94.7, seventh-best
* 74 Fastest Laps Run, eighth-most
* 1,417 Laps in the Top 15 (72.5%), seventh-most
* 202 Quality Passes, second-most

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet)

* Three wins, eight top fives, nine top 10s
* Average finish of 9.4
* Series-best Average Running Position of 5.7
* Series-best Driver Rating of 118.2
* 161 Fastest Laps Run, second-most
* Series-fastest Average Green Flag Speed of 176.654 mph
* Series-high 1,830 Laps in the Top 15 (93.7%)

Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge)

* One win, four top fives, five top 10s; one pole
* Average finish of 16.9
* Average Running Position of 15.3, 13th-best
* Driver Rating of 87.8, 10th-best
* 72 Fastest Laps Run, ninth-most
* Average Green Flag Speed of 175.618 mph, 10th-best
* 1,237 Laps in the Top 15 (63.3%), 10th-most

Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Ford)

* Six top fives, nine top 10s
* Average finish of 14.9
* Average Running Position of 14.0, 10th-best
* Driver Rating of 95.6, sixth-best
* 85 Fastest Laps Run, seventh-most
* 373 Green Flag Passes, fifth-most
* Average Green Flag Speed of 176.120 mph, fifth-best
* 1,323 Laps in the Top 15 (67.7%), ninth-most
* 196 Quality Passes, fourth-most

Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Toyota)

* Two wins, seven top fives, 11 top 10s
* Average finish of 12.6
* Average Running Position of 10.2, third-best
* Driver Rating of 104.2, second-best
* 127 Fastest Laps Run, fifth-most
* Average Green Flag Speed of 175.939 mph, eighth-fastest
* 1,600 Laps in the Top 15 (81.9%), fourth-most

Notebook

* There have been 97 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Atlanta Speedway, two races per year except 1961, which had three.
* Fireball Roberts won the pole for the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta in 1960.
* Fireball Roberts won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta.
* Buddy Baker and Ryan Newman hold the all-time record for poles with seven each.
* Newman won six consecutive poles between March 2003 and October 2005.
* 41 drivers have won races; 20 have won more than once.
* Dale Earnhardt scored nine victories, more than any other driver. Cale Yarborough is second with seven.
* Bobby Labonte heads the list of active drivers with Atlanta victories with six. Labonte is tied with Richard Petty for third on the all-time Atlanta win list.
* The Wood Brothers notched 12 victories, more than any other car owner. They last won there in 1993 with Morgan Shepherd.
* 14 races at Atlanta have been won from the pole, the last by Kasey Kahne in 2006.
* 55 races have been won from the first five starting positions.
* Bobby Labonte won in 2001 from the 39th starting position - the deepest in the field that a race winner has started.
* There have been seven season sweeps at Atlanta, most recently by Jimmie Johnson in 2007.
* Atlanta has produced three of the 12 closest finishes since electronic timing was introduced in May 1993. All three races occurred on the new configuration.
o Dale Earnhardt finished 0.010 second ahead of Bobby Labonte in the fifth-closest race (tied with Rockingham-2004) on March 12, 2000.
o Kevin Harvick beat Jeff Gordon by 0.006 second on March 11, 2001, in the fourth-closest finish.
o Carl Edwards beat Jimmie Johnson by 0.028 second on March 20, 2005, in the 12th-closest finish (tied with Texas April 2004).

Atlanta Motor Speedway Data
Race # 4 of 36 (3-9-08)
Track Size: 1.54 miles
Race Length: 325 laps/500.5 miles
Banking/Corners: 24 degrees
Banking/Straights: 5 degrees
Frontstretch: 2,332 feet
Backstretch: 1,800 feet

Driver Rating at Atlanta
Jimmie Johnson 118.2
Tony Stewart 104.2
Greg Biffle 103.5
Carl Edwards 102.8
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 100.2
Matt Kenseth 95.6
Jeff Gordon 94.7
Jeff Burton 92.4
Mark Martin 92.0
Kasey Kahne 87.8

Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2007 races (6 total) at Atlanta.

Qualifying/Race Data
2007 pole winner: Ryan Newman, 193.124 mph, 28.707 secs.
2007 race winner: Jimmie Johnson, 152.915 mph, 3-18-07)
Track qualifying record: Geoffrey Bodine (197.478 mph, 28.074 secs., 10-21-05)
Race record: Bobby Labonte (159.904 mph, 11-16-97)

Estimated Pit Window: Every 48-52 laps, based on fuel mileage.

Kobalt Tools 500 PreQ

It was a rough weekend for Jimmie Johnson at Las Vegas. He had won three races in a row at the track before suffering all sorts of headaches in the UAW-Dodge 400 settling for a 29th place finish. He was never a factor in the race and has just one top 10 finish wrapped around a pair of finishes outside the top 20. This is very unlike Johnson and not what any had expected from the two time defending champion. Johnson will look to get the ship righted at Atlanta Motor Speedway where he has back-to-back wins with an overall finish of 9th place in 13 career starts. He has eight top 5 finishes at the track in all with three wins. If he doesn’t get it done this weekend there will be concerns in the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet camp.

Of course Carl Edwards sits near the top of the PreQ forecast after winning the last two high-banked superspeedway events this season taking the checkers at California and Las Vegas. Edwards has always been a great high-banked superspeedway driver averaging an 11th place finish over the last four plus seasons. He also has six top 10s in seven starts at Atlanta with a pair of wins with an average finish of 9th place. If he is not running up front again this weekend it would be a shock to us.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had a strong run at Las Vegas and is beginning to show that he deserves to once again be considered among the series elite. Junior was a heavy favorite to win at Daytona but lost all of his teammates to assist with drafting help. He did finish with a solid 9th place effort but was nowhere near the front when it was all said and done. Junior has improved on the high-banked superspeedways in his career and now with the backing of Hendrick Motorsports he should be competitive on a weekly basis. Junior has been to victory lane at Atlanta in his career and getting his first point’s win for his new #88 Mountain Dew Chevrolet would go a long way in proving Junior’s worth to the team.

Of all of the Chase contenders last season one that has been the most quiet has been Martin Truex Jr. With the departure of Earnhardt Jr. Truex is now the #1 man on the DEI team. He does have a top 10 finish at California while finishing each event in the top 20 as he sits 10th in the point standings but Truex has not yet been running up front on a consistent basis. He has, however, avoided the problems that some of the other big name drivers have been it has been far to infrequent that we have heard his name called during the race telecast. Truex struggles at Atlanta with an average finish of 29th place in six career starts. He has finished four of those starts outside the top 30 with one top 10 finish. He may get a top 20 finish again this weekend but don’t expect much more.

As always when it comes to Atlanta we have to place the “buyer beware” label on Kevin Harvick. After taking the checkered flag in his first career start at the track it has been all downhill for Harvick when it comes to racing at Atlanta. Since the 2002 season Harvick has not finished better than 15th place, which came last season. In his last 12 starts he has nine finishes outside the top 20 and is averaging a career finish of 24th place. Even though he is a past winner we would recommend avoiding Harvick for the Kobalt Tools 500.

profantasysports.com

Who's Hot / Who's Not In Nextel Cup : Las Vegas Edition
Mike Lovecchio and Tom Bowles

In what was a much smoother race weekend than the on again / off again rain debacle last weekend in California, the story in Vegas wound up with a similar ending. As the checkered flag flew, it was Carl Edwards once again winding up in Victory Lane, cementing his status as the hottest driver in the Cup series right out of the box. But who else left Vegas with a boatload of cash and momentum? And on the flip side, who’s currently in gambling purgatory — needing good runs in the next two weeks to steer clear of the dreaded Top 35 bubble position in car owner points?

To see the latest trends in Sprint Cup, as well as what to expect next Sunday in Atlanta, check out this week’s edition of Who’s Hot / Who’s Not.

HOT

Carl Edwards: Owww! Sorry, had to grab the extinguisher because Edwards’ season is giving me 3rd-degree burns … and we’re 1,000 miles away from him right now. Two wins in his last two starts have Cousin Carl leading the standings for the first time in his Cup career; with a 21-point lead over Kyle Busch, his No. 99 team has revitalized Roush Fenway Racing while giving hope that the Blue Oval crowd ain’t dead yet. Don’t expect this bunch to keel over anytime soon on the track, either; Edwards captured his first career Cup win at Atlanta three years ago, and has six Top 10 finishes in seven career starts at the track.

However, be sure to keep an eye on any possible off-track penalties coming from Edwards’ car failing post-race inspection Sunday night. A missing oil tank cover landed several Nationwide teams in hot water this February, and considering the penalties handed to Robby Gordon back at Daytona, a bucket of ice could be doused on this team from NASCAR in the form of points, fines, and a six to eight-week suspension of crew chief Bob Osborne.

Kyle Busch: Sure, Las Vegas wasn’t as kind to the hometown boy as he might have hoped; Busch went from contender to pretender when some late race tire issues left him slumping to an 11th place finish. But he remains a solid second in the season standings and maintains the highest driver rating (which supposedly means something) through the first three races of the Cup season. Here’s a more critical stat that cements Busch’s frontrunning status in our eyes: he’s led 156 laps in 2008, more than anyone else on the circuit – even Edwards. So much for the No. 18 team being an also ran …

Kasey Kahne: The 2008 presidential election may still be up for grabs, but the votes are in on the Kasey Kahne slump, and it looks like we can make a projection : it’s over. The only driver in Cup with three Top 10 finishes to start off 2008, Kahne’s a solid fourth in the standings, enjoying a more consistent beginning than even his six-win season of 2006. That year, Kahne’s success took off with a surprise win at Atlanta; just two years later, he’d love to repeat the magic to give GEM its first victory since George Gillett came on board last year. There’s just one caveat to this whole thing; as of now, Kahne’s led just two laps to date, and there’s a difference between running up front and challenging for the win. Only time will tell if Kahne and the No. 9 bunch are ready to take that next step once again.

WARM

Kevin Harvick: It was a whole different month of February for the 2007 Daytona 500 champ, who had a solid but not spectacular Speedweeks as he fell short of his goal of back-to-back wins in the Great American Race. Still, Harvick emerges from the first three races in far better shape than he’s been in quite sometime; a fourth place in Las Vegas was not only his best of the year, but it put him in fifth in the season standings. It’s a welcome consistency that should serve Harvick well heading to the track where he scored his first career Cup win in 2001; since then, he’s struggled at Atlanta, but RCR’s improvement with the CoT should help him catapult back into contention.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Seems like Junior’s still in shock about just how good he’s got it. Nerves of going after his first win since Richmond in May of 2006 led to Junior spinning the tires on a late race restart at Vegas, causing a jam-up that inevitably led to teammate Jeff Gordon crashing himself by running into Matt Kenseth. Surviving that melee, Junior was unable to catch Edwards on the ensuing green/white/checkered finish but came home second, recovering nicely from being victimized by his teammate’s wreck at California the week before. Heading to Atlanta — where Junior had a Top 5 run last Fall before wrecking late in the race — the team has to feel good about its chances.

COOL

Clint Bowyer: Clearly, Bowyer is not a fan of the racing in Sin City. Three career starts in Vegas have led to a best finish of only 15th, and Sunday’s event left the No. 07 team making the best of it; after going to a backup following a wreck in weekend practice, Bowyer struggled en route to a 28th place finish. Now just 23rd in the early season standings, the Cinderella magic that followed Bowyer during his 2007 Chase run has clearly worn off; but if there’s any consolation, the early strength showed by teammates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick should make it easy for the No. 07 car to regroup over at RCR.

After this Vegas spin, McMurray was only able to recover to 25th by the checkered flag — hardly the finish Roush Fenway was expecting from the No. 26 Crown Royal Ford.

Jamie McMurray: When the rest of your five-car team is the talk of the series for their early season strength, and you’re still trailing behind the pack, that’s a serious problem. McMurray’s been a bit of an enigma, and has got to be feeling the pressure after finishes of 26th, 22nd, and 25th have left him far behind his four Roush Fenway teammates. Things were so bad at Vegas that McMurray was the lowest-finishing of the seven Fords entered in the event; even the cash-strapped Yates Racing operation of David Gilliland and Travis Kvapil wound up ahead of him, with Kvapil running circles around McMurray with an eighth place finish. With an Atlanta record that includes no Top 10 finishes since joining the No. 26 team in 2006, McMurray’s slump is expected to continue through Sunday; but don’t expect it to last much longer without Roush making some serious changes to this program.

COLD

The Open Wheelers: This season’s rookie crop was supposed to be stumbling all over each other in their quest to be the next Juan Pablo Montoya; instead, they’re just plain ol’ stumbling. A rookie average finish of 33.9 includes the three subpar performances turned in by Sam Hornish, Jr., Dario Franchitti, and Patrick Carpentier. Each of them wrecked at Vegas, with Hornish and Carpentier forced behind the wall for repairs. It’s the second straight race Hornish has mashed up his car, dropping his team outside the Top 35 in owner points with only two races left on his five-race “gift” he received from teammate Kurt Busch (the No. 2’s points from last year). Meanwhile, Franchitti is right there with him; and if the No. 40 team can’t get anything going, both will find themselves forced to qualify on speed come Martinsville the end of March.

Kyle Petty: Petty’s 2008 season has begun with a whimper, and Sunday was yet another indication the No. 45 team is in trouble. Sunday’s event saw the Wells Fargo Dodge struggle to even keep up with the slowest cars in the field, as Petty whimpered to a 32nd place finish, two laps off the pace. Now 35 points away from a locked in qualifying spot, the team’s going to have to work hard to even crack the Top 35 before Martinsville – a crucial element to their survival, as Petty isn’t known to be the best qualifier in recent years. Atlanta should be a telltale sign of how bad off Petty’s car really is; with a recent history that includes three Top 20 finishes in his last four races there, it should be the best chance this season for the No. 45 to pick up the pace. If they don’t … the dangers of Friday qualifying loom ever closer.

frontstretch.com

Kobalt Tools 500 Preview

Sprint Cup Series points leader Carl Edwards will be looking to win his third race in a row on Sunday afternoon when he takes to the track in Atlanta for the Kobalt Tools 500.

Edwards took the checkered flag in the UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on the weekend, and he had previously won the Auto Club 500 in California. That string of success has moved Edwards into first place in the Sprint Cup driver standings, where he sits 21 points up on Kyle Busch and 41 points up on Daytona winner Ryan Newman.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was second in Las Vegas, while Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton rounded out the day's Top 5 drivers. Kasey Kahne, David Ragan, Travis Kvapil, Denny Hamlin, and Mark Martin completed the Top 10, and Kyle Busch ended up 11th.

Newman was 14th in Las Vegas, while Martin Truex Jr. was 15th. Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, and Jeff Gordon all had disappointing runs on the weekend - Kenseth finished in 20th place, Johnson was 29th, and Gordon was 35th. Kurt Busch ended up in 38th spot, while Tony Stewart hit the wall after only 107 laps and finished back in 43rd place.

Kahne moved up to fourth place in the driver standings with his result in Vegas, while Harvick is now fifth and Greg Biffle is sixth. Burton, Truex Jr., Elliott Sadler, and Earnhardt Jr. make up the rest of the current Top 10. Stewart and Kurt Busch each dropped eight spots in the standings on Sunday, and they round out the series' Top 12.

Earnhardt Jr. was the biggest mover in the standings on Sunday, as he improved 13 places. Ragan and Hamlin each jumped 11 spots with their Vegas results, as they now sit 19th and 20th, respectively, in the points race. Johnson dropped six places to 14th on the weekend, while Kenseth now sits in 16th place, and Gordon has fallen to 22nd.

Johnson will be looking to get his season on track this weekend when he guns for the win at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Johnson has won three times on that track in his career, and he took the checkered flag in both Cup races there last season (the Kobalt Tools 500 and the Pep Boys Auto 500). Johnson won his other Atlanta race during 2004.

Edwards, though, is no slouch at Atlanta either - he won both Cup events there in 2005. Tony Stewart has two Atlanta wins on his resume, including the 2006 Bass Pro Shops 500. Gordon has four wins there in his career, while Bobby Labonte has six - Gordon and Labonte both last won in Atlanta in 2003. Kahne, Earnhardt Jr. Kurt Busch, Harvick, Martin, and Dale Jarrett have also managed to race to wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Edwards is pegged as the 5/1 Vegas favorite to visit victory lane this weekend, with Johnson and Kenseth both sitting at 7/1 odds. Gordon and Kyle Busch are at 8/1 odds for Sunday, with Stewart at 9/1, Earnhardt Jr. at 11/1, and both Biffle and Hamlin at 12/1. Kurt Busch has been listed at 17/1 odds, with Burton just back of him at 18/1 odds.

Harvick, Newman, and Kahne then start the next tier of contenders at 20/1 odds, with Bowyer at 22/1, and each of Mears, Truex Jr., Martin, and McMurray listed back at 25/1.

Johnson continues to sit atop the Sprint Cup contenders list, but he's now tied with the streaking Edwards at 5/1 odds. Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. are each pegged at 6/1, with Stewart at 7/1, and Kenseth at 9/1. Kyle Busch (11/1) is just ahead of Kurt Busch (15/1), with Hamlin at 16/1 odds, Harvick at 22/1, and both Bowyer and Truex Jr. back at 28/1.

After competing in Atlanta the drivers of the Sprint Cup Series will head to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 500 on March 16. The series will then take a one-week break before hitting Martinsville Speedway for the Goody's Cool Orange 500 on March 30. The Sprint Cup's April schedule then gets underway at Texas with the Samsung 500.

Kobalt Tools 500 Driver Rating

After one of the most impressive seasons in NASCAR history last year the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway pursuing his third consecutive victory after sweeping both races last season. Atlanta has been one of Johnson’s most proficient stops on the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule, posting eight top 5s and nine top 10s finishes including three wins (2004, and sweeping both races in 2007) in 13 starts. This weekend Johnson looks to do something no other driver has done — win three in a row at Atlanta. Six times a driver has swept both Atlanta races in a single season: Marvin Panch (1965), Bobby Allison (1972), Bill Elliott (twice: 1985, 1992), Carl Edwards (2005), and Johnson (2007). And although the #48 team struggled at Las Vegas last week - finishing 29th with an ill handling car - with an average finish of 10th place look for Johnson to improve upon its 14th place points position.

While the early week favorite is Johnson he will have plenty of competition for the win. On top of most people’s minds has to be Carl Edwards, winner of two consecutive races this season who swept Atlanta in 2005. Since 2005, Edwards has a Driver Rating of 102.8, an Average Running Position of 11.7, 131 Fastest Laps Run and 1,606 Laps in the Top 15. He’s always a threat at the 1.54-mile track – Edwards has finished outside the top 10 only once in seven starts, and was runner-up to Johnson in the last Atlanta race in October. Another driver looking forward to Atlanta is Tony Stewart. who dropped from 3rd to 11th after a 43rd-place finish at Las Vegas. Stewart finished second to Johnson in this race last season, and has two wins, seven top fives and 11 top 10s in his Atlanta career. Since 2005, Stewart has a Driver Rating of 104.2 (second-best), an Average Running Position of 10.2 (third), 127 Fastest Laps Run (fifth) and 1,600 Laps in the Top 15 (fourth). Also watch for a strong run from Greg Biffle, who is having a bit of a comeback in 2008. He’s finished outside the top 10 in the points in each of the last two seasons, but currently sits in 6th after a strong 3rd place run at Las Vegas. Biffle has yet to win a race at Atlanta, but has had solid runs since 2005. In the last six AMS races, Biffle has a Driver Rating of 103.5 (third), an Average Running Position of 9.4 (second), a series-high 201 Fastest Laps Run (first) and 1,651 Laps in the Top 15 (second).

profantasysports.com

Atlanta Rankings

1. Jimmie Johnson – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 102.341
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 2 3 48 running 100.0% 48.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 16 12 48 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 6 14 48 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 2 3 48 running 100.0% 8.3%
2007 4 Atlanta 1 3 48 running 100.0% 41.5%
2007 33 Atlanta 1 6 48 running 100.0% 2.4%

2. Matt Kenseth – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 97.864
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 31 23 17 running 95.7% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 5 23 17 running 100.0% 0.3%
2006 4 Atlanta 13 27 17 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 4 1 17 running 100.0% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 3 21 17 running 100.0% 3.4%
2007 33 Atlanta 4 17 17 running 100.0% 0.0%

3. Jeff Gordon – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 95.434
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 39 25 24 crash 65.8% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 2 24 24 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 4 12 24 running 100.0% 0.3%
2006 33 Atlanta 6 9 24 running 100.0% 13.5%
2007 4 Atlanta 12 5 24 running 100.0% 9.2%
2007 33 Atlanta 7 8 24 running 100.0% 0.0%

4. Jeff Burton – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 94.953
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 15 38 31 running 100.0% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 8 41 31 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 25 3 31 running 99.7% 0.3%
2006 33 Atlanta 13 5 31 running 99.4% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 4 32 31 running 100.0% 0.6%
2007 33 Atlanta 5 28 31 running 100.0% 0.0%

5. Carl Edwards – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 93.920
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 1 4 99 running 100.0% 2.8%
2005 33 Atlanta 1 2 99 running 100.0% 35.4%
2006 4 Atlanta 40 18 99 running 96.3% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 7 12 99 running 100.0% 0.3%
2007 4 Atlanta 7 14 99 running 100.0% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 2 16 99 running 100.0% 0.0%

6. Kyle Busch – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 93.284
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 12 42 5 running 100.0% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 12 7 5 running 100.0% 1.2%
2006 4 Atlanta 12 17 5 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 27 10 5 running 98.8% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 32 8 5 running 99.1% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 20 19 5 running 100.0% 23.4%

7. Tony Stewart – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 92.853
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 17 9 20 running 100.0% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 9 10 20 running 100.0% 0.3%
2006 4 Atlanta 5 21 20 running 100.0% 15.4%
2006 33 Atlanta 1 11 20 running 100.0% 44.9%
2007 4 Atlanta 2 13 20 running 100.0% 37.2%
2007 33 Atlanta 30 30 20 running 98.2% 0.0%

8. Kurt Busch – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 91.588
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 32 24 97 running 93.5% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 36 30 97 running 83.1% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 37 9 2 running 98.8% 6.8%
2006 33 Atlanta 14 16 2 running 99.4% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 11 17 2 running 100.0% 4.3%
2007 33 Atlanta 8 2 2 running 100.0% 29.8%

9. Kevin Harvick – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 89.275
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 21 36 29 running 99.7% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 22 31 29 running 99.4% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 39 6 29 running 96.3% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 31 2 29 running 98.8% 2.8%
2007 4 Atlanta 25 36 29 running 99.7% 0.3%
2007 33 Atlanta 15 34 29 running 100.0% 0.3%

10. Martin Truex Jr – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 88.942
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 33 Atlanta 40 8 1 crash 54.2% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 19 35 1 running 99.7% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 37 21 1 crash 93.8% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 8 18 1 running 100.0% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 31 20 1 crash 97.9% 41.0%

11. Greg Biffle – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 88.229
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 3 6 16 running 100.0% 46.5%
2005 33 Atlanta 7 16 16 running 100.0% 1.5%
2006 4 Atlanta 16 8 16 running 100.0% 39.4%
2006 33 Atlanta 5 13 16 running 100.0% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 41 25 16 running 86.2% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 22 1 16 running 99.7% 0.3%

12. Denny Hamlin – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 88.213
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 33 Atlanta 19 25 11 running 99.7% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 31 7 11 running 99.4% 4.9%
2006 33 Atlanta 8 4 11 running 100.0% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 19 30 11 running 99.7% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 24 18 11 running 99.7% 0.9%

13. Clint Bowyer – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 87.653
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2006 4 Atlanta 27 16 7 running 99.7% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 25 18 7 running 99.1% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 6 15 7 running 100.0% 0.6%
2007 33 Atlanta 6 26 7 running 100.0% 0.0%

14. Dale Earnhardt Jr – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 86.963
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 24 35 8 running 99.4% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 4 17 8 running 100.0% 43.7%
2006 4 Atlanta 3 26 8 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 3 6 8 running 100.0% 29.2%
2007 4 Atlanta 14 22 8 running 100.0% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 25 5 8 crash 99.4% 0.0%

15. Kasey Kahne – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 86.491
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 5 5 9 running 100.0% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 35 6 9 crash 84.9% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 1 1 9 running 100.0% 26.2%
2006 33 Atlanta 38 8 9 crash 78.5% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 39 12 9 running 94.2% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 9 4 9 running 100.0% 0.9%

16. Ryan Newman – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 84.469
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 14 1 12 running 100.0% 1.5%
2005 33 Atlanta 23 1 12 running 99.4% 0.3%
2006 4 Atlanta 18 2 12 running 99.7% 0.6%
2006 33 Atlanta 30 17 12 running 98.8% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 23 1 12 running 99.7% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 37 9 12 engine 81.2% 0.0%

17. Jamie McMurray – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 82.546
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 11 13 42 running 100.0% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 6 28 42 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 14 34 26 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 40 22 26 running 75.1% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 15 37 26 running 100.0% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 26 25 26 crash 99.4% 0.0%

18. Reed Sorenson – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 81.838
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 33 Atlanta 41 22 39 crash 40.9% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 10 15 41 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 29 24 41 running 98.8% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 9 11 41 running 100.0% 0.3%
2007 33 Atlanta 3 32 41 running 100.0% 0.0%

19. Mark Martin – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 81.705
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 4 12 6 running 100.0% 0.6%
2005 33 Atlanta 3 4 6 running 100.0% 13.2%
2006 4 Atlanta 2 11 6 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 36 7 6 crash 95.1% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 10 4 1 running 100.0% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 43 12 1 crash 19.5% 0.0%

20. Brian Vickers = Weekly Rating (ODI) = 81.458
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 6 8 25 running 100.0% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 15 11 25 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 23 37 25 running 99.7% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 19 15 25 running 99.4% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 42 31 83 crash 69.8% 1.5%
2007 33 Atlanta 10 14 83 running 100.0% 0.0%

21. Casey Mears – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 81.287
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 19 15 41 running 99.7% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 21 38 41 running 99.4% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 21 10 42 running 99.7% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 28 14 42 running 98.8% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 28 34 25 running 99.4% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 12 15 25 running 100.0% 0.0%

22. Juan Pablo Montoya – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 80.453
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2007 4 Atlanta 5 16 42 running 100.0% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 34 21 42 running 86.0% 0.0%

23. Elliott Sadler – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 80.036
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 10 11 38 running 100.0% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 10 3 38 running 100.0% 3.1%
2006 4 Atlanta 29 28 38 running 99.7% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 21 34 19 running 99.1% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 18 2 19 running 100.0% 0.3%
2007 33 Atlanta 14 10 19 running 100.0% 0.0%

24. Bobby Labonte – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 79.524
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 37 19 18 crash 81.8% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 31 35 18 running 97.2% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 43 4 43 engine 17.2% 4.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 12 20 43 running 99.7% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 16 6 43 running 100.0% 0.3%
2007 33 Atlanta 41 11 43 running 72.3% 0.0%

25. Michael Waltrip – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 78.936
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 7 37 15 running 100.0% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 11 37 15 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 20 24 55 running 99.7% 0.3%
2006 33 Atlanta 33 39 55 running 98.2% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 11 24 55 running 100.0% 0.0%

26. Robby Gordon – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 78.409
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 34 26 7 engine 89.2% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 28 36 7 running 99.7% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 10 29 7 running 100.0% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 20 39 7 running 99.7% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 21 33 7 running 99.7% 0.0%

27. Paul Menard – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 78.260
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2006 4 Atlanta 7 22 15 running 100.0% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 31 23 15 running 99.4% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 27 36 15 running 99.4% 0.3%

28. Scott Riggs – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 77.738
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 9 17 10 running 100.0% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 33 34 10 engine 89.5% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 11 29 10 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 22 19 10 running 99.1% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 43 10 10 engine 68.0% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 29 27 10 running 99.4% 0.0%

29. Dave Blaney – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 77.359
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 8 27 7 running 100.0% 0.3%
2005 33 Atlanta 24 5 7 running 99.4% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 32 30 22 running 99.4% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 18 26 22 running 99.4% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 27 35 22 running 99.4% 0.3%
2007 33 Atlanta 38 42 22 running 79.9% 0.0%

30. Kyle Petty – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 77.121
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 36 41 45 engine 83.4% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 25 39 45 running 99.4% 0.3%
2006 4 Atlanta 8 32 45 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 17 37 45 running 99.4% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 34 40 45 running 99.1% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 13 39 45 running 100.0% 0.3%

31. JJ Yeley – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 77.119
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2006 4 Atlanta 15 5 18 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 16 30 18 running 99.4% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 22 20 18 running 99.7% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 35 22 18 running 83.6% 0.0%

32. Dale Jarrett – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 76.454
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 23 34 88 running 99.4% 0.3%
2005 33 Atlanta 14 9 88 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 9 31 88 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 11 23 88 running 100.0% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 36 43 44 running 98.5% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 19 3 44 running 100.0% 0.0%

33. Dario Franchitti – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 75.570
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
None

34. David Ragan – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 75.162
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2007 4 Atlanta 33 38 6 running 99.1% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 33 37 6 running 97.3% 0.0%

35. Travis Kvapil – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 72.519
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 42 20 77 crash 0.0% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 26 40 77 running 99.1% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 32 38 32 running 98.5% 0.0%

36. Bill Elliott – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 72.486
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 22 18 91 running 99.7% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 41 36 37 engine 44.9% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 18 43 21 running 100.0% 0.0%

37. David Gilliland – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 72.298
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2006 33 Atlanta 15 25 38 running 99.4% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 30 27 38 running 99.4% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 42 13 38 crash 19.5% 0.0%

38. Joe Nemechek – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 71.502
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 35 7 1 engine 86.2% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 18 27 1 running 99.7% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 17 13 1 running 100.0% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 9 31 1 running 100.0% 0.9%
2007 4 Atlanta 17 19 13 running 100.0% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 36 23 78 crash 81.5% 0.0%

39. Regan Smith – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 71.075
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
None.

40. John Andretti – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 70.860
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2007 33 Atlanta 28 29 49 running 99.4% 0.0%

41. Ken Schrader – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 70.031
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 26 28 49 running 99.4% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 34 42 49 engine 85.2% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 24 25 21 running 99.7% 0.0%
2006 33 Atlanta 24 32 21 running 99.1% 0.0%
2007 4 Atlanta 37 29 21 running 97.8% 0.0%

42. David Reutimann – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 69.859
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2007 4 Atlanta 40 24 0 running 90.8% 0.0%

43. Jeremy Mayfield – Weekly Rating (ODI) = 68.693
Last 6 at Atlanta:
Year Race Track Fin St # Status %run %led
2005 4 Atlanta 13 14 19 running 100.0% 0.0%
2005 33 Atlanta 38 18 19 running 69.5% 0.0%
2006 4 Atlanta 41 20 19 running 72.3% 0.0%
2007 33 Atlanta 40 41 66 running 76.0% 0.0%

Fantasy Picks 'N' Pans: Kobalt Tools 500

After a weekend in Sin City, there are always those select few who fly home happy after hitting the jackpot… and just as many who wind up emptyhanded after going bust. Case in point : if your fantasy team last week had Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Matt Kenseth on it, you’re probably feeling a bit of that post-Vegas hangover; but if you went with Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Greg Biffle, you’re probably still at the slot machine collecting your coins. Such was the roller coaster race that was last weekend, with treacherous track conditions and an unusual mistake at the finish turning the fantasy world upside down.

Now, the circuit heads back East; but don’t expect the change of scenery to stop this roller coaster season just yet. The high speeds of Atlanta Motor Speedway, combined with the new car configuration, could present some challenges for more than a few teams — letting other surprises shine through the cracks in the process. So, which drivers will come out of the woodwork to help you keep the heat on your competition, and who’s on their way to crashing and burning once again? Read this week’s Fantasy Picks and Pans to find out.

Cami’s Race Rewind

After scoring his third straight win at Las Vegas, Jimmie Johnson came into Atlanta and claimed his second straight victory by overtaking Tony Stewart with three laps to go. As is often the case, a series of late race adjustments by crew chief Chad Knaus helped Johnson dial in his car at exactly the right time. Earlier in the day, Johnson was best on the long run; but when it counted, he was able to power past Stewart after the final caution left just 11 laps of green to the finish. For his part, Stewart felt he had more car than he was able to show because he didn’t think Johnson gave much room to race him for the win; but in the end, no amount of griping changed the fact the No. 20 crossed the line in second place. Veterans Matt Kenseth and Jeff Burton finished third and fourth, respectively, while rookie Juan Pablo Montoya impressed the field with his first Top 5 finish.

Mike’s Keys to the Race

Heading to the fastest circuit in the series, there are a few questions facing the Cup teams this week. Will the new configuration of car race as well as the old one did as the CoT debuts in Atlanta? And after the last two weeks of Goodyears popping, is there a problem with the tire, or are teams involved in a setup issue? Like Vegas, Atlanta offers a lot of racing grooves; and if the experience at California and Vegas hold true, then the drivers will be able to move around quite a bit. That makes handling, horsepower, and fast pit work equally important at a track that offers the prospect of long green flag runs.

Should that scenario play out, look for the cream to rise to the top; both Roush Fenway Racing and Hendrick Motorsports will be strong again this weekend. Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, and Greg Biffle all seem solid in the new car configuration, with Gordon, Johnson, and Earnhardt, Jr. looking equally competitive (even despite Johnson’s Vegas snafu). But if you’re looking for an upset, don’t discount the GEM drivers here; Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler have had some strong efforts in the early season to date.

Mike’s Picks:

Crank ‘Em Up:

Carl Edwards is on a bit of a streak, to say the least. Victories at California and Las Vegas had him on top of the point standings for the first time in his career — that is, until a 100-point penalty from a missing oil cover knocked him down a peg or two. But Atlanta’s the perfect place for Edwards to pick up the pieces; in need of a boost, it’s a track where he has run very well in the past. In seven career races at AMS, Edwards has four Top 5 and six Top 10 finishes, and scored his first Cup victory in a thriller over Jimmie Johnson back in 2005. After a rough Wednesday night, expect to see Edwards to drive with some added fire in the next few days; it’s a strong possibility the series could see its third back flip in a row by the end of this weekend.

Jeff Gordon started his Cup career in 1992 at Atlanta. That race ended poorly — he crashed out of the event — but the track has treated him well after that, with an average finish of 11th and three career wins to his credit. While the last of those victories came in 2003, he’s still had five Top 10 finishes in the eight races since. Add to those stats that the No. 24 has run well the last two weeks, and you’ve got a recipe for success — even if Gordon’s finish at Vegas was tainted by his late race crash trying to make a pass for second place. In need of a good finish, expect the No. 24 team to begin a climb back up the point standings with a solid run on Sunday.

2008 has been a bit of a struggle for Denny Hamlin at times — witness this ugly wreck at California. Three races in, he’s 20th in the season standings.

Sit ‘Em Down:

Denny Hamlin has put together some impressive statistics during his young Cup career. He has won races, made the Chase in his first two full-time seasons, and finished in the Top 10 in at least half the races he’s entered since 2006. But what he hasn’t done well at is racing at Atlanta. Hamlin has run five races at the track, and has just one eighth place result to show for it; his other four races have ended in 19th or worse, and his average finish is a paltry 20.2. The stats say it all: Hamlin may not be ready to break out of his slump at Atlanta just yet.

Martin Truex, Jr. is now the flagship driver for DEI, and has been doing a good job flying the company banner so far this year. But while he has had some decent runs in ’08 — including a Top 10 finish at California — Truex has not had a solid history at Atlanta. The New Jersey native has run six races there, scoring just one finish higher than 19th while suffering through four finishes of 31st or worse. While the DEI organization seems to be getting better in their new car configuration efforts, Truex’s Atlanta struggles beg that he spend this weekend on your fantasy bench.

Roll The Dice:

There is something known as courses for horses, and Atlanta is the course for Bobby Labonte. Labonte is the active win leader at the track with four wins; and even when he’s been struggling in less than stellar equipment, the 2000 Cup champ has been able to find the old magic every now and then. Labonte has looked racy at times in ’08, and heading to his best track could be just the thing the doctor ordered for a Top 10 run.

Cami’s Picks:

Crank ‘Em Up

It’s not often that Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team are off the mark; but last week at Vegas, their performance wasn’t close to the three-time defending race winners they were supposed to be. That run isn’t going to sit well with this team, so watch for them to come back strong this weekend at Atlanta. Johnson swept both races last year, adding to his win there back in 2004; and while he’s not immune from having a slipup at this track, he has managed to score a Top 10 in eight of his last nine starts at AMS.

Tony Stewart is another driver who is looking to heal from a bad week at Vegas; and for Stewart, that means in more ways than one. A hard crash took him out of the race early and gave him his only finish outside the Top 10 this season; it also left him gingerly walking to the ambulance. But while Tony may be banged up and bruised, he says he will be ready to go this weekend; and for the rest of the competition, that’s bad news. Stewart’s a two-time Atlanta winner, and has scored 11 Top 10s in the last 13 races; that makes him a strong contender for this weekend as long as his health holds up.

Sit ‘Em Down

In 2001, Kevin Harvick scored an emotional win in his Atlanta debut, and finished third later that season; but in the 12 races since, he hasn’t found that same magic again. In fact, he has yet to find the Top 10 in any of them, with a 15th place the best he could muster. Harvick may have gotten off to a strong start in 2008, but he isn’t known for staying on a roll for long; he’s due for a bad race. There are plenty of other drivers out there this week that should run better; it’s not worth taking the gamble on Harvick.

A second driver that has struggled at AMS is Casey Mears. His ten races at the track have been a picture of mediocrity, culminating in an average finish of 22.7. Last week at Vegas, Mears did manage to score a 13th place finish, but that was aided by so many top drivers falling out of the event; more telling is the fact Mears stands 34th in points, as much of a threat to fall below the dreaded Top 35 cutoff than to qualify for the Chase at this point. Mears should improve as the year goes on; but right now, he and his new team aren’t quite there yet on a track like this one.

Roll the Dice

It’s been four years since Dale Earnhardt, Jr. scored his first and only win at Atlanta, but this week, he could easily find his way back to Victory Lane. During the time that DEI was running strong, Junior was upfront at Atlanta, scoring six straight Top 10s and then three Top 5s in a row from 2005-06. Now that he’s with Hendrick, Junior should easily be able to once again flaunt his talent at the high speed Atlanta track — scoring big points for your team in the process.

frontstretch.com

Kobalt Tools 500 HOT! Sheet

Along with a new sponsor this season, Kasey Kahne seems to have a new outlook on things. He has yet to finish outside the top 10 in the three races so far. At Daytona he led a lap and ended up 7th. At California, it was another lap out front before finishing 9th. Then after a poor start at Vegas last week (37th) he weaved his way to a 6th place ending spot. He’s finished in the top 5 in half of his trips to Atlanta (4 of 8) so look for the good start to continue.

His teammate at Gillette Evernham Motorsports, Elliott Sadler, finds himself right below on this week’s HOT! Sheet. That’s due to three decent weeks in which he has an average finish of 14th place. In the first event he came from the rear all the way up to 6th. California brought a little slip up as he was scored a lap down in 24th. But the #19 Dodge team rebounded well with a solid top 10 start and a 12th place finish last week. Consider him a good sleeper pick.

It seems like everywhere you look nowadays, the face of Carl Edwards pops up. From advertisements, to his back-to-back wins the last couple of weeks. But unfortunately he has also popped up on NASCAR’s list of trouble. He was just docked 100 points and will lose his crew chief for the next six weeks after a violation at Las Vegas. We feel this is more of a reason to have him on your roster. Look for him to do what he can to make up those lost points.

You may want to print off our sheet this week and keep it as a novelty because the bottom two names probably won’t be there ever again. Four time champion Jeff Gordon finds himself at the base thanks to a lot of bad luck. He has led almost 100 laps so far this season but only has a 26th place average finish to show for it thanks to a pair of DNFs. At Daytona it was a suspension problem. Last week it was an accident that he called one of the hardest hits he’s ever taken. We can’t recommend benching him, but watch out.

His teammate, the two-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, hasn’t posted the DNFs, but has just about as bad of an average finish this season (19th). After gaining pole positions in each of the first two events, he managed only a 27th and then ran a solid 2nd place finish. Then last week at a place he has dominated, he never found the right setup and wound up two laps down in 29th. He has also been dominant at Atlanta, but he gets the ‘buyer beware’ label this week.

ProFantasySports.com

Junior expects strong showing this weekend
SceneDaily.com

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is back in the top 10 in the standings and eager for Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Earnhardt Jr. moved into the top 10 in the series standings after finishing second at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last Sunday and says that Atlanta is a place where he likes to race. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has 17 Cup starts at Atlanta, with one win, one pole, seven top-five and nine top-10 finishes there.

Now, he's looking to add to that tally with a team that is accustomed to performing well at this 1.5-mile track. The last time Hendrick Motorsports -- which fields Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Casey Mears this season -- failed to have at least one driver in the top-10 in an Atlanta race was Nov. 21, 1999. In the 16 Cup races since, the organization has had at least one driver finish in the top 10.

The combination of Earnhardt Jr. and Hendrick could reap benefits for both this weekend.

"My daddy always ran good there, so I focused on that fact," Earnhardt Jr. said of Atlanta. "... You could always count on him running up front at Atlanta. I think I liked the track before I ever raced on it. I assumed I would appreciate it and would like driving on it -- and I do. Plus [crew chief] Tony [Eury] Jr.'s style of setting up a car fits that track good. It has helped me a lot."

Eury Jr. said he expects this weekend to be a race where the teams pit often for tires, especially with the colder weather that is in the forecast. Still, he gets to head to the track with a team that regained some moment last week after being involved in an early crash at California and then had to stay overnight for a second day of rain-delayed racing despite the fact that the car was already 41 laps off the pace.

"That was a great day for us after what happened in California," he said of the Las Vegas race. "We needed a boost like that. Junior wanted to win that thing so bad for all of us, but we'll take it when we can move up like that [in points]. It was a good day."

Driver Handicaps: Atlanta
Racingone.com

This weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway for Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500. To help you make your fantasy racing picks, RacingOne brings you our weekly detailed look at some of the field for the 325-lap event.

Who's HOT at Atlanta
# Jimmie Johnson swept both events in 2007.
# Two-time winner Carl Edwards has finished seventh or better in six of his seven starts.
# Jeff Gordon leads all drivers with 14 top 10s on the 1.54-mile configuration.
# Tony Stewart has a 9.4 average finish in his last five starts.
# Atlanta is Dale Earnhardt Jr's best intermediate track on the circuit based on finishing average (12.2).

Keep an Eye on at Atlanta
# Ryan Newman has won seven of the last 10 poles and has scored four top 10s.
# Mark Martin leads all drivers with 22 top 10s at Atlanta.
# Jeff Burton has finished in the top five in his last two Atlanta starts.
# Although it was behind the wheel of a Chevrolet, Kyle Busch was fast in last year's test session at Atlanta with Joe Gibbs Racing.
# Kasey Kahne has finished in the top 10 in five of his eight Atlanta starts.
# Greg Biffle will be driving a car similar to his Las Vegas chassis, which finished third.

Track Performers
At 1.54-miles in length, Atlanta Motor Speedway stands out by itself in uniqueness and speed. NASCAR's fastest unrestricted track has seen 11 different winners in the 21 races that have been contested on the new configuration. Bobby Labonte leads all drivers with five wins with Joe Gibbs Racing in that span. Jeff Gordon (3), Jimmie Johnson (3), Carl Edwards (2) and Tony Stewart (2) are the only other multiple winners since 1997. Gordon leads all drivers with 13 top 10s while Stewart is tops in laps led at 790.

Atlanta Rookie Report
None of the four contending rookie of the year candidates have made a Sprint Cup start at AMS. Three, however, did participate in COT testing there in October last year. Regan Smith led the rookies during the two-day test with a fastest speed of 184.321 mph. Patrick Carpentier posted a best lap speed of 182.832 mph and Dario Franchitti's best was 182.075 mph. All three were quickest in the morning of the second day of testing. Sam Hornish Jr. didn't participate in the test but has made one Nationwide Series start at the 1.54-mile track. He started fifth and finished 15th in the race last year. Smith has made four starts at Atlanta, two each in the Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series. His best finish there (18th) came in last year's Truck race. Rookie Standings

Qualifying Tidbits
Ryan Newman knows his way around Atlanta Motor Speedway when it comes to qualifying. Newman is tied with Buddy Baker for the most poles at Atlanta, seven. He won six straight poles there from 2003 to 2005 and took his seventh pole position there at this race last year. In 12 starts, he's only started the race once outside the top 10, and that was because qualifying was rained out. Despite Newman's success in qualifying at AMS though, the qualifying speed record belongs to Geoffrey Bodine who set the record speed of 197.478 mph in November, 1997. More recently, Greg Biffle (Fall 2007) and Kasey Kahne (Spring 2006) have been the only drivers, besides Newman, to win poles at AMS since the 2002 race. Kahne won the 2006 race from the pole. The pole position has produced the most race winners of any starting position at AMS. Past Pole Winners | Starting Positions of Las Vegas Winners

RacingOne Staff Picks

Jeff Wackerlin: Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Junior looks to put all of Hendrick's early issue to rest and become the next Hendrick driver to conquer AMS.
Pete Pistone: Greg Biffle - Biffle was strong in testing at AMS in October and redeem himself from his 2007 disappointments at AMS.
Rachael West: Jeff Burton - Burton has a head of steam behind him heading into AMS this weekend and will capitalize on the team's success there last year to win his first race there.
Kym Opalenik: Tony Stewart - After hitting the wall twice last week, Stewart is ready to bounce back and climb the fence for the first time this season.

Additional Driver Notes - Ordered by Current Standings

Kyle Busch: Prior to his 27th-place finish in the fall last year at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Busch finished 12th in three consecutive races. The trio of 12th-place finishes follows a 43rd-place finish in his debut at the track in 2004 when he piloted the No. 84 for Hendrick Motorsports. Last year he finished 32nd and 20th, respectively, to drop his finishing average to 22.6. Last October, Busch had the overall fastest lap of the two-day Atlanta test with a lap of 187.095 mph in a Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet. This weekend will mark his first track start in a Toyota.

Ryan Newman: Newman holds the best starting average among all drivers at Atlanta Motor Speedway at 3.6 in 12 starts. His only start outside the top six came in the 2006 fall race when he started 17th. Last spring Newman rebounded to score his seventh pole at AMS. In the 2004 spring race, Newman posted his best finish, and fourth top 10, after he came home fifth. The last three races have marked the only events at Atlanta where Newman did not lead a lap. This weekend Newman will race the same car (PRS-519) that was tested at Lowe’s Motor Speedway last season.

Kasey Kahne: Since winning the 2006 spring race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kahne has gone on to post an average finish of 28.7 in his last three starts. Prior to finishing 35th in the 2005 fall race, Kahne posted three consecutive top fives at AMS.

Kevin Harvick: Since winning his first NASCAR Sprint Cup race in the 2001 spring race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Harvick has gone on to score one more top five, coming in that same season. His only other finishes inside the top 20 was a 19th-place finish in the 2003 spring race and a 15th in the 2007 fall race. Harvick's 25th-place finish in this event last year is one of seven finishes of 25th or worse in 14 starts at AMS. This weekend Harvick will race the same chassis (No. 238) that finished eighth at California two weeks ago.

Greg Biffle: Biffle has finished in the top five twice and the top 10 five times at Atlanta Motor Speedway. His last top five came in the 2006 fall race when he finished fifth. Overall, Biffle has an average finish of 15.9 and has led 287 laps. Despite leading 128 laps in the 2006 spring race, Biffle went on to take the checkered flag in 16th. That finish ended a four-race streak of top-10 finishes. Last spring's 41st-place finish marked Biffle's worst in 10 starts at AMS. This weekend Biffle will be driving a new car (chassis No. RK-603) that is very similar to the car he finished third with at Las Vegas.

Jeff Burton: Burton's best finish in seven career starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway with Richard Childress Racing came in this event last year when he finished fourth. The finish was his fourth top 10 with RCR at Atlanta, which includes a fifth-place finish last fall. Burton had a shot for another in the 2006 spring race when he was forced to pit while running fourth because of a vibration, relegating him to a 25th-place finish. Prior to RCR, Burton competed in 20 races at AMS, four with the Stavola Brothers and 16 with Roush Fenway Racing, capturing eight top 10s. This weekend Burton will pilot a new chassis (No. 236) in the Kobalt Tools 500.

Carl Edwards: Edwards became the first driver in NASCAR history to win his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Nationwide Series races on the same weekend in Atlanta in March 2005. He went on to sweep Atlanta that year in the Cup Series, becoming the sixth of seven drivers to sweep Atlanta since the track opened in 1960. In the 2006 spring race Edwards finished 40th after an early pit-road collision caused heavy damage to his car. The finish is his only outside the top seven at AMS. This weekend the No. 99 team is bringing a brand new chassis (No. RK-558) to the track.

Martin Truex Jr: Truex Jr's only top 10 at Atlanta Motor Speedway came in this event last year when he finished eighth. Four of his six starts resulted in finishes of 31st or worse when crashes and one mechanical failure took him out of contention. Last fall he led his first laps at AMS for a total of 135 up until a crash on lap 322 of 329.

Elliott Sadler: Sadler has competed in 18 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and has finished in the top 10 three times. All of his top 10s came with Robert Yates Racing. Sadler has made three starts with his current team, Gillett-Evernham Motorsports, and has posted an average finish of 17.7. This weekend he will be piloting the same chassis (No. 124) that finished 40th at Martinsville last fall.

Dale Earnhardt Jr: Earnhardt Jr. ended a streak of three consecutive top fives at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a 14th and 25th-place finish in 2007. His best finish, and one of nine top 10s, was a win in the 2004 spring race. This weekend will mark Earnhardt Jr's first track start with Hendrick Motorsports and he will return in the same car (chassis No. 483) that he tested at AMS last fall. The test session marked Junior's first official outing with Hendrick Motorsports after signing with the team in June.

Tony Stewart: Stewart has finished in the top 10 in 11 of the last 13 events at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The top 10s, which include seven top fives and two wins, are his only at the 1.54-mile oval. Stewart, who finished second in this event last year, will be driving the same car (chassis No. 203) that finished seventh at California.

Kurt Busch: Busch captured his first career win on a track one mile or more in length at Atlanta Motor Speedway back in the 2002 rain-shortened event. In the 2004 fall race, the championship tightened after Busch exited the race only 51 laps in when the engine in his No. 97 Ford let go. Busch was credited with his worst finish at AMS (42nd) and second DNF in 14 starts. This weekend will mark Busch's fifth track start with Penske Racing. Last fall he captured his first top 10 with the team with an eighth-place finish. Busch will debut a new chassis (No. PSC-554) in the Kobalt Tools 500. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson is coming off his third career win at Atlana Motor Speedway after sweeping the season in 2007. In the 2005 fall race, Johnson battled an ill-handling car to finish 16th. The finish was his only outside the top 10 in the last nine events. Johnson's first win came in the 2004 fall race after leading 17 laps. The next race, in the spring of 2005, he led 156 laps en route to a runner-up finish. Johnson continued his success at AMS in 2006 by finishing sixth and second, respectively. This weekend's chassis (No. 48480) is a brand new car, with the backup being the chassis that finished second at California.

Bobby Labonte: Six of Labonte's 21 career wins have come at Atlanta Motor Speedway with Joe Gibbs Racing. His last win came in the 2003 spring race and his last of 13 top 10s came later that year in the fall, when he finished fifth. The 2006 spring race marked Labonte's first track start with Petty Enterprises. In that event Labonte led 13 laps before losing an engine, resulting in a 43rd-place finish. In the last two races he has finished 12th, 16th and 41st, respectively.

Matt Kenseth: Kenseth has competed in 16 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway, capturing six top fives and nine top-10 finishes. Last year in this event, Kenseth scored his best finish at AMS in third. Kenseth, who has posted an average finish of 3.7 in the last three Atlanta races , will be racing a new chassis (No. RK-564) in the Kobalt Tools 500.

Mark Martin: Martin leads all active drivers with 22 top 10s at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Martin's last of two victories at AMS came in the 1994 fall event, and all but six of his 44 track starts have come with Roush Fenway Racing. His last two starts at Atlanta driving the U.S. Army Chevrolet have resulted in an average finish of 26.5.

Reed Sorenson: Last Fall Sorenson recorded his career-best Sprint Cup finish, in third, at his hometrack - Atlanta Motor Speedway. Overall, Sorenson has made five starts at AMS, posting three top 10s and an average finish of 18.4.

Denny Hamlin: Hamlin's best finish in five Sprint Cup starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway came in the 2006 fall race when he came home eighth. In the 2006 spring event, Hamlin started seventh and led 16 laps before handling and pit road issues forced him to his worst finish, in 31st. Last spring he finished 19th for the second time at AMS. This weekend Hamlin will make his Atlanta debut in a Toyota and chassis No. 189.

Jeff Gordon: Jeff Gordon has recorded four wins in 31 career starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He is also first in laps led among active drivers at the track with 1,050. Gordon, who last won at Atlanta in the fall of 2003, has posted an average finish of 6.2 in his last five starts at the track. In the 2005 spring race, Gordon posted his first DNF since 1999 after a lap two accident.

Clint Bowyer: Bowyer lowered his finishing average at Atlanta Motor Speedway from 26.0 to 16.0 after finishing sixth in both races in 2007. This weekend Bowyer will be racing the same car (chassis No. 237) that finished 19th two weeks ago at California Speedway.

Juan Pablo Montoya: Montoya captured his first of three career Sprint Cup top fives last spring at Atlanta Motor Speedway after finishing fifth. In the fall race, Montoya blew a tire early and settled for a 34th-place finish.

Paul Menard: Atlanta Motor Speedway is the site of Menard's only top 10 in 42 races in the Sprint Cup Series. His seventh-place finish came in his first of seven starts at AMS.

Jamie McMurray: McMurray has posted an average finish of 23.5 in his four races with Roush Fenway Racing McMurray at Atlanta Motor Speedway. All three of his top 10s at the track have come with Chip Ganassi racing. This weekend he will be making his 12 start at AMS driving the same car (chassis No. RK-462) that finished ninth at Martinsville last spring.

Casey Mears: Mears has struggled in his 10 starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway with an average finishing position of 22.7. His best finish came last fall, in his second track start with Hendrick Motorsports, when he finished 12th. This weekend Mears will be debuting a new chassis (No. 468) in the Kobalt Tools 500.

Coming off disappointing 2007, Dodge Boys off to strong start in '08
March 6, 2008

Shaking off the disappointments of 2007, Dodge is off to a strong start this year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series.

After the first three races, the Dodge Boys have a win (by Ryan Newman) in the Daytona 500 and head into Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway with three Charger drivers in the top 10 in points and five in the top 15.

Newman is second in the standings, while Kasey Kahne is third. Kahne, considered one of the brightest young stars in NASCAR, won six races and finished eighth in the points in 2006. Last year was a disaster for Kahne and the entire Gillette Evernham Motorsports team as they went without a win and failed to get any of their three cars into the Chase for the championship.

Kahne finished a very disappointing 19th in the standings.

George Gillette, who became majority owner of the GEM team midway through season, is pleased by what he has seen from all the Dodge teams so far in 2008.

``A really, really good start,'' he said earlier this week. ``I think it's attributable to some really identifiable kinds of things, one of which is the tremendous support we are getting from Dodge. There really has been a change in the attitude and the relationship.''

He pointed to new Chrysler boss Bob Nardelli showing up at Daytona last month with a strong message of support for the Dodge teams.

``You felt it the morning of (the) Daytona (500) when Bob asked us all to come sit with him an hour before the race,'' Gillette said. ``The coup de gras was to offer to us a $1 million bonus if any one of the teams won the Daytona 500.

``Of course, (team owner) Roger Penske did and we were all thrilled for him. To have six Dodges in the top-eight finishers at Daytona, it was exciting. It really showed a new commitment on Dodge's part. This isn't just a Dodge commercial - I don't want to sound that way - it really is accurate and having (arrived) new to this sport and saw the end of last year and the beginning of this year - there really is a difference.''

As for his own team, which also has Elliott Sadler ninth in the points, Gillette said, ``I am very thrilled. The drivers are driving very well, and they're driving cautiously. You take a look at Kasey's finishes - three top-10 finishes - and, frankly, where he finished was about the worst that he could have finished.''

BUSY WEEK: Following a disappointing 37th-place finish Sunday in Las Vegas - his worst performance of the season - David Reutimann began a very busy week.

He flew to Arizona on Tuesday to take part in the Sprint Cup test at Phoenix International Raceway, then boarded another plane for a one-day road course training session Wednesday at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.

The road course workout was set up by Reutimann's Nationwide Series crew chief Jerry Baxter to help the Michael Waltrip Racing driver improve his road racing skills.

Reutimann got behind the wheel of a late-model stock car provided by ShiftIntoGear, Inc., a driver coaching school run by ace road racer Chris Cook. Cook has helped train numerous NASCAR drivers, including Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, Elliott Sadler and Dale Jarrett for the rigors of turning left and right.

Last year, Reutimann did finish 12th, ninth and 25th in the Nationwide road races in Mexico City, Montreal and Watkins Glen. But Waltrip hired road racing veteran P.J. Jones to run the Cup road races at Sonoma and Watkins Glen in the No. 00 Toyota.

``I don't have a lot of road course experience,'' Reutimann said before heading to Sonoma. ``It will also help me when I go back out to Infineon with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.''

With all the travel, including the rain-extended trip to Fontana, Calif., the week before Las Vegas, Reutimann expected to have less than 10 hours at home before heading for Atlanta on Thursday evening.

``I haven't been home for almost two weeks,'' Reutimann said. ``I can't wait to go home. I haven't seen my daughter and I really miss her. It's tough.''

GRASS ROOTS: Besides racing full time in the Cup series, veteran Ken Schrader is gearing up for the 2008 Camping World East Series by expanding his team to two cars.

Jamie Hayes and former motorcycle star Ricky Carmichael will drive for Ken Schrader Racing full-time in 2008.

Hayes will be returning to the team after an eighth-place finish in the 2007 series standings.

``I'm looking forward to getting back in the seat and trying to build on our 2007 season,'' Hayes said. ``Now that I have been to all of the tracks and have the experience of racing there, I am excited about the possibilities for 2008.''

Carmichael, who won 10 consecutive AMA national championships, is taking on his first full-time four-wheel ride.

``Everyone here is excited, and getting the chance to really focus on learning these cars makes me look forward to getting the season started,'' Carmichael said.

STAT OF THE WEEK: In Jimmie Johnson's six full seasons in Cup he has gone into the fourth race of the season lower than 14th in the points just once. That was in 2004, when he came to Atlanta 19th. Johnson went on to finish second in the points that season.

Atlanta has been a great track for the two-time reigning Cup champion. Johnson has three wins on the 1.5-mile oval and, in 2002 and 2004, the only other years he wasn't in the top five in points going into the fourth race, he got back on track at Atlanta with finishes of third and fourth, respectively.

Kobalt Tools 500 Odds and Predictions
by Christopher G. Shepard

Carl Edwards will attempt to win his third Sprint Cup race in a row while Joe Gibbs Racing, Tony Stewart and Home Depot will commemorate 10 years together as primary sponsor of the black-and-orange No. 20 car this weekend for the Atlanta-based company as NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stops at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Kobalt Tools 500.

At AMS this weekend chances are good that fans will have another day of racing in the rain. But if rain holds off for any length of time they are likely to see some of the most exciting racing that NASCAR has to offer. Since the inception of restrictor plates in 1988 the "Fastest" sobriquet has been applied to Atlanta's 1.54-mile track. With 24-degree banks on the turns and five-degree flat straightaways, AMS is built for speed.

Gamblers should note that at AMS victories by "marquee" drivers are the norm rather than the exception. There have been 97 Cup races and 61 have been won by future or past Cup champions. Last year Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports won both races at AMS but, as we learned last weekend at Las Vegas, past performance is not indicative of future results.

Who will win the Kobalt Tools 500?

Sprint Cup teams have yet to race the Car of Today (CoT) on tracks where they have not been tested. Last fall teams had two days of testing on the 1.5-mile oval so the drivers have a good idea what they'll face on Sunday.

One thing that is plainly obvious to fans of NASCAR is that drivers of the CoT are still having difficulty handling the new design and engineering. Rousch Fenway Racing seems to have done the best job of making adjustments from last year's dismal showing in CoT races to this year; last week RFR drivers also finished third (Biffle) and seventh (Ragan).

In fact, Carl Edwards' second win in a row hammers home the fact that RFR knows not only how to handle the CoT, but how to manage the race by gradually gaining ground during the race and fine-tuning adjustments as the track changes. Teammates Edwards and Matt Kenseth traded positions for first during the race until Jeff Gordon knocked Kenseth out of the race after restart coming of caution with five laps to go in the race.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is quickly becoming the most productive driver in the HMS stable. He's back in the Top 10 in Sprint Cup standings thanks to his second place finish at LSVM last weekend. Junior has always said he loves racing at Atlanta and his results back him up; in 17 Cup starts at AMS Junior has recorded one win, one pole, seven top five and nine top 10 finishes. Certainly, Junior is driving his HMS car better than Mears, Gordon and Johnson and considering that the last time HMS failed to have at least one driver in the top 10 at AMS was in November 1999.

Pick! Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (15/2)

Long Odds Value Pick

Juan Pablo Montoya finished in the top 20 last weekend but what is much more impressive is that he rallied from almost 2-laps back at the mid-point of the UAW 400 and finished 19th on the lead lap in a back-up car. Considering that two of Montoya's top-five finishes last year were at Atlanta and Texas and that Montoya had the fastest recorded time at Phoenix International Raceway in testing this Tuesday at 131.459 mph AMS is as good a place as any for JPM to win. This week look for Montoya driving the No. 42 Big Red Dodge for the first time this season.

Pick! Juan Pablo Montoya (50/1)

Square Tire Pick

Kyle Busch (+1.25)/Jeff Gordon (-1.55)

Jeff Gordon is a name that even casual fans of the sport will recognize while the younger Busch might be less familiar to those who seek victory lap winners. I think this has as much to do with Gordon being this large a favorite over Sprint Cup points leader Kyle Busch (thanks to penalties by NASCAR against Edwards after LVMS race). Indeed Busch has had a great year to date posting two fourth place finishes at Daytona and California and an 11th place at LVMS. Gordon, meanwhile, has two DNFs in three races and after last weekend's crash into the wall I love Kyle Busch to finish Atlanta ahead of Gordon.

Pick! Busch (+1.25)

*Kobalt Tools 500 Odds- Sun, Mar 9th

Bobby Labonte 100/1
Brian Vickers 100/1
Carl Edwards 11/2
Casey Mears 40/1
Clint Bowyer 30/1
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 15/2
Dale Jarrett 125/1
Dario Franchitti 100/1
Dave Blaney 100/1
David Gilliland 150/1
David Ragan 125/1
David Reutimann 80/1
Denny Hamlin 18/1
Elliott Sadler 65/1
Greg Biffle 12/1
J.J. Yeley 100/1
Jamie McMurray 60/1
Jeff Burton 28/1
Jeff Gordon 13/2
Jeremy Mayfield 150/1
Jimmie Johnson 11/2
Joe Nemechek 150/1
John Andretti 200/1
Juan Pablo Montoya 50/1
Kasey Kahne 16/1
Ken Schrader 200/1
Kevin Harvick 28/1
Kurt Busch 20/1
Kyle Busch 8/1
Kyle Petty 200/1
Mark Martin 30/1
Martin Truex Jr. 22/1
Matt Kenseth 8/1
Michael Waltrip 100/1
Mike Skinner 100/1
Patrick Carpentier 100/1
Paul Menard 150/1
Reed Sorenson 50/1
Regan Smith 150/1
Robby Gordon 80/1
Ryan Newman 30/1
Sam Hornish Jr. 100/1
Scott Riggs 100/1
Tony Stewart 17/2
Travis Kvapil 125/1
Field (Any Other Driver) 40/1

*Odds courtesy of Bodog

docsports.com