Gordon's 'evil' car still wins pole in Atlanta
Hampton, GA (Sports Network) - Despite a lack of grip, Jeff Gordon still managed to win the pole for Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The No.24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver circled the fast 1.54-mile speedway in 29.927 seconds (185.251 m.p.h.).
The pole victory was Gordon's first of the season and 64th of his Sprint Cup career. He is just six pole wins behind Cale Yarborough for third all-time.
"I gotta tell you this thing is evil...It is so evil...tonight we have grip in the track, so you can get around some of that," said Gordon. "It feels like you are on 20-lap old tires. It's going to be a handful (on Sunday)."
Starting alongside Gordon will be teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., who posted a second-best time of 29.990 seconds.
Martin Truex Jr. (30.162) and last week's winner Carl Edwards (30.246) will make up row two.
Other drivers of interest and their starting positions: Bobby Labonte (fifth), Kyle Busch (sixth), Kevin Harvick (eighth), Kasey Kahne (ninth), Jimmie Johnson (11th), Ryan Newman (12th), Juan Pablo Montoya (19th) and Tony Stewart (32nd).
The reason people flock to the Atlanta Motor Speedway is for the close racing and more specifically the close finishes.
Who could possibly forget the 2005 finish when Edwards edged out Johnson on the last lap to beat him by 0.028 seconds? Or 2001 when a young Harvick barely beat Gordon in a photo finish by 0.006 seconds (fourth closest in history)? Or Dale Earnhardt's 0.010-second win over Bobby Labonte in 2000?
Last year, Johnson squeezed by Stewart with two laps to go and went on to win the Kobalt Tools 500.
Johnson was more than a second behind Stewart when a debris caution with 16 laps to go set up the final run to the finish. The leaders came in for fresh rubber and a splash of fuel to guarantee they could reach the finish. Stewart won the race off pit road with Matt Kenseth, Johnson and Montoya just behind.
Stewart got a great jump and left a lapped car between himself and second place. But Johnson got around both Kenseth and the lapped car and still had eight laps to run down the leader.
Johnson was driving at the bottom of the track and closing on Stewart. Six laps to go and he was just two lengths back. They were side-by-side with five to go, but Stewart fought him off. Johnson tried it again on lap 323 (of 325) and squeezed Stewart into the wall ever so slightly. Stewart regained control, but he lost all his momentum.
Johnson took off and Stewart, now with a damaged right-side fender, settled into the second spot. He had nothing for Johnson. The two-time defending series champion took the checkered flag without challenge.
On Sunday the green flag is scheduled to drop at 2 p.m. (et).
Kobalt Tools 500: Back Edwards Again? No!
by: Brian Gabrielle
Last Week: We nailed our straight-up bet for the second week in a row, thanks to Carl Edwards going back-to-back at Fontana and Vegas. That gave us a win on a +1000 bet, which felt mighty good. What didn't feel so good was watching Kyle Busch go from a race leader to the 11th-place finisher in the span of a couple dozen late laps, and watching his teammate, Denny Hamlin, zip past him near the end. We had Shrub over Hamlin in a head-to-head, and Hamlin finished ninth. Doh. Anyway, it was still a winning week, but it could've been better. For the week, we managed a profit of 0.33 units on 1.5 units wagered, a return of 22%. For the season, that's three-for-three in winning weeks, and we stand at a profit of 2.37 units on 4.5 units wagered, a return of 52.7%. (Note that if you'd eschewed the relatively conservative betting pattern we outline below, and simply bet one unit per wager we recommend, last week you'd have profited seven units on four units wagered, a return of 175%; for the season, that would put you at a profit of 10.71 units on 12 units wagered, a return of 89.3%. But there's clearly a bit more risk associated with that strategy.)
Take Kyle Busch (+925), 1/6th unit. This week we head to Atlanta Motor Speedway, which along with its sister tracks in Charlotte and Fort Worth is one of the fastest courses in NASCAR. The Car of Tomorrow has never run a race at a venue this fast, so unfortunately much of our historical data has to fly out the window; we're just now sure how the CoT will do when pushed to such extreme limits. Will it be impossible to run side-by-side or pass? So far the CoT has passed all tests put before it, but Sunday will represent the last and probably biggest. I think Kyle Busch (a.k.a. Shrub) will be tough to beat on Sunday. When the CoT was tested here last fall, Busch was the fastest guy in two sessions, second-fastest in one session and third-fastest in another. Granted, he was driving a Chevy and not a Toyota, but driver comfort counts for something, and also at this point you'd have to say switching from a GM to a Toyota engine can only be considered a positive. Busch looked like he'd threaten to win at Vegas last week before the handling went away on his car; he needs to show he can adjust late in the race along with crew chief Steve Addington, but I give the No. 18 a real chance to crack Victory Lane for the first time on behalf of Toyota.
Take Tony Stewart (+1136), 1/6th unit. And if it's not Busch, maybe it'll be his teammate Stewart. Smoke was off to a great start after the season's first two events, and was well inside the top 10 in Vegas when he blew a right-front tire and smashed the wall to finish 43rd. That shouldn't stop you from backing him, and frankly these odds are really favorable for a guy this good. After all, Smoke has finished inside the top 10 at Atlanta in 10 of the last 12 races held there. Again, the Toyota horsepower should be an advantage. Those tempted to go with back-to-back race-winner Carl Edwards (+500) (whom I backed in each of the last two events) would probably be better served to use that money on Stewart. Edwards will be without crew chief Bob Osbourne for the next six races, which is a blow, and I'm also wary of believing a driver can three-peat these days in NASCAR. It seems as though something always happens. I expect to see Edwards contend for a while, but I think he'll fall short of his third straight win.
Take Greg Biffle (+1361), 1/6th unit. I can't say the same for Edwards's Roush teammate, Greg Biffle. The Biff was really fast at Fontana for a while before his car turned sour, and he stayed near the front all day in Vegas, and finished third. The Atlanta/Charlotte/Texas group of tracks favors Biffle's driving style: he loves loose racecars, loves being able to slide hard out of the corner to keep his momentum rolling, and early indication is that's how the CoT stays fast, too. I think this is a highly favorable price for Biffle, and while he's never won a race in Atlanta, remember that he has won in similarly configured Texas.
Spreadexperts.com
Happy Hour practices for the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway is over after being delayed [only one session was run] by snow, the fastest:
#16-Biffle 184.229
#99-Edwards 184.064
#07-Bowyer 183.874
#12-Newman 183.127
#9-Kahne 182.880
slowest: #01-Smith 174.153 and #45-Petty 174.416
most laps run: #31-Burton 72; #12-Newman 69
SPEED's best 10 consecutive lap average:
#48-Johnson 178.378
#99-Edwards 176.899
#18-Busch 176.617
Jayski.com
Kenseth will put Roush Fenway Racing back in Victory Lane
ESPN.com
We may be only three weeks into the season, but already it's rife with drama. A potential 100-point penalty loomed for Robby Gordon, and another one took Carl Edwards out of the points lead.
Jacques Villeneuve and A.J. Allmendinger have gotten NASCAR's version of a bad date. Don't call us, we'll call you. They've been told to take it easy in favor of veterans Mike Skinner and Johnny Benson, at least for the time being. Leave it to the experienced drivers to try to get those cars into the field to pick up some much-needed owners' points.
The Hendrick dominance, much like the old gray mare, just ain't what it used to be. But I don't think we're going to have to worry about Hendrick's dropping off the face of the NASCAR world quite yet. Although Casey Mears is flirting with the wrong side of the top-35 rule right now, this week the series heads to the track where Jimmie Johnson swept last year. The only problem with that is that there have been 97 Cup Series races at Atlanta and nobody ever has won three in a row. We're not in the elimination process quite yet, so we'll leave Johnson in the running … but I don't like his chances to survive to the bottom of this column.
Well, now let's get eliminating. Forty-eight drivers will show up at Atlanta this weekend, 43 will strap in on Sunday, but only one will unstrap in Victory Lane. It's my job to pick a winner, but I'm going to do it by telling you why 47 of those drivers just can't get it done. This is The Eliminator.
Trivia Break!!! Only one driver has managed to finish in the top 10 in all three races so far this season. Who?
Let's get rid of a significant portion of the field right off the top. The past nine winners at Atlanta finished no worse than 14th in the previous race at California … or Fontana … or Auto Club Speedway, depending on your mood. Furthermore, the past six winners were all in the top nine at California, but let's hold it off to 14 for now. That eliminates, well, everybody outside the top 14 two weeks ago, leaving us with, what else, 14.
Nobody has won three in a row at Atlanta in the track's long history, so we've seen a lot of different winners. In the past nine spring races at Atlanta, as a matter of fact, there have been nine different winners. That will take out six more drivers -- including Jeff Gordon, Johnson and Edwards -- and there are just eight left in the running.
The past three races at Atlanta have been won by a driver who finished in the top five the previous time the series went to Atlanta. So, let's take out six drivers who are lacking the momentum down South, much like the Falcons. That takes out drivers such as Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman.
Trivia Break!!! Kasey Kahne -- he of the zero wins last year -- is the only driver to record a top-10 finish in each race this season.
Finally, the past 10 Cup Series race winners at Atlanta had at least a third-place finish at the track previously. Jeff Burton, despite his 27 starts at Atlanta, has never finished better than fourth.
Roush Fenway Racing has won two straight. Look for that team to make it three this week, but not because of Edwards. Give me Matt Kenseth at Atlanta because the numbers don't lie.
Eliminator breakdown
1. Last nine Atlanta winners finished at least 14th in the previous California race (34 drivers eliminated, 14 remaining).
Drivers eliminated: John Andretti, Johnny Benson, Greg Biffle, Dave Blaney, Clint Bowyer, Patrick Carpentier, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bill Elliott, Dario Franchitti, David Gilliland, Robby Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Sam Hornish Jr., Dale Jarrett, Travis Kvapil, Bobby Labonte, Burney Lamar, Mark Martin, Jeremy Mayfield, Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears, Paul Menard, Juan Pablo Montoya, Joe Nemechek, Kyle Petty, David Reutimann, Scott Riggs, Elliott Sadler, Ken Schrader, Mike Skinner, Regan Smith, Reed Sorenson, Michael Waltrip, J.J. Yeley.
2. There have been nine different winners in the past nine Atlanta spring races (six drivers eliminated, eight remaining).
Drivers eliminated: Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart.
3. The past three Atlanta winners finished in the top five in the last Atlanta race (six drivers eliminated, two remaining).
Drivers eliminated: Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, David Ragan, Martin Truex Jr., Brian Vickers.
4. The past 10 Atlanta winners had a previous top-3 finish at the track (one driver eliminated, one remaining).
Driver eliminated: Jeff Burton
And your winner is: Matt Kenseth.
Kobalt Tools 500
Carl Edwards may have won back-to-back races on the Sprint Cup Series, but he’ll be hoping for a different finish this weekend at Atlanta than he had last weekend at Las Vegas. Edwards took the checkered flag in last weekend’s UAW-Dodge 400, but his car was cited for violations in the post-race inspection.
Edwards’ No. 99 car was found with the cover off the oil tank, which is illegal and caused NASCAR to enforce a 100-point penalty on him. The big points hit dropped Edwards from the top of the points standings all the way down to seventh. Edwards can quickly bounce back with a third straight victory at Atlanta and he has had success on the track before. Back in 2005, Edwards swept both races at Atlanta.
Last year at Atlanta Jimmie Johnson won both the Kobalt Tools 500 and the Pep Boys Auto 500. That was Johnson’s third career win at Atlanta, with his other win coming back in 2004.
Other former multiple winners at Atlanta include Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. Gordon, a three-time winner at Atlanta, posted his last win in 2003 and also came first in 1999 and 1998. Stewart, who took a hard hit into the wall in Vegas last weekend, has two career wins in Atlanta, last winning there in 2006.
Other recent winners at Atlanta include Kasey Kahne in 2006, Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2004 and Kurt Busch in 2002.
The green flag will drop at 1:30 pm ET on Sunday, with FOX handling the coverage.
Kobalt Tools 500 PostQ
After the point’s penalty and the controversy surrounding Carl Edwards’ win at Las Vegas many are wondering how he will respond this weekend. So far all signs point to Edwards proving that the last two races, both wins, are not a fluke. He is rated as the No. 1 driver on the Kobalt Tools 500 PostQ forecast after qualifying into the 4th position, ranking 4th on the Speed chart, and ranking 4th in the Driver Rating category. Edwards has been outstanding on the high-banked superspeedways in is career ad with back-to-back wins there should be little doubt he will be running up front this Sunday.
It has been a struggle for Jimmie Johnson so far this season. In three races he has a pair of finishes wrapped around a 2nd place run. Johnson should rebound this weekend at a track in which he has eight top 5s in 13 career starts including three wins. He also won both races at Atlanta Motor Speedway last season which bodes well for the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet. Johnson will not be down for long – except him to have a solid performance this weekend.
It has been quite a while since Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has been a mainstay atop the PostQ forecast. He looks to be working his way into his new team with Hendrick Motorsports after posting a pair of top 10 finishes in the first three races of the season including a 2nd place finish last time out in Las Vegas. Junior is sure to get to victory lane at some point this season and with the prowess of Hendrick on the high-bank superspeedways it could come this weekend. He has looked good through qualifying and the practice sessions sitting on the outside of the front row to start the race while ranking 3rd on the Speed chart. Count Junior as a contender for this race.
Although his Hendrick teammates are ‘must haves’ for this race do not look for Casey Mears to have a fun time in Atlanta. Mears has just three finishes in the top 20 in 10 career starts with zero top 10s as he averages a 23rd place finish. He will start from the 39th position, which does not bode well for the #5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet, and was not that much better during the practice sessions as he sits 24th on the Speed chart. It would be a good move to avoid Mears.
A driver that has been having a solid start to the season could hit a hiccup this weekend as Kurt Busch has been having a rough time in Atlanta. Busch qualified in the 29th position but his practice speeds have to be a concern for the #2 Miller Lite Dodge team. Busch has been among the slowest cars sitting just 34th on the Speed chart while ranking 38th in the final practice session on Saturday. Busch has shown that he can race his way to the front but this could be the week where he takes a mulligan.
ProFantasySports.com
I don't think Stewart will be doing a Goodyear commercial anytime soon. ;D
Busch puts Toyota in Victory Lane
Hampton, GA (Sports Network) - Kyle Busch won Sunday afternoon's Kobalt Tools 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway giving Toyota its first-ever Sprint Cup victory. It is the first win for a foreign manufacturer since Al Keller took a Jaguar to Victory Lane in 1954. The No.18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver crossed the finish line 2.066 seconds ahead of Tony Stewart.
The victory was Busch's first of the season and fifth of his Sprint Cup career.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon completed the top-five.
Other drivers of note and their finishing positions: Kevin Harvick (7th), Matt Kenseth (8th), Jeff Burton (11th), Bobby Labonte (12th), Jimmie Johnson (13th) and Ryan Newman (14th).
"It was an awesome piece by Joe Gibbs Racing, just unbelievable to be able to run like that," said Busch. "Carl (Edwards) had a great car too, but he had some issues and to run 500 miles you can't have any."
Edwards was dominating until 53 laps to go when his engine blew up. From there it was all Busch to the checkered flag.
Gordon won the pole, but Earnhardt Jr. sped past him to lead the first lap and many more. It seemed that most people early on were struggling with a loose race car, but "Junior's" Chevrolet was handling very well and he built a six- second lead on Gordon and third place Kyle Busch by lap 15. Gordon continued to fade (too tight), slipping to fifth at lap 23.
Through 25 green-flag laps and Earnhardt Jr. began to lose some of his lead to Busch, but Earnhardt Jr. was still putting up fast laps and just 27 cars remained on the lead lap after 30 times around the 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway. A debris caution on lap 38 was the only thing that could slow the No.88 Chevy. Just 22 drivers remained on the lead lap at that point and such names as Matt Kenseth, Casey Mears and Jamie McMurray were a lap down already.
They restarted on lap 41 and Earnhardt Jr. and Busch quickly built a big lead on the rest of the field. But even the always fast No.18 Toyota couldn't keep up with Junior and after five green flag laps he fell over one second behind. Busch's car began to come back to him and he slowly reeled Junior in. He was right on his bumper by lap 59 and on the following lap slid underneath the No.88 for his first lead of the day.
Busch was flying now and he put one second on Earnhardt Jr. in just a couple of laps. And Edwards was closing on the No.88 Chevy passing him on lap 70.
Meanwhile, Busch was starting to lap some pretty good cars. He put Mark Martin one lap down on lap 74 and two laps later Kasey Kahne found himself a lap down. Only five cars were within 10 seconds of Busch - Earnhardt Jr., Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer. Lap 80 and only 18 cars remained on the lead lap.
A second debris caution flag slowed the field and sent everyone down pit road for some well-needed and overdue adjustments.
After the caution, Busch repeated his domination, but this time his chaser was JGR teammate Hamlin as the No.11 got around Earnhardt Jr. on the restart. With Stewart in ninth, it was looking pretty good for the Joe Gibbs Racing stable. There were also three Richard Childress Racing cars in the top-10.
But no one was the equal of Busch, at least through the first 100 laps. And no one was given the Las Vegas native the trophy, particularly after yesterday's Nationwide Series race where Busch led 153 laps but a shock failure sent him careening into the outside wall with just 25 laps to go. Earnhardt Jr.'s car began to "come in." He passed Hamlin and began to close on Busch.
A Kasey Kahne spin on lap 113 brought out caution flag No.3 and sent the field back down pit lane, trying to make adjustments that would allow them to compete with Busch and Earnhardt Jr.
Behind the lead pair was Harvick, Bowyer, Gordon, Stewart and Jimmie Johnson made his first appearance in the top-10. As with the previous two restarts, Busch would get off to a great lead (3.5 seconds at lap 130).
This time Earnhardt Jr. was having some kind of handling problem and both Harvick and Bowyer flew around him for second and third place, respectively. The No.88 continued to drop through the top-10 as first Stewart and then Gordon got around him.
As they hit the 145-lap mark, Bowyer was the fastest car on the track, in second place and slowly closing on Busch. By lap 148 the gap was under one second. Then Busch slid into the wall and radioed to his crew that he had done some rear end damage. Bowyer was now right on his rear bumper and on lap 151 ducked to the bottom of the track to take the lead, just the third driver to lead the race under a green flag. Bowyer's lead was now more than two seconds as Busch couldn't keep up.
Around lap 165 green-flag pit stops began and the only change was to Martin Truex Jr. who had to make a second stop putting him in the large group of one- lap-down cars.
Bowyer and Busch still showed the way with Harvick, Hamlin and Edwards rounding out the top-five. Hamlin came in on lap 180 claiming he had a right- side tire problem and he too joined the one-lap down group leaving just 15 cars on the lead lap. On lap 185 Johnson also got lapped by Bowyer.
One interesting name that popped into the top-10 was Kenseth. Only 50 laps earlier, he had been in danger of going two laps down to the leaders and now he was in contention for a win.
Bowyer was still flying, four seconds ahead of Busch and six second in front of Edwards. More cars got lapped, Juan Pablo Montoya on lap 193, Biffle on lap 195 and Brian Vickers on lap 197. Just 11 cars remained on the lead lap.
Lap 198 and a debris caution flag sent the leader in for fuel and tires. Bowyer wanted no changes to his Chevrolet and who could blame him.
On the restart Busch went sailing around the outside of Bowyer for the lead. Maybe Bowyer should have made adjustments as on lap 210 Edwards went around the outside of Bowyer for second place. The No.99 Ford was running Busch down and closed in on the No.18 Toyota. An Elliott Sadler crash caused caution flag No.5 on lap 220 just as Edwards was making a move around Busch, to put a halt in the action. A fast stop by the No.24 Hendrick Motorsports crew (under 13 seconds) put Gordon in second place behind Busch. Edwards came out sixth after a missed lug nut.
On lap 231 Sadler spun again and this caution flag gave the "Lucky Dog Pass" to Johnson. The leaders stayed out, but from fifth place on back they pitted.
Edwards, with new tires, flew through the field taking second from Gordon on lap 237. Two laps later he went around the outside of Busch for the lead and just 85 laps to go to the checkered flag. The newer tires were doing their job and Edwards' lead was three seconds with 80 laps to go. The gap was five seconds with 75 laps remaining.
Could Edwards win his third race in a row?
On lap 261 Sadler spun for the third time and this time he hit the inside wall ending his day. With 64 laps to go, no one could likely reach the checkered flag yet, but this would probably be the only final stop that teams could make major adjustments. Edwards, Busch and Earnhardt Jr. won the race off pit road.
One lap after the restart, Busch edged past Edwards at the start/finish line, but the No.99 fought back and retook the lead. He kept charging and built the lead to two seconds with 53 laps remaining. But suddenly massive smoke was coming out the back of his car and he was forced to pit, his race over with engine problems.
"That was a race-winning car, that's too bad," said Edwards. "I was just cruising around."
Busch inherited the lead and a one and-a-half second gap on Earnhardt Jr. but Edwards had laid oil on the track and NASCAR put out the yellow flag to clean it up.
That made pit strategy easy - take four tires and fuel and be able to go the finish line. Busch won the race off pit lane, followed by Stewart, Biffle, Earnhardt Jr. and Gordon.
The green flag dropped with 37 laps to go. Busch took off like he was shot out of a cannon. On lap 291 he ran his fastest lap of the race and he expanded the lead to more than two seconds. Thirty laps to go and the margin was three seconds. Busch maintained the margin at three seconds as the field passed the 300-lap mark.
From there he cruised to his second win of the weekend (He won the Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday night). He was also way ahead in the Nationwide Series race before a crash ended his chance at a three-race weekend sweep. He led a total of 365 laps over the weekend (Craftsman - 39, Nationwide - 153, Sprint Cup - 173).
Busch will take a 73-point lead over Biffle to next week's race. Harvick is third, 91 points behind the No.18 Toyota driver.
The next race in the Sprint Cup Series is scheduled for Sunday, March 16th at the Bristol Motor Speedway.