What Fantasy Drivers Should I Run at Atlanta

I really like 48 for Sundays race.
Others I like are 14,88, & 24.
I picked 31 yesterday to place and he did. If he would have won I had it at +4000. That would have been sweet but I will settle for +400.

I saw the #31 yesterday at 75/1 and damn near took a little but didn't,if he would have won I would have been shopping for a new TV probably today 😀

I think Bobby Labonte would make a great sleeper again this week since it seems this team has turned the corner and Labonte has always loved Atlanta,if you check his stats this was his best track by far when he was with better teams.

Fantasy Insider: Filling The Toolbox for Atlanta Success
Bryan Davis Keith and Mike Neff

After a re-energizing weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Cup Series heads to its fastest track for a 500-miler, driving on asphalt that rivals even that of Darlington in terms of abrasiveness. Atlanta Motor Speedway is a unique intermediate circuit, one that is largely dependent on handling and a driver willing to move all over the race track. With differing characteristics than Las Vegas and Fontana, it’s a quad oval quagmire that forces you to make some major changes to your 1.5-mile lineup. But players, don’t despair — Frontstretch’s Fantasy Insiders are going to give you the lowdown on who to choose and who to chastise, avoiding those pesky engine woes in the process to help you rim-ride to a fantasy W this weekend.

By the Numbers

Best Average Finish at Atlanta (since 2005, active drivers)
Jimmie Johnson, 8 starts, 5.4
Matt Kenseth, 8 starts, 9.0
Tony Stewart, 8 starts, 10.4
Jeff Gordon, 8 starts, 10.5
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., 8 starts, 10.9

2008 Kobalt Tools 500 top 5 Finishers

Kyle Busch 173 laps led
Tony Stewart 0 laps led
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 62 laps led
Greg Biffle 1 lap led
Jeff Gordon 1 lap led

Developers

Carl Edwards looked like he was getting ready to win his third race in a row last season at Atlanta, charging to the front until his engine went south in the final stages and dropped him to 42nd. Last week, Edwards was running towards the front of the pack when his engine soured on the last lap, dropping him to 17th by the checkered flag. With a wreck and a mechanical problem already dotting his resume for 2009, Cousin Carl may have gotten his bad luck out of the way this year — which would mean he’s prepared for a strong run at one of his most successful tracks on the circuit. Edwards’ average finish at Atlanta is 11.6, and he won the most recent race held at the track last Fall. Roush’s top driver has run strong at Atlanta since his first visit there, and there’s no reason to think anything will change this weekend. Mike

Jeff Gordon is due for a win, and is coming into a stretch of race tracks in Atlanta, Bristol, and Martinsville where he knows exactly how to get to Victory Lane. Leading the points for the first time in well over a year thanks to solid consistency on the circuit’s first two intermediate ovals, there is no reason to think the No. 24 isn’t going to be among the class of the field on Sunday. With four wins at AMS on his resume and an average finish of a top 10 at the track since 2005, Gordon may well be the favorite this weekend. Bryan

Contractors

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has always run well in Atlanta. He won this race in 2004, coming home third in 2006 and 2008. Leading 62 laps in this race last year, Junior has an average finish at the track of 11.7, making him better here than almost any other track on the circuit. While the start of Junior’s season hasn’t set the world on fire, he is coming off a 10th place finish in Vegas and appears to be gaining momentum as the season progresses. Expect more good things from the No. 88 team this weekend as they level out and start moving up the Sprint Cup points ladder. Mike

Sure, Tony Stewart finished outside the top 25 this past weekend at Las Vegas, his first finish outside the top 10 with the No. 14 team. But that did not indicate how well his car ran during the race, where he was a fixture in the top 10 again with his new squad. If a flat tire didn’t leave Smoke caught two laps down by a caution flag during a cycle of pit stops, we very well could have been talking about the No. 14 Smoking the field en route to Victory Lane. Regardless, Stewart the owner seems to have the intermediates figured out so far, and despite Atlanta’s slightly different configuration, that should bode well for this car. Stewart the driver has averaged a top 10 at AMS since 2005, and that’s got to make Stewart the owner highly confident heading into Sunday. Bryan

Sub Contractors

Look for the stars to align for Scott Speed, giving him a chance for a career run this weekend at Atlanta. Speed is driving the former No. 84 machine that A.J. Allmendinger drove to a 16th place finish in his only start at AMS with the team, one of his best runs in a two-year stint with Red Bull Racing. Plus, don’t forget that AMS has been very kind to inexperienced open-wheelers. In the Nationwide Series ranks, both Michel Jourdain, Jr. and Sam Hornish, Jr. have scored their career-best stock car finishes on the gritty Georgia oval. And remember also Juan Pablo Montoya’s stellar top 5 run at AMS as a rookie, his best finish on an oval in his first year of Cup competition. Look for Speed to crack the top 20 this weekend, too. Bryan

Bobby Labonte has run well in Atlanta for most of his career, and leads all drivers with five wins since the track was reconfigured in 1997. Even when the veteran was not very competitive in Petty equipment at most tracks over the last few years, he was still able to post finishes in the teens when the circuit came to this track. Labonte is coming off a fifth place finish at Las Vegas, a momentum-building performance which was his best run since Fall of 2006 at Martinsville. The move to Hall of Fame Racing appears to be paying off handsomely for the 44-year-old, and a race on one of his best tracks is just what the doctor ordered for a strong result for fantasy gamers this weekend.

Frontstretch.com

Fantasy Preview: Atlanta
By Jeff Gutowski

This week the series heads to Atlanta for the first time this early in the season. NASCAR believes that they should get much better weather this time of the year and thus be able to bring more fans to this venue. I’m not sure if this is going to work because it sounds like every track is having a hard time selling out because of the economy this year.

There are only 2 races left before the top 35 in the standings for this season are guaranteed a starting spot in the race. Some of the big names that are currently in the top 35 but are in danger of dropping out and having to qualify on speed include Mark Martin, Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

My pick to win this weekend’s Kobalt Tools 500 in Atlanta is Jimmie Johnson.

* Jimmie Johnson has struggled a little bit during the early going this season but there is nothing to worry about. Since Daytona, Jimmie has had pretty good handling cars with a lot of power built into them. A mistake on pit road forced him to the back of the pack last weekend and he was over driving his car trying to get as many spots back as he could. Jimmie has been very good at Atlanta with 2 wins and 2 runner-up finishes in his last 5 starts there. Engines will be a concern for the Hendrick teams once again this coming weekend with a 500-mile race

* Jeff Gordon seems to be back in championship run mode right now. For the last few years Jeff has struggled on the intermediate tracks but came away with a great finish at Las Vegas last week and has finished in the top 10 in 6 of his last 7 starts in Atlanta.

* Carl Edwards was the king of the intermediate tracks last season but the Roush teams had some major problems with engines last weekend. Heading into another 500-mile race this weekend could be of some concern for all of these teams once again. Losing 3 engines in 5 cars and having the other 2 drivers saying that their engines were sounding funny and giving them vibrations is raising some red flags for me right now. Carl does have 3 wins here in 9 starts and will be a contender if the engines hold up next weekend.

* Kyle Busch struggled here early in his short career but made a turn around last season, winning in the spring and finishing 5th in the fall race. As I say every week, Kyle can win at any track at any time. The trick is to use him when he doesn’t have some sort of problem during the race. It’s a long season and the Toyota’s haven’t had the greatest luck with their engines either so far.

* Tony Stewart has run surprisingly well so far this year and usually runs very well at Atlanta. Tony has 12 top 10 finishes in his last 15 starts here including 2 wins and 3 runner-up finishes during that stretch.

* Matt Kenseth has finished in the top 5 at Atlanta in 5 of the last 7 races run there. However, Matt has one of those Roush engines which he lost after less than 9-miles of the race was run last weekend at Las Vegas. Once the Roush teams have this issue behind them they are going to be very tough week in and week out.

* Greg Biffle is yet another of the Roush drivers that is having a very good year so far. Once again Greg loves to run at Atlanta and if his engine holds on he will be there at the end to challenge for the win. Greg has never won at Atlanta but has dominated some of these races before mechanical failures or accidents have taken him out of the races.

* Dale Earnhardt Jr. has one of the best finishing averages of all drivers at Atlanta but has been struggling a bit so far this season. I think that there is a lot of pressure on Junior right now to improve on his performance. I really believe that he needs a crew chief change for starters and then he needs to get a win under his belt to remove some of this pressure.

Yahoo Picks for Atlanta

Group A

* Jimmie Johnson
* Jeff Gordon

Group B

* Tony Stewart
* Jamie McMurray
* Brian Vickers
* David Ragan

Group C

* AJ Allmendinger
* Bobby Labonte

Top 5 Overall at Atlanta

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Carl Edwards
4. Kyle Busch
5. Matt Kenseth

Dark Horse: Jamie McMurray
Stay Away From: Martin Truex Jr.

Jeff Gordon or Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch or Tony Stewart?

Those are the last ones I am having trouble with.

T Stewart I think.