Atlanta Motor Speedway has struggled through trouble with its original construction, financial difficulties and several changes in ownership to persevere as one of three remaining original superspeedways. The track’s first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race was the Dixie 300 held on July 31, 1960. The 1997 season marked the first race on the redesigned 1.54-mile track when the old backstretch became the start-finish line.
Bobby Labonte, Pontiac, 159.904 mph; Nov. 16, 1997 (Cup)
Mark Martin, Ford; 151.751 mph; March 8, 1997 (Busch)
Ron Hornaday Jr., Chevrolet; 142.424 mph; March 18, 2005 (Trucks)
Track Information
Features
Opened
1960
Track Length
1.54 miles
Banking in Corners
24°
Banking on Straights
5°
Length of Front stretch
1,415 feet
Length of Backstretch
1,320 feet
Grandstand Seating
124,000
Qualifying Record
Billy Boat, 224.145 mph (24.734 sec.) - 8/28/98
Race Record
Dale Earnhardt, 163.633 mph - 11/12/95
Team notes: Atlanta next as Chase race tightens
Updated 10/26/2006 1:18 AM ET
NASCAR team reports as the season-ending Chase for the Nextel Cup comes down the home stretch with its second visit to Atlanta Motor Speedway:
Matt Kenseth
No. 17 Ford, Roush Racing
This week: Back on top of the point standings, Kenseth is hoping to improve on his average finish of 17.5 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which ranks seventh among the 10 drivers in the Chase. Kenseth is the only Chase driver who has scored at least a top-15 finish in the first six races. He has an average start of 10.7 on 1.5-mile tracks, which is better than his overall average of 14.4. His career average is 20.9, so his average starts this season are up dramatically. He has led a total of 274 laps on 1.5-mile tracks in 2006, second only to Kasey Kahne, and has led in five of the seven races on those tracks. He has no wins, three top-fives and six top-10s in 13 races at Atlanta.
Last week: Kenseth finished 11th at Martinsville, but that was good enough to take over the points lead.
Etc.: Kenseth's average finish at Atlanta over the last two seasons is 16.3, ninth among the 10 Chase drivers.
Kevin Harvick
No. 29 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
This week: Harvick has led in just one of the six Chase races, posting 10 lap-leader bonus points at New Hampshire for leading the most laps. Harvick has 17 top-10 finishes in 2006 and top-15 finishes in 14 of his last 16 races. He has one victory at Atlanta (March 2001) and only one other top-10 finish, a third, in 11 races there — both of those top-10s coming in his first two races there. He has finished 19th or worse in the last nine races there and finished 22nd in this race one year ago and 39th in March. He has led in just two of his 11 races at Atlanta.
Last week: Harvick finished ninth at Martinsville, but because of the problems encountered by his RCR teammate Jeff Burton, he was able to jump to second in the standings.
Etc.: Harvick's average finish of 27.3 at Atlanta over the last two seasons is the lowest among all Chase drivers.
Jimmie Johnson
No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
This week: Third in points, 41 behind Kenseth, Johnson sets his sights on Atlanta, where he hopes to score his second victory in as many weeks. Johnson believes tire management will be the key to success at the 1.5-mile oval. "The asphalt they have used is older technology, and it is real abrasive and chews the tires up," Johnson said. "Handling is a premium. The pace slows down so you can run side by side and you can look for other lanes to race in. That really makes for good racing." Johnson won this race in 2004, one of his five top-five finishes and six top-10s in 10 races at Atlanta.
Last week: Johnson's victory at Martinsville was his fourth of the season, 23rd of his career and seventh in the 26 "Chase" races since it started in 2004.
Etc.: Johnson is second among all Chase drivers with an average finish of 8.0 at Atlanta over the last two seasons.
Denny Hamlin
No. 11 Chevrolet, Joe Gibbs Racing
This week: This will be Hamlin's third start at Atlanta in a Nextel Cup car. Hamlin led the spring race on four occasions for 16 laps, but handling and trouble on pit road relegated the rookie to 31st on the day. His only previous Cup experience at Atlanta came on Oct. 30, 2005, when, in only his fourth career Cup start, he started 25th and finished 19th. Hamlin finished 16th in the Busch Series race at Atlanta in March 2005.
Last week: Hamlin's second-place finish, combined with Burton's 42nd-place at Martinsville, allowed the rookie driver to jump up to fourth in the standings, 47 behind the leader.
Etc.: He will race car JGR 115, which has been run twice at Bristol (he was 14th and sixth) and once at Dover (qualified seventh, finished 11th). Hamlin drove this car to a seventh-place finish at Texas last November. Backup car JGR 140 has one start this season (ninth at Dover last month).
Jeff Burton
No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
This week: Burton will race Chassis No. 173, a new car for 2006. It finished sixth in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's in May, finished ninth in both Pocono races and was second at Chicagoland in July. Burton drove it to the pole at Michigan in August before engine failure resulted in a 42nd-place finish. This car finished 16th at California Speedway in September and most recently notched a third-place finish two weeks ago at Lowe's. Burton has five top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 24 starts at Atlanta but has never won there.
Last week: Because of a blown engine, Burton finished 42nd at Martinsville and fell from the top of the point standings, a spot he had held for four straight weeks, to fifth, 48 points behind leader Matt Kenseth with four races left.
Etc: Burton's average finish at Atlanta over the last two seasons is 16.0, seventh among Chase drivers.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
No. 8 Chevrolet, Dale Earnhardt Inc.
This week: Considering that he has had six top-five finishes, eight top-10s and a victory in 2004 in 14 races at Atlanta, Earnhardt could make a serious run at improving in the standings Sunday. He has finished seventh or better in eight of his last 10 races at Atlanta and has had his Chevrolet in front in nine races there, for 474 laps. He also has logged one of his six career poles at Atlanta (November 2001). His average Atlanta finish of 11.857 ranks third among the 10 drivers in the Chase.
Last week: Earnhardt was running with the front-runners, but a spin in the third turn just 33 laps from the finish dropped him to a 22nd-place finish at Martinsville.
Etc: Earnhardt has the third-best Passing Differential of all drivers at Atlanta with a 36. This means Earnhardt has passed 36 more cars than the number of cars that passed him in the last two seasons.
Mark Martin
No. 6 Ford, Roush Racing
This week: Martin will drive a new car, Chassis RK-392, which tested at Homestead, Fla., last week. It will make its first official run this weekend. Martin has two wins, 13 top-fives and 21 top-10s in 41 career starts at Atlanta. He has led 924 laps at Atlanta, 272 of them in the last four races.
Last week: Martin started 25th and finished 24th at Martinsville. "We've had really good cars the last couple of weeks and pretty bad luck," he said. "My car last week was as good as any car I've had at Martinsville, and we got ourselves caught up in someone else's wreck again and were lucky to stay on the lead lap and finish the race."
Etc.: Martin's Driver Rating of 114.3 at Atlanta is second-highest among all drivers and the best of the 10 Chase drivers. His average finish of 3.0 at Atlanta over the last three events is No. 1 among all drivers in the Cup series.
Kasey Kahne
No. 9 Dodge, Ray Evernham Motorsports
This week: In his last race at Atlanta, Kahne drove chassis No. 128 to victory from the pole. He led 85 laps in posting his first win of the 2006 season. Kahne has four top-five finishes in five races at Atlanta and has an average finish of 9.8, best among the 10 drivers in The Chase. In last year's fall race at Atlanta, Kahne was involved in a wreck early, which required a lengthy stay in the garage for repairs. He finished 32nd. Kahne has three top-10 starts at Atlanta and has qualified outside the top 15 only once in five attempts. Kahne has 17 top-10 finishes 19 top-15s this season.
Last week: Kahne finished seventh at Martinsville.
Etc.: Kahne has scored more points than any other driver in the last three events, including 90 more than the current leader in the Chase, Matt Kenseth. "Three weeks ago, the Chase picture didn't look too good for us," Kahne said. "Now that's changed."
Jeff Gordon
No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
This week: After a shakeup in the point standings following the Martinsville race, "what could have been" still might be for Gordon, who is ninth in the standings and 141 out of the lead. While three straight DNFs during the Chase have hindered his effort to collect a fifth title this year, Gordon still has a chance to sit at the head table at the championship banquet in New York. "Things didn't look too good after our engine failure at Charlotte," said Gordon, who exited that race 10th in the standings, 216 out of the lead. Gordon, who made his debut in NASCAR's premier series in 1992 at Atlanta, has won four times in 28 starts there. He also has one pole, 12 top-fives and 17 top-10s.
Last week: Gordon gained 75 points on the leader with his fifth place at Martinsville, his third top-five finish in the six Chase races.
Etc.: Gordon is the active leader in laps led at Atlanta with 976.
Kyle Busch
No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
This week: Busch has 17 top-10 finishes in 2006 and two top-10 finishes in the first six races of the Chase. Busch trailed then-leader Matt Kenseth by 361 points at the conclusion of the Race to the Chase, before the point adjustment, and by 15 after the adjustment. He now trails current leader Matt Kenseth by 171. Busch, who has 23 top-15 finishes in 2006, has yet finish in the top 10 in four races at Atlanta. He has finished 12th the last three times he has raced there after a DNF and 43rd place in his first Atlanta race. He has led in just one race there, leading four laps.
Last week: Busch finished 18th at Martinsville and dropped back to the bottom of the 10 drivers in the Chase.
Etc.: Busch's average finish of 12.0 at Atlanta over the last two seasons is fourth among the 10 Chase drivers. His average finish for the 2006 season is 14.1, seventh among Chase drivers.
This week: Stewart has nine top-10 finishes in the last 10 races at Atlanta. Included in this impressive run is a win on March 10, 2002. Stewart has led at least one lap in eight of the 10 races. In March, Stewart led 50 laps before ending up fifth.
Last week: Stewart got aggressive during the final 50 laps, and it paid off with a fourth-place finish at Martinsville.
Carl Edwards
No. 99 Ford, Roush Racing
This week: Edwards won both races at Atlanta last year, including his first Nextel Cup victory in March. Edwards beat Jimmie Johnson that day by 0.028 seconds, the ninth-closest finish since electronic timing was introduced in May 1993. Edwards has not won a race in 2006. He finished 40th in the spring race.
Last week: Edwards finished 12th at Martinsville, his best finish ever at the short track.
Greg Biffle
No. 16 Ford, Roush Racing
This week: Biffle has finished in the top 10 in four of the last five races at Atlanta and has led 286 laps in those five races. But he is still looking for his first victory there.
Last week: Brake problems forced Biffle to the garage area for 12 laps, and he ended up 33rd at Martinsville. Biffle has 11 finishes of 31st or worse in 2006, including finishes of 41st, 37th and 32nd in the last three races.
Casey Mears
No. 42 Dodge, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
This week: Atlanta has not been a good track for Mears. His best finish in seven starts there is 13th, and he has only led one race. Mears, who began the year with three straight top-10 finishes, will be looking for his eighth top-10 finish of 2006 this weekend.
Last week: Mears overcame two spins to finish sixth in the Subway 500.
Brian Vickers
No. 25 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
This week: Vickers has two top-10 finishes in six starts at Atlanta. In the first six races of the Chase, Vickers has accumulated 804 points, third among all drivers on the circuit. "We want to end the season on a high note," says Vickers, who will be leaving Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the season.
Last week: Vickers rallied in the final 31 laps to finish 17th at Martinsville, ending a streak of three consecutive top-10 finishes.
Kurt Busch
No. 2 Dodge, Penske Racing South
This week: Busch has one win and three top-10 finishes in 11 starts at Atlanta. His victory came in the 2002 fall race. In March, Busch was running third when he got pinched into the wall and lost four laps while making repairs. He finished 37th.
Last week: After winning his season-high sixth pole and leading once for 19 laps, Busch thought he was headed for a top-five finish at Martinsville. But on lap 364, Scott Riggs clipped Busch sending him hard into the frontstretch inside wall. Busch ended up 27th.
Ryan Newman
No. 12 Dodge, Penske Racing South
This week: Newman has won six poles in his nine starts at Atlanta and has never started worse than sixth. He also has led in all nine races, but he has only four top-10 finishes there. His best was a fifth in March 2004.
Last week: Newman was penalized for "aggressive driving" early in the race and went a lap down, but he rallied to finish 13th as he moved up one spot in the standings to 17th. Newman was penalized for hitting Casey Mears and causing Mears to spin out.
Clint Bowyer
No. 07 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
This week: Bowyer finished 27th in March in his first Nextel Cup start at Atlanta. "We didn't end up finishing very well, but we ran solid for most of the day," says Bowyer. "And that's been our story this year."
Last week: Bowyer was running in the top 10 when he spun out with only 30 laps to go. As a result, he was forced to be content with a 23rd-place finish at Martinsville.
Scott Riggs
No. 10 Dodge, Evernham Motorsports
This week: Riggs, who has one top-10 finish in four starts Atlanta, will be looking for his eighth top-10 finish of the season, his first with Evernham Motorsports.
Last week: Riggs finished 30th, five laps down at Martinsville. "We were too tight from the get-go," he said.
Bobby Labonte
No. 43 Dodge, Petty Enterprises
This week: Labonte has six wins at Atlanta and was leading the March race before engine failure ended his day. He has 12 top-five finishes there.
Last week: After leading once for 43 laps, Labonte ended up third at Martinsville, his best finish of the season.
Heading Into Atlanta, Martinsville A Hard One To Put In The Past For Dale, Jr.
Fingerprint, Inc., For Budweiser Racing, Press Release
Budweiser Race Preview
Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
Quotes from: DALE EARNHARDT JR. / Driver, #8 Budweiser Chevrolet:
On the task of forgetting the Martinsville finish and focusing on Atlanta:
“I’m trying to get past it (finishing 22nd at Martinsville after a spin with 33 laps to go). You can’t dwell on the past, but this one’s tough. Sometimes when I’m out there racing, I just forget about all about points and championships, and I just try to pass the guy in front of me. It was my responsibility to get the best finish I could. I dialed a little extra rear brake into the car during the caution before that, and I probably shouldn’t have done that. I was going for it. I was telling myself all day to think of the big picture, to be smooth. That went out the window with about 20 to go.
“A win at Atlanta would really help the healing process (laughing). This is a really good track for us. We’re always really confident going into Atlanta. We’re taking our best car. I’ve got a great team. We’ve been running in the top-five consistently the last four or five races, so it’s important to keep that going. After a disappointing race like we just had, I can’t think of a better track to regain our momentum than Atlanta.”
On the championship picture:
“We’re not out of it. Actually, we’re still very much in it. I think everybody still has a shot at winning the championship. Four races is a lot of racing left. Anything can happen. We can have some really, really good runs. We can win a couple of these races, and I think some of these tracks we will have that opportunity. I’m optimistic. We’ll pull our boots up and get after it.”
The No. 8 Bud Team at Atlanta:
Previous Starts: 14
Best Start: 1st (Nov. 18, 2001)
Best Finish: 1st (March 14, 2004)
This Race, Last Year: ST: 17th / FN: 4th
Last Time at Atlanta: ST: 26th / FN: 3rd
This Week’s Bud Car: #39 (The Bud team has scored six consecutive top-10 finishes with this chassis: Michigan (third and sixth), Fontana (second), Chicago (fifth), Kansas (10th), and Charlotte (fourth). This is also the same chassis Dale Jr. drove to a third-place finish at Atlanta earlier this year.)
2006 OVERVIEW:
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the #8 Budweiser team enter the Atlanta race weekend sixth in the Nextel Cup point standings, 94 points behind leader Matt Kenseth. This season Dale Jr. has one win (Richmond), nine top-five finishes and 14 top-10s.
Atlanta Weekend Notebook
Dale Jr. has competed in 14 races at Atlanta, scoring six top-five finishes, eight top-10s and a victory in 2004.
Junior has finished seventh or better in eight of his last 10 races at Atlanta.
The Bud team has led laps in nine of its last 14 races at AMS for a total of 474 laps.
Dale Jr. won one of his six career Bud Pole Awards at Atlanta (Nov. 2001).
Only two drivers – Dale Jr. and Matt Kenseth – have scored top-25 finishes in all six Chase races so far.
Dale Jr.’s average finish of 11.857 is the third best average of the 10 Chase drivers. He is also one of only four Chase drivers to have scored a victory at Atlanta.
The Budweiser team was one of five Chase teams to have scored a top-five finish (third place) in the last Atlanta race.
Jeff Burton - "Team Cingular is not out of this championship chase"
Richard Childress Racing, Press Release
NOTES:
· This Week’s Race Car Atlanta Motor Speedway …
Jeff Burton will race Chassis No. 173 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. Built new for 2006, this is the same Cingular Chevrolet Burton drove to a sixth-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, ninth-place finishes in both races at Pocono and a runner-up effort at Chicagoland Speedway. Burton sat on the pole at Michigan with this car in August before a blown engine resulted in a 42nd-place finish. This car finished 16th at California Speedway in September and most recently notched a third-place finish two weeks ago at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
· Stat Facts …
In 24 starts at AMS, Burton boasts five top-five and 10 top-10 finishes. After starting third at the 1.5-mile track in March, a bad vibration forced Burton to pit road while he was running fourth with just six laps remaining, resulting in a 25th-place finish.
· Burton Bouncing Back …
Following a disappointing 42nd-place finish at Martinsville due to an expired engine, Jeff Burton fell from the top of the championship point standings, a spot he held for four straight weeks. Heading into Atlanta, the South Boston, Va., native sits in fifth, just 48 points behind leader Matt Kenseth with four races remaining in the season. Burton’s RCR teammate Kevin Harvick moved into second in the standings, just 38 markers out of the lead.
· RCR at the ATL …
In 90 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) RCR has earned four poles and nine wins, including Kevin Harvick’s emotional victory in the Cracker Barrel 500 on March 11, 2001. Prior to that, Dale Earnhardt won eight times at the Hampton, Ga., track. Additionally, RCR boasts 23 top-five and 38 top-10 finishes at AMS. Childress, a former driver on NASCAR’s senior circuit, recorded his best finish at Atlanta with a ninth-place effort in the Atlanta Journal 500 on November 2, 1980.
· Up to Speed …
The Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be televised live Sunday, October 29 beginning at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on NBC and broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 33rd of 36 NASCAR Cup Series events will take the green flag at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time Friday, Oct. 27 and will be telecast live on SPEED.
JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
Are you looking forward to going back to Atlanta?
“Atlanta is one of my favorite race tracks. It’s so much fun to race at Atlanta. It’s a track with two different personalities. It has a qualifying personality and a race personality. The racing personality is really slick. You can run on the bottom, up by the wall or in the middle of the track. It’s an extremely fast race track but in race trim you lose so much handling that it doesn’t feel that fast. In qualifying it’s really fast and it feels that way.”
Team Cingular tumbled in the points to fifth last week due to an engine failure. Do you think you can come back strong this weekend in Atlanta?
“Team Cingular is not out of this championship chase. I think we have as good of a shot as anybody to win the championship. We’ve run well enough to win a championship … we’ve just got to put the next four races together.”
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Title Still Within Reach For Team Dupont Heading Into Atlanta
Performance PR Plus, Press Release
HAMPTON, Ga. (October 24, 2006) – After a shakeup in the point standings following the Martinsville race, “what could have been” might still be for Jeff Gordon and Team DuPont.
Gordon, who is ninth in the standings and 141 out of the lead entering this Sunday’s Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, gained 75 points on the leader last Sunday following his third top-five finish in six of 10 “Chase” races. While three DNF’s during that span have hindered his effort to collect a fifth title this year, Gordon and the No. 24 team still have a chance to sit at the head table at the championship banquet in New York.
“Things didn’t look too good after our engine failure at Charlotte,” said Gordon, who exited that race 10th in the standings, 216 out of the lead. “It changed our mind set for the remaining races, and I think that showed at Martinsville.
“If we had been higher up in points, we probably would have made our final pit stop with the leaders. But we used a different pit strategy, stopped earlier, and we were able to come home with a top-five finish.
“We can take those types of chances because of the position we’re in.”
Gordon, who made his debut in NASCAR’s premier series here in 1992, has visited Victory Lane four times at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 28 starts. He has also collected one pole, 12 top-fives and 17 top-10's. The four-time Cup Series champion is the active leader in laps led at the 1.54-mile track, only 24 shy of 1,000 laps led.
Much of Team DuPont’s success this year can be attributed to this track. Last year, after struggling on the intermediate tracks and missing the “Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup,” Gordon, crew chief Steve Letarte and the No. 24 team tested here with new ideas.
“When we came here and tested, we knew we needed to try a different route with our intermediate program,” said Gordon. “We had been using the same setups as our teammates, but we weren’t finding the same success. Steve and the guys came up with some different ideas that we wanted to try.
“We tested here during the Chase last year and tried some things that made the car more comfortable for me. They were different than the setups my teammates were using, but they were working for me and my driving style.”
Information gathered that day was incorporated into a new chassis Gordon raced for the first time earlier this year at Michigan. He led a race-high 50 laps but finished eighth in the rain-shortened event.
In its second race, Gordon drove it to victory at Chicagoland Speedway. It has since been driven by Gordon to two more top-five finishes at California and Michigan. Two mechanical failures at Kansas (fuel pump failure) and Charlotte (engine) – both while Gordon was running in the top 10 – resulted in DNF’s.
“This car has performed well on the mile-and-a-half tracks this year,” said Gordon. “Hopefully, we can put another strong race together and battle for the win.
“That’s all we can do at this point. We’re not out of the championship hunt like I originally thought after Charlotte, but it’s still going to be tough.
“We’re only 141 out of the lead, which is manageable. What’s tough is the fact there are eight guys ahead of us in the standings and it will be difficult to leapfrog them with only four races remaining.
“We can’t control what they do, so we’ll just focus on trying to win races.”
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With Win At Martisville, Johnson Back In The Chase Fight
GMR Live Marketing, Press Release
This weekend Lowe’s Monte Carlo driver Jimmie Johnson and Team 48 travel to Atlanta Motor Speedway for Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup race. The race in Hampton, Ga. marks the seventh of ten 2006 “Chase for the Championship” races. Johnson is third in the points race, 41 behind leader Matt Kenseth. Johnson’s victory at Martinsville Sunday was the fourth of the season, 23rd of his career and seventh in the 26 “Chase” races since it started in 2004.
DRIVER JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES:
ON ATLANTA:
"The asphalt they have used is older technology and it is real abrasive and chews the tires up. Handling is a premium. The pace slows down so you can run side by side and you can look for other lanes to race in. That really makes for good racing. I think the new tracks, and Charlotte is a good example of it, they almost did too good of a job. The asphalt is so smooth and tightly compacted we have to run an extremely hard tire, the tire never gives up and we run qualifying laps all night long. We run side by side and it is hard to pass. Atlanta is a great track. Some day they are going to have to resurface it and we will be faced with issues of a new surface there. But right now it has aged perfectly. It is probably is one of the best places to challenge drivers."
WAS THE WIN AT MARTINSVILLE A SPARK TO KEEP THE TEAM GOING?
"I don't think the win was necessary as far as the spark for the team. We've had the spark and speed and excitement and desire. The fire's been lit. We've just unfortunately had some bad luck. And now everything has balanced out and we're back in the middle of it (the Chase). So I look at the Chase and think at New Hampshire, we were competitive and in the top five and had bad luck. At Dover it was the same; we had bad luck. At Kansas we were leading the most laps but didn't win the race because of that crazy deal at the end. Talladega we should have won. Charlotte, we were competitive and finished where we should have. And then (we won) last weekend (at Martinsville). So I really think we've had a lot of strength in the Chase and we are excited to be back in the middle of it."
WHAT WAS IT LIKE WHEN WE GOT HOME AFTER THE WIN AT MARTINSVILLE?
"It was great. We were very proud for a lot of reasons. To be back in the points battle is a great situation, but to also win at Martinsville -- under the circumstances with the plane going down there a couple of years ago -- it was just a very proud evening at home."
IS IT GOOD THAT THERE ARE SO MANY DRIVERS WITH A CHANCE?
"I think it's great for our sport. It's real tough on the teams and drivers, but it's great for the sport."
Race Notes
Chassis
· Team Lowe’s Racing will take chassis 48363 to Atlanta this weekend. This car finished second at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and 14th at Kansas after leading 105 laps. Chassis 48354 will serve as backup. It raced at Phoenix and both Richmond races this season.
Atlanta Motor Speedway
· Johnson has completed 3,152 of 3.173 laps in his ten starts at Atlanta. He has an average starting position of 9.8 and an average finish of 11.8 – second best of all “Chase” drivers. Johnson has led 176 laps in three of his ten races. He won this race in 2004.
Chase
· Johnson is one of three drivers to participate in all three “Chase” battles. He finished second in the 2004 “Chase” and fifth last year. This will be Johnson’s fifth consecutive season finishing in the top ten in points.
· Johnson owns seven “Chase” victories, the most of any driver, and led 855 laps but suffered five finishes outside the top 30 in his 25 career “Chase” races.
· Johnson is the only driver to post five top-ten starts in this season’s “Chase.” His 11.8 average finish is second best of the ten “Chase” drivers.
Year
· Johnson was the point leader after all but four races in the 26-race regular season.
· Johnson’s five victories is second only to Kasey Kahne’s six victories.
· Johnson owns 20 top ten finishes this season – the most of any driver.
Streak
· Johnson has been among the top 10 in points for 101 consecutive races, since March 2004 which is the longest current streak. Johnson is fifth on the consecutive races in the modern era’s point’s top 10 list. Dale Earnhardt’s 174 races tops the list.
Career
· Johnson has won at least three races a season since he posted his first victory in 2002. He is the only driver in the modern era to win at least three races in each of his first five full-time seasons.
· Johnson’s victory at Martinsville was the 23rd of his Nextel Cup career. The win tied him with Ricky Rudd for 25th on the list for most victories since 1949. Only five active drivers have more victories.
· Johnson’s pole at Martinsville in April was the ninth of his career. He has won a pole in each of the last five seasons.
History
· In 179 starts, Johnson has posted 63 top-5 finishes and 106 top-10 finishes. He has a top-10 finish at every track on the NASCAR Nextel Cup series circuit. Kansas is the only track where he has not posted a top-five finish. Johnson has led 4,137 laps and driven 51,306 laps in his Nextel Cup career covering over 68,605 miles. He has finished on the lead lap 137 times. He has a career average start of 12.2 and an average finish of 12.4.
Atlanta March Race
· Johnson didn’t battle for the victory like he expected in the rain-delayed race, but a sixth-place finish on the treacherous 1.54-mile Georgia track is an accomplishment. Many drivers suffered tire problems or saw their race ruined by an accident, but Johnson made it all 500 miles. Johnson started 14th and ran near the front of the field much of the race taking over second place in the middle of the race. In the last 100 laps Johnson mounted a charge to the front but a loose handling car along with slightly changing track conditions (the sun started to come out late in the race) kept him battling with the top cars for position.
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Atlanta Another One Of Those Tracks Newman, Mobil 1 Team Hope To Get A Grasp On Before The Seasons End
Penske Racing South, Press Release
NNCS Notes:
· Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger, will make his 10th NASCAR Cup Series start at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday and his 185th in the NASCAR Cup Series.
· Newman has never started a race at the 1.54-mile track outside the top 10 and only one of his starts has come from outside the top five – a sixth-place start in October 2002. Newman has won six straight Bud Pole Awards, a feat which no other driver in NASCAR history has accomplished at the Georgia track. He swept the award in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Newman’s other two starts at the track have been from the second position; he possesses the longest current streak of nine consecutive top-10 starts. Of the 514 drivers who have competed at AMS since it opened in 1960, Newman has the best starting average of any of them – 1.78.
· Newman’s finishes haven’t been quite as strong at the intermediate track. In nine starts, he’s finished inside the top 10 four times, including one top-five finish. Newman has three finishes outside the top 20 and the final three have been in the teens. Newman’s average finish at the track is 18.67.
· Newman has led a lap in every Cup event he’s run at AMS, giving him a total of 159 laps led in nine races. He has had only one DNF at the track and has completed 2,837 laps of a possible 2,848. Newman has a completion rate of 99.6 percent.
· Crew chief Matt Borland and the No. 12 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger team will take chassis PRS-46 to this weekend’s Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This car was run once in 2006 at the NASCAR All-Star Challenge in May at Lowe’s Motor Speedway where Newman finished fifth. The car was used in four races last year: the Coca-Cola 600 at LMS; the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway; the MBNA RacePoints 400 at Dover International Speedway; and the Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway. In all of those races, except Kansas, Newman finished fifth. He placed 23rd at Kansas.
· The backup car for Atlanta is chassis PRS-76. This car was last run at Charlotte two weeks ago. After a rear-end housing cracked, Newman finished 27th. At Chicagoland in July, Newman started 12th and ended up 36th. Before that, Newman drove the car three previous times this season, most recently at Michigan. Newman used this same chassis at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600, where he finished 35th after starting 18th, and at Darlington in May, where he placed sixth after starting second. Newman also tested this car at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on May 3. Last year, Newman raced this car at Chicagoland Speedway. Prior to the 2005 Chicago race, the car was used in May at Darlington and at Charlotte, and in June at Michigan. The car qualified on the front row in each of the four 2005 races, winning two poles - one at Charlotte and the other at Michigan.
Newman on Atlanta Motor Speedway:
“This is another one of those tracks where we’ve always been able to qualify well, but we haven’t been able to make it stick through the entire race. We’ve struggled so much on the intermediate tracks this year and we’d like to just find out what is going on before the year is over to get ready for next year. We run a lot of races on the mile-and-a-half tracks and we’d like to go into the 2007 season feeling like we can run well and win a few races at this type of track. Three of our four remaining races are intermediate tracks, so we’ve got three chances to figure out what our problem has been before next year.”
Quick Stats:
Atlanta Motor Speedway: 9
Races Led/Laps Led: 9/159
Best Starting Position: 1 (six times)
Best Finishing Position: 5 (March 2004)
October 2005 Start: 1
October 2005 Finish: 23
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Altanta Fall Race Preview
Team notes: Atlanta (part 1)
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