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Mash The Gas: Atlanta Preview

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series celebrates the Labor Day weekend at the Atlanta Motor Speedway with the running of the Advocare 500 Sunday night. While traditionalists still feel the holiday’s racing festivities belong at Darlington, Atlanta has hosted its lone event on the Sprint Cup schedule over Labor Day for the past few years. The Atlanta Motor Speedway is a high speed 1.5 mile track with sweeping turns that demand horsepower to run up front. Engine wear will be one of the many aspects on everyone’s mind as the night time start will have the race contested under the lights in cooler temperatures which should raise speeds. The Advocare 500 is also the penultimate race before the Chase cut-off and a tight group of drivers remain in contention for the elusive Chase slots.

Matt Kenseth
Dan Margetta: Solidly in the Chase and coming off a victory last week at Bristol, Kenseth and the #20 team should be strong this week at Atlanta. Three of his five series leading wins have come at 1.5 mile circuits similar to Atlanta. Toyota has seemed to get the engine reliability issues under control and Kenseth looks to be getting hot at the most opportune time with the playoffs looming. This is the team to beat this season on the 1.5 mile tracks just ask Kasey Kahne and it should be no different Sunday night in Atlanta.

Carl Edwards
John Wiedemann: With a 38th place finish or better, Carl Edwards will clinch a berth to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Considering Edwards stats at Atlanta, 3 wins – 8 top fives – ten top ten finishes, he should be all set. Edwards won both his second and third race at the Atlanta track in 2005. Ignoring his “lost season” of last year, Edwards had a good streak going with a second place in 2010 and a fifth place run in 2011. Count on Edwards returning to the top five and be in contention to win this weekend.

Jeff Gordon
DM: Once again Jeff Gordon finds himself in an intense late season battle to make the Chase. Gordon is currently 13th in the points, 11 behind tenth place and on the outside looking in without a victory for insurance. He’s won five times at Atlanta and has 25 top ten finishes here. With Tony Stewart on the sidelines, Gordon owns the best driver rating for Atlanta and if the fire still burns within the four time champion, Sunday night would be a good time to storm back into the Chase with a victory.

Kyle Busch
JW: Kyle Busch has one win at Atlanta and could use another win or two in the next two events. With three wins this season, Busch is two behind teammate Matt Kenseth as the Chase looms. Busch led 66 laps, third most, in last year’s race at Atlanta and finished sixth. Expect Busch to be in the mix as the laps wind down in the Advocare 500. With a top ten run, Busch will lock himself into the Chase.

Brad Keselowski
DM: Also currently outside of the Chase, the defending Sprint Cup Champion comes into Atlanta needing a victory to go along with a strong performance. Keselowski has finished sixth and third the last two years in Atlanta and he seems to perform best when his back is against the wall. He’s currently teetering off the cliff if he has any hopes to defend his Sprint Cup title but if any driver has the attitude to bounce back and win, it’s this guy. The #2 team may be on the matt but they’re not down for the count just yet as they currently sit just four points outside the top ten. If they miss the Chase this year and are unable to win in the next two weeks, Watkins Glen will haunt them. It’s up to Brad to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Jimmie Johnson
JW: Jimmie Johnson leads most of the statistical categories at the Atlanta Motor Speedway and considering his recent races, that is a good thing. There seems to be an odd black cloud hanging over the #48 team and Atlanta may be the track to return back to dominance. Johnson will no doubt return to form but the sooner the better as the Chase looms. Also, Johnson is two career wins behind teammate Jeff Gordon at Atlanta and this weekend would be a good time to close the distance.

Kurt Busch
DM: The Cinderella run for Kurt Busch and the #78 team may have come to an end with the announcement Busch will depart for greener pastures at Stewart-Haas Racing next season. That news coupled with the mistake driven Bristol performance that left them outside the Chase could turn the #78 car into the proverbial pumpkin at Atlanta even though Busch has three victories here. If they hope to make the Chase this season they will need to keep focus on the task at hand, something they have struggled with all year, and not let the uncertainties of what lies ahead derail a potential dream season.

Kasey Kahne
JW: Kasey Kahne ran great at the end of the Bristol race last weekend and just didn’t have enough to get past Matt Kenseth for the win. Kahne has two wins at Atlanta, in 2006 and 2009, but recently hasn’t had much success. In the last three races at Atlanta, Kahne has finished outside of the top twenty. Kahne’s second place run last weekend jumped him up three spots into the top ten and twenty points ahead of eleventh place. So, Kahne should be pretty safe to make the Chase barring a catastrophe.

Jeff Burton
DM: After having my long shot picks run out of gas while leading with three laps to go and finish third in the last two weeks, I’m going way out on a limb this week and taking Jeff Burton, a 200-1 long shot by Vegas standards. Michigan was the last horsepower race on the tour and the Childress cars all looked to be fast with Burton starting fifth and finishing eighth. Burton’s Atlanta finishes over the last three years were 12th, 13th, and 4th and he’s a smart enough driver to take care of the equipment to be there at the end. Heck at 200-1 odds why not?

Austin Dillon
JW: From a press release by Austin Dillon’s current Nationwide Series sponsor Advocare, Dillon is going to be racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series full time next season. So, watching how he does in the limited schedule will be interesting . In eight starts this season Dillon has two top fifteen finishes, both of them when racing at Michigan. In three races at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, two in the Camping World Truck Series and one in the Nationwide Series, Dillon has always finished in the top ten. If Dillon can continue that streak into the Sprint Cup Series, he’ll be one to watch.

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