The Race: American Commercial Lines 200
The Place: Atlanta Motor Speedway
The Date: Sat., March 7, 2009
The Time: 2 p.m. ET
Race Distance: 200.2 miles / 130 laps
TV: SPEED, 1:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SIRIUS XM. Listen locally on WEKS-FM 92.5
Track Layout: 1.54-Mile oval
2008 Winner: Kyle Busch
2008 Pole: Ron Hornaday, Jr.
Schedule:
Friday: Practice 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.; 1:30 - 2:50 p.m.;
Saturday: Qualifying, 9:35 a.m.
source: nascar press release
Did you know that Billy Ballew, the owner of the No. 15 and No. 51 Toyota trucks, has a condominium at Atlanta Motor Speedway? He's had it since 1994 and it has been the party house after his victories over the last two years with driver Kyle Busch.
That would be a blast to own a condo at a track! Few neighbors, great views and a few times a year, your condo association treats you to NASCAR races as part of the association dues! Can you imagine pulling your chair up to your window and watching it all, while you have the TV or the radio on in the background? Too cool.
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Did you know that Rick Crawford will be making his 300th career start in the Truck Series on Saturday night. This will make him the series' start leader.
Crawford has also spent all of his 13 seasons with Mitchell and Circle Bar Racing. Now that's like a flashback to the days before musical chairs with the contracts kicked in! Crawford has five wins, 72 top fives, 150 top 10s, and five poles.
“As I look back, I think I’m proudest of the fact that I’ve reached 300 with one owner and one manufacturer,” Crawford said. “Mr. Mitchell and I have one of the longest driver-owner relationships in the sport. He’s much more than an owner to me, he’s made me part of his family and I could not be here without him.”
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Todd Bodine (No. 30 Germain Toyota) and Kyle Busch are off to identical starts compared to last year. They're one-two in point standings, respectively.
Matt Crafton (No. 88 Menards Chevrolet) is third while Timothy Peters (No. 17 Toyota) makes his debut in the top 10 in the standings. Peters and his Premier Racing team have collected top-10 finishes in the season’s first two races.
Also new to the top 10 are T.J. Bell (No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota) and rookie-of-the-year contender J.R. Fitzpatrick (No. 7 Mammoet Chevrolet). After an 11th-place finish at Daytona and a fifth at Auto Club Speedway, Bell sits sixth in the standings.
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This is Matt Crafton's favorite track because of the ability to run 2 and three wide. He realizes handling is pretty important here because the tires wear out quickly.. so keep your eyes on Matt and see if he takes advantage of this unique comfort zone of enjoying the venue he's racing on!
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Wonding how the rookies are doing? Check out the NASCAR Raybestos Rookie Contender standings after two races of the 2009 season:
1. J.R. Fitzpatrick 26
2. Ricky Carmichael 22
3. Tayler Malsam 17
4. James Buescher 17
5. Chase Austin 16
6. Johnny Sauter 15
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Kyle Busch at Atlanta in the Truck Series:
In the last four races, Kyle Busch owns series-high statistics in
Driver Rating (131.2),
Average Running Position (3.4) and
Laps in the Top 15 percentage (97.9%).
He's also posted 84 Fastest Laps Run.
Busch’s prime competition this weekend is expected to be Todd Bodine and Ron Hornaday Jr. – both past winners at Atlanta.
~Bruce
Food for thought:
I'm on the bubble about this one though I'm leaning towards the drivers being responsible since they are the consummate professionals, but who's to blame for all the speeding penalties at Vegas last week?
- NASCAR for limiting track practice, aside from the race weekend?
- Vegas for moving that cursed limit line?
- Or the drivers? Shouldn't they have made the appropriate mental adjustments and played it according the the changing playing field? IE: moving line?
There were an awful lot of foul ups last weekend and I sure was surprised, with Jeff Gordon paying a pretty hefty price for his snafu.
As far as track practice goes, wow, I think it's affecting Jr., but then again, it could be something else.
Any thoughts on any of these issues? Anyone? Someone?
Career milestones this week at Atlanta include:
- Bobby Labonte will be making his 550th start in the Cup Series.
- Jeff Gordon is looking to add to his 20,006 career laps led total — currently seventh on the all-time list.
- Clint Bowyer has the active "running at the finish record" (76) — second on the all-time list. His last DNF was at Phoenix in November, 2006.
Let's take a look at a few things that might be eye catchers at the track!
Georgia natives at the track this weekend: David Ragan (Unadilla) – No. 6 driver
Reed Sorenson (Peachtree City) – No. 43 driver
Brian Taylor (Cuthbert) – No. 14 mechanic
Shannon Keys (Byron) – No. 8 front tire carrier
Adam North (Sonoraville) – No. 31 jack man
Dion Williams (Atlanta) – No. 5 rear tire carrier
Dwayne Moore (Griffin) – No. 55 rear tire carrier
Jason Jones (Rhine) – No. 5 pit support
Matt Skeen (Stone Mountain) – No. 88 pit support
Atlanta Motor Speedway is in its 50th season of hosting NASCAR events and Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 will be the 100th race in the series.
Michael Waltrip Racing Is In Our Face!
The biggest surprise of the season, though it's only been a couple of races, is that both Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota teams are in the top 12.
David Reutimann comes to Atlanta 5th in the standings while Michael Waltrip is 12th.
Michael has also made a promise to all of us out here in the land of fans: He said that if his results do not improve this year, he would retire at season's end!
Do You Think You'd Ever See the No 20 Toyota 32nd in Points?
There are only two races to go before the weekly 35 guaranteed starting spots will be based on this season's car owner points and for some, there are a few surprises sitting out there.
The No. 20 Toyota driven by Joey Logano is 32nd.
The No. 39 Chevrolet driven by Ryan Newman is 33rd.
The No. 5 Chevrolet driven by Mark Martin is 34th.
I'm not sure which one I'm surprised more by! Probably the Mark Martin bit.
Source: NASCAR Media, (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images)
The Race: KOBALT Tools 500
The Date: Sunday, March 8
The Place: Atlanta Motor Speedway; 1.54-mile tri-oval
The Time: 2 p.m. ET
The Distance: 325 laps/500.5 miles
TV: FOX , 1:30 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN and Sirius Satellite; (Local PRN affiliate WEKS-FM 92.5)
2008 Polesitter: Jeff Gordon
2008 Winner: Kyle Busch
Schedule: (All times local ET)
Friday—Practice, 3-4:30 p.m.;
Qualifying, 6:45 p.m.
Saturday—Practice, 11-11:45 a.m.;
Final Practice, 12:20-1:20 p.m.
-Bruce
