2007 Kobalt Tools 500: Atlanta Motor Speedway is the fastest race track on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup schedule. The qualifying record in Atlanta is 197.478 MPH. With Goodyear's harder tire speeds will be down a little, closer to 190MPH but that is still incredibly fast.
Will Atlanta Motor Speedway provide another thrilling finish like we saw in 2005 when Carl Edwards won by just 028 seconds? Or a repeat of 2001 when Kevin Harvick won by just .006 seconds? Sunday's race promises to be yet another barnburner.
Tickets: Speedway ticket office (770) 946-4211
Buy online from TicketsNow (direct link)
The Track: Atlanta Motor Speedway is l.54 mile quad-oval with 24 degrees of banking in the turns. Because the cars don't use the speed-sapping restrictor plates here the average speeds in Atlanta are even faster than the superspeedways of Daytona and Talladega. This is a very fast race track that has a history of truly great racing.
Race Distance: 325 Laps = 500 Miles
The Big Picture: Mark Martin has started off 2007 with three top five finishes in the first three races. However, Mark is not currently scheduled to race at Bristol next week. Another strong finish in Atlanta might be enough to change his mind. Will Mark really walk away while leading the NEXTEL Cup points?
The Top Twelve
- Mark Martin -0
- Jeff Gordon -6
- Jeff Burton -42
- Jimmie Johnson -89
- Matt Kenseth -98
- Kevin Harvick -106
- Kyle Busch -113
- Denny Hamlin -121
- J.J. Yeley -130
- Elliott Sadler -153
- David Stremme -153
- David Gilliland -160
Storylines: This week is all about speed. Atlanta Motor Speedway is fast and this puts NASCAR safety squarely in the spotlight. As drivers reach top speeds in excess of 200MPH any failure of driver or parts could be catastrophic.
Three weeks ago in California David Reutimann took a brutal hit and walked away. He only had the wind knocked out of him and was left sore from the violent impact. Clearly NASCAR safety has come a long way since 2001 when the sport lost Dale Earnhardt.
Media Coverage: TV: Fox Sunday, March 18th 1:30PM Eastern.
Radio: PRN and SIRIUS Satellite
Actual Race: 2:00 p.m. Eastern
Posted Awards: $4,957,097
Last Year: In 2006 rain delayed the start of this race by almost 24 hours. When they finally got underway on Monday polesitter Kasey Kahne lead lap one but then gave up the top spot to Ryan Newman.
Kahne was not done though. He lead most of the final 100 laps of the race. Mark Martin closed in on Kahne's back bumper near the end but Kasey was able to pull away to take the win by nearly two seconds.
Predictions: If you look purely at the statistics for the last four NEXTEL Cup races at Atlanta Motor Speedway which driver do you think has the best driver rating? Interestingly it is Greg Biffle.
Greg Biffle has not managed better than a third place finish in the last two years. However, he lead 151 laps in 2005. Then Biffle lead a race-high 128 laps last year before running out of gas near the end of the race.
Atlanta Motor Speedway owes Greg Biffle one and I believe that this is the year that he will close the deal and claim the win.
For my backup pick I'm going to leave the Fords in favor of Tony Stewart's Joe Gibbs Chevrolet. Tony won here last fall and has been very fast so far in 2007. This could easily be the site of Tony's 2007 breakout.
