2009 Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

2009 Kobalt Tools 500:

Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of the fastest race tracks on the Sprint Cup circuit yet it also has a history of great racing and thrilling finishes. This Sunday Atlanta Motor Speedway will give the NASCAR Sprint Cup stars another chance to make history with the 2009 Kobalt Tools 500.

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 = 500.5 Miles

The Big Picture:

Matt Kenseth's luck ran out last week as an early blown motor caused him to finish dead last in 43rd after winning the first two races of 2009. This allowed Jeff Gordon to take over the top spot as Matt Kenseth fell to third behind Clint Bowyer.

The top twelve:

1. Jeff Gordon
2. Clint Bowyer -18
3. Matt Kenseth -40
4. Greg Biffle -40
5. David Reutimann -51
6. Kyle Busch -54
7. Kurt Busch -66
8. Tony Stewart -80
9. Carl Edwards -82
10. Bobby Labonte -99
11. Kevin Harvick -108
12. Michael Waltrip -113

Storylines:

Focus returns this week to a familiar place for NASCAR fans from the 90s. Jeff Gordon finds himself on top of the NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings for the first time since October of 2007.

October of 2007 was also the last time that Jeff Gordon visited Victory Lane.

Gordon is back on top of the standings. How much longer before he breaks his career-worst losing streak?

Media Coverage:

TV: Fox Sunday, March 8th 1:30PM Eastern.

Radio: PRN and SIRIUS Satellite

Actual Race: 2:00 p.m. Eastern

Recent Events:

2008 Polesitter: Jeff Gordon

2008 Winner: Kyle Busch

Last Year:

In 2008 Toyota made history. For the first time since 1954 a foreign manufacturer won a NASCAR Sprint Cup series race. Kyle Busch scored the win after Carl Edwards' car began smoking and he was forced to pit after dominating the race.

Predictions:

Kyle Busch picked up the win here last year. Plus he is coming off a win last week in Las Vegas. NASCAR is a sport that favors momentum and streaks. Kyle Busch has to be the favorite coming into this weekend's event.

For my backup this week I am going with Roush-Fenway Racing's Greg Biffle. Biffle has had a couple of strong runs so far in 2009 and his teammates have traditionally been fast in Atlanta. Greg Biffle makes a solid backup pick this weekend in Atlanta.