Another nail biter?:
Atlanta Motor Speedway has a history of great finishes. Carl Edwards won here in the spring by .028 seconds over Jimmie Johnson. Kevin Harvick won here in 2001 by just .006 seconds. Will we see another great finish this weekend? With only four races left in the 2005 NEXTEL Cup season it's time to let it all hang out and go for the win. I think the odds are good that we will see another great race in Atlanta.
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:
The 2005 Chase is a four horse race. Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson are neck and neck with just 15 points separating them. Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle are 63 and 83 points out, still in the hunt. Carl Edwards in fifth is too far back to make up the gap on these four strong teams.
Top Ten
- Tony Stewart -0
- Jimmie Johnson -15
- Ryan Newman -63
- Greg Biffle -83
- Carl Edwards -149
- Rusty Wallace -166
- Mark Martin -170
- Kurt Busch -172
- Matt Kenseth -172
- Jeremy Mayfield -216
Storylines:
With all the weather in the news don't forget that Atlanta Motor Speedway received a direct hit from a F2 tornado in July. The damage was incredible and there were definitely some doubts about whether the facility would be ready for this weekend's race.
Media Coverage:
TV: NBC Sunday, October 30th, 12:00PM Eastern.
Radio: PRN and XM Satellite
Actual Race: 12:40 p.m. Eastern
Posted Awards:
$5,939,437
Last Year:
Last year Jimmie Johnson held off a faster Mark Martin by .293 seconds to claim his third NEXTEL Cup win in a row. He dedicated the emotional victory to the 10 Hendrick teammates that died in the airplane crash just one week before.
Predictions:
Normally I'd go with Mark Martin who was very fast here last year and had a fourth place finish here in the spring. But last weekend's poor showing in Martinsville destroyed his hopes for a Championship and I think that you'll see that team let down this weekend.
I do think that Mark's Roush Racing teammate Carl Edwards could be the man to beat. He won here in the spring and has been running well lately. I'll pick Edwards to sweep Atlanta for 2005.
For my backup I'll stick with the Roush Racing stable and go with Greg Biffle. He's still in the Championship hunt and certainly knows how to get the most out of his car. Obviously Jack Roush has found the secret to being fast at Atlanta and Greg knows what to do with a fast car.
