By: DJ DeSpain

Rocket Man Ryan Newman has seven qualifying poles at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which ties him with Buddy Baker for the track record. For his 300^th career start, he hopes to beat that record this Friday on Qualifying Day at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

When asked about the comparison between him and Buddy Baker, Newman said “I think Buddy Baker is one of the 50 greatest NASCAR drivers in the history of our sport. If there was ever a record I could beat him or tie him in, that would be a big reward mentally for me.”

He goes on to say “If I live out the rest of my career tied with Buddy Baker, I’m still fine with that. But obviously I’d like to beat it, too.”

However well he qualifies in Atlanta, it has yet to result in a win in the Cup series. Newman acknowledges that while he hasn’t had much luck at Atlanta, it’s not really fair to equate poles to wins.

According to Ryan “it’s all about the entire package, just like it is for everybody else on any given weekend. I’ve always said it’s much easier to go out there and be the quickest car on one lap than it is to be the best car on average over 500 miles. The longer you’re doing something, the harder it is to maintain that level of excellence.”

Presently, Atlanta is considered to be one of the fastest non-restrictor plate race track on the NASCAR circuit. But can Newman tell the difference in speed as he goes around the track?

“I don’t think you necessarily feel the speed as much as you actually know the input you’ve given the race car to make it go faster. I’ve always said, you know, from 140 miles an hour on up, I don’t think that you actually feel speed until something happens to you or you hit something.”

Aside from hitting the wall or someone else, “When you’re running 200 miles an hour at Atlanta, I don’t think you necessarily feel that actual extra one or two or sometimes three miles an hour. What you feel is the input you give in the car to make it go faster, getting back to the throttle a little sooner, getting into the corner a little bit harder, and carrying a little more mid-corner speed. Those are the things that you feel that actually make you feel what you’ve done to pick up speed over a given mile-and-a-half.”

As the cars and drivers get better, the speeds get faster. Newman stated that “it’s just a matter of picking your game up a little bit everywhere to be able to get the grip out of a track and match that grip to your race car to get everything you can for a given lap.”

Let’s hope Rocket Man Ryan can find enough grip to cap his 300^th career start with his first Atlanta Motor Speedway Sprint Cup win along with breaking the AMS pole record.

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By: Toby Christie

Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway we saw a track record fall. Kurt Busch at his home track put down a blistering lap of 188.719 mph. Busch has never won a race at his hometrack, but he now will be in a great spot to do so… on the pole.

Jeff Gordon turned a lap of 188.646 mph. He knocked teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. from the pole at the time.

The “Rocket Man” Ryan Newman was able to put his no. 39 tornadoes Chevrolet in the third starting spot in Sunday’s race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start fourth after a lap of 188.173 mph. After qualifying Earnhardt said his team had actually worked on their qualifying setup in practice, despite many working only on their race setups with possible showers tomorrow.

Earnhardt did say his car is good, and he thanked his crew for preparing such a great car.

Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five with a lap of 188.153 mph.

It was a very fast qualifying at Las Vegas, with 23 cars breaking the previous track record which was held by Kyle Busch. There are two cars that will be going home early. Casey Mears and Terry Cook each failed to make the race on speed.

TALLADEGA, ALA. — Jamie McMurray added his name to the victory list Sunday in a surprising finish to a typical race at Talladega Superspeedway.

McMurray, odd-man out in Jack Roush’s compliance move to fielding a maximum of four teams in 2010, crept home the winner in a green-white-checker finish that only made it three-quarters-of-a-lap before a wild crash brought out a caution flag making McMurray the winner.

NASCAR rules allow only one attempt at a green-white-checkered finish and McMurray was in the right position at the right time.

Kasey Kahne was second, followed by Joey Logano, Greg Biffle, and Jeff Burton.

Probably the story of the day was sixth-place finisher and still leader in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus decided to spend a majority of the race running at half throttle or so in the back of the pack to hopefully stay out of harm’s way and protect a lead in the standings that could eventually make Johnson NASCAR’s first driver to win four championships in a row.

The strategy nearly backfired when Johnson began a move to advance his position about 25 laps from the finish. He moved up to 22nd by narrowly avoiding a spectacular, multi-car crash that put RyanNewman on his roof and ended the day for other contenders Kevin Harvick and Marcos Ambrose. Both Harvick and Ambrose were among 25 drivers who led the race at one time or another.

NASCAR officials red-flagged the race after Newman’s accident just five laps from the finish while safety workers righted his car and extracted the uninjured driver from the pancaked remains.

With the green-white-checker looming, the race took on that typical style of Talladega nail-biting.

It was nose-to-tail, three and four wide racing when another huge accident broke out as the cars came towards the tri-oval and headed towards the finish line. Cars went everywhere.

Championship contender Mark Martin was hit and flipped upside down on the front straightaway as cars scattered and spun through the grass and through the smoke on the track. The wreck relegated both Martin and Juan Pablo Montoya to finishes they didn’t deserve. Both drivers were strong contenders during the afternoon and among the leaders. Martin wound up 28th and Montoya 19th.

It was a great win for McMurray, his first since the July 2007 race at Daytona, who led on several occasions.

It was also a win for points leader Johnson, with his sixth place finish. He never led a lap in this one but he dodged a million bullets.

This place is known for a lot of things…but mostly for its edge-of-the-seat, white-knuckle, heart-racing action over its 2.66-mile, high-banked tri-oval track that reeks speed and excitement.

Johnson, starting from the pole, led only three quarters of the first lap. At Talladega, drivers don’t lead for long because the competition is so intense and the cars run so close together. The lead often changes half-a-dozen-times on a single lap.

For instance, in the first 20 laps, there were numerous leaders, David Reutimann and Casey Mears among them and those are drivers who aren’t normally expected to lead races at Talladega.

You do expect the unexpected at this massive superspeedway and  points leader Johnson, Tony Stewart, and several other Chase contenders unexpectedly chose to ride in the back of the pack to potentially avoid any of the troubles normally associated with running wide open at the front of the pack, a strategy obviously ignored by many of the others.

A two-car accident on lap five brought out the first caution of the sunny afternoon. Paul Menard cut a tire and gathered Joe Nemechek on the backstretch.

Cars started pitting under green flag conditions at 45 laps.

Elliot Sadler was the leader when the race was slowed again by caution when Kurt Busch spun wildly through the tri-oval.

On the restart, Sadler led with Dale Earnhardt Jr. on his bumper. At 60 laps, Jeff Gordon was fourth and Harvick fifth. Harvick took the lead a few laps later. Earnhardt was still running second.

At the halfway mark at Lap 90, Harvick led with Earnhardt, Montoya, Martin and Ambrose in tow, flat-out, foot-to-the-floorboard.

Kyle Busch was next with Denny Hamlin seventh. Greg Biffle was running in the top 10 when the field made green flag stops near Lap 95 but a tire infraction during his stop forced him to make another pass through the pits which relegated him to 36th spot. He rebounded to finish fourth.

Jimmie Johnson has done it again. He won the NASCAR Banking 500 Saturday night, extending his lead over teammate Mark Martin to 90 points in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.

Johnson drove away from the field after dicing with teammate Jeff Gordon in the closing laps of the 334-lap race.

It was Johnson’s sixth win at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and put him another step closer to a fourth consecutive championship, which would be a first in NASCAR history.

Trailing Johnson at the finish line were Matt Kenseth, with his best finish since winning at Auto Club Speedway in February, Kasey Kahne, Gordon, Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, Casey Mears, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex and Kurt Busch.

Martin had his worst night of the Chase thus far after accidentally hitting the rear of Juan Pablo Montoya’s car on a restart. The accident ended Montoya’s streak of top-five finishes at four, and relegated Martin to a 17th-place finish. Montoya didn’t fare so well. He wound up 35th.

It was not a good night for other Chase drivers as well. Denny Hamlin ran with the leaders before losing an engine. Carl Edwards was the victim of an accident and his damaged car lost an engine when he returned to the track in an attempt to get as many points as possible. Edwards was 39th. Brian Vickers had another terrible run, finishing 34th.

Other drivers in the Chase wound up better with Ryan Newman finishing 11th; Tony Stewart 13th and Greg Biffle 16th.

The race was delayed several minutes by a cold, spitting rain but it stopped and Johnson took off from the pole in quest of another win at LMS, a track he owns in recent statistics.

Sam Hornish Jr. brought out a caution on Lap 3 when he spun and barely glazed the second Turn 2 wall. The race was back underway at Lap 7 and Hornish spun again, this time off the fourth turn. Once again, the former Indy 500 winner escaped with no serious damage to his car.

When the race resumed on Lap 13, it was Johnson out front, followed by Martin, Kyle Busch, Newman, Kahne, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Montoya, Kenseth and Hamlin. Montoya had gained 10 spots in just a few laps from his 18th starting position.

Rain prompted NASCAR officials to throw a caution again on Lap 35. Following pit stops, Kenseth was the leader on the 42nd lap restart with Johnson and Kyle Busch right behind him. Rounding out the top 10 were Hamlin, Biffle, Kahne, Montoya, Gordon and Newman.

Johnson eventually regained the lead with Hamlin in second and Kenseth third. By Lap 70, Johnson had built nearly a full-second lead, showing everyone why he has been so successful at this 1.5-mile hometown track.

However, just a few laps later, Hamlim zoomed to the front in his FedEx Toyota owned by Joe Gibbs.

All of the frontrunners pitted under green between Laps 93 and 96 and when the smoke cleared, it was Kenseth in front briefly before Hamlin took back over, followed by Kyle Busch, Johnson, Montoya, Mears, Martin, Bowyer, Kahne and David Reutimann.

Kyle Busch spun in Turn 4 at 120 laps to bring out another caution. Gordon was the leader on the 124th lap restart with Biffle, Newman and Hamlin in tow.

Martin got into the back of Montoya on the restart, causing considerable damage to Montoya’s Chevrolet. Montoya dropped well back in the pack due to the accident because his right rear fender was bent outwards, acting like a parachute catching the wind.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. pulled into the garage shortly after the restart with transmission problems.

At the halfway mark (162 laps), the top 10 were Gordon, Hamlin, Johnson, Kahne, Kenseth, Biffle, Newman, Bowyer and Bill Elliott.

Montoya brought out a caution when his ill-handling car spun shortly before the halfway point. He lost two laps while his crew made repairs.

DOVER, Del. (Sept. 27, 2009) — Polesitter Jimmie Johnson threw down the gauntlet in Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway, but Mark Martin was up to the challenge.

With his fifth victory at Dover and second at the track this year, Johnson affirmed that his No. 48 Chevrolet team is a serious threat to win a fourth straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

Martin, however, retained the lead in the series standings with a runner-up finish to Johnson, who led 271 laps in claiming his fourth victory of the season. Martin leads his Hendrick Motorsports teammate by 10 points after two of 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Matt Kenseth ran third, his best finish since winning the second race of the season at Fontana, Calif., in February. Juan Pablo Montoya came home fourth — his second straight top five in the Chase — and Kurt Busch kept his hopes for a second Cup title alive with a fifth-place run.

Jeff Gordon, AJ Allmendinger, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman completed the top 10. Greg Biffle (13th), Brian Vickers (18th) and Denny Hamlin (22nd) all lost significant ground in the Chase standings.

Johnson credited crew chief Chad Knaus with adjustments that improved his car after Saturday’s final practice session.

“Chad made some great calls last night to make the car more comfortable to drive,” said Johnson, who earned the 44th win of his career to tie Bill Elliott for 14th on the career victory list. “It was really what I needed today. We had plenty of speed in it. I just needed some comfort, and I had that.

“I was able to lead a lot of laps, but the few times we were back in traffic because of strategy, I worked my way up through there, and everything went well.”

Martin said his car was slightly off, especially on restarts. Characteristically, he would drop positions on the opening laps of a green-flag run and regain them as the run progressed.

“We had a good-handling car on the long runs, but it was a handful on the restarts,” Martin said. “I think we did really well by finishing second. We were just off a little bit, and it really showed itself on the restarts, but we were off just a little bit even on the long run, even though we would get where we could beat most of the crowd.

“We didn’t hit it perfect, but as competitive as it is, I’m really proud of how well we hit it.”

Johnson beat Martin to the finish line by 1.970 seconds, but hours before the checkered flag, the race was stopped for more than 23 minutes after a spectacular crash involving rookie Joey Logano.

NASCAR threw a competition caution after Lap 25, setting up a restart on Lap 31. Before the field could complete the lap, however, a violent collision in Turn 3 sent Logano’s car barrel-rolling seven times down the 24-degree banking.

The wreck started when Bobby Labonte moved to the inside and clipped Logano as the cars streaked toward the corner. Logano checked up, only to have his No. 20 Toyota hit from behind by Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet.

The chain-reaction collision that followed sent Logano rolling when Reed Sorenson’s Dodge slammed into the side of the car. Logano was unhurt, as were wreck victims Sorenson, Martin Truex Jr. and Robby Gordon, though the cars of all four drivers were mangled.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Logano said, after walking out of the infield care center. “It just really scared the heck out of me. … I’m not sure I want to see a replay. It started rolling, and I was in there like, ‘Damn, please make this thing stop.’ And it wouldn’t — it just kept going and going.”

Notes: Montoya climbed one position to third in the standings, 65 points behind Martin and 10 points ahead of Busch in fourth. Fifth-place Stewart trails Martin by 106 points, while Hamlin dropped three positions in the standings to sixth, 108 points back. … With his fifth victory at Dover, Johnson tied David Pearson for third on the all-time win list at the track. Richard Petty and Bobby Allison posted seven victories each at the Monster Mile.

LOUDON, N. H. (Sept. 20) — Unbelievable. That’s the only word to describe it.

Ageless Mark Martin, 50, held off a tremendous charge by Juan Pablo Montoya and Denny Hamlin with three laps to go to win the Sylvania 300 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Hamlin finished second and Montoya third in a race full of action.

Three-time champion Jimmie Johnson was fourth and Kyle Busch finished fifth. His brother Kurt was next, followed by Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler, Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers.

Four of the top five finishers are in The Chase for The NASCAR Sprint Cup. The younger Busch did not qualify for it this season.

The stage for the wild-and-wooly finish was set with less than 10 laps remaining when Marcus Ambrose bumped AJ Allmindinger from behind, sending AJ around. It created a down-to-the-wire  dash in which Martin jumped ahead of Montoya by just a few feet. Hamlin was awarded second when a final-lap spin brought the caution out before the cars got back to the start-finish line. Hamlin was ahead when he and Montoya crossed the last scoring line before the caution fell.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., having his best run in many a race (he was running third), was tagged from behind by David Reutimann on Lap 283 and crashed into the outside retaining wall.

Tony Stewart wound up 14th after making a lengthy pit stop to repair a loose axle cap on a left rear tire.

It was Martin’s first victory at this track and the popular Arkansas native was beaming afterwards. He is truly “living the dream” in running for a championship in a Rick Hendrick-owned Chevrolet, a championship that is about the only thing he has not won in his career.

There has never been a more gorgeous day for racing, and the pole winner, Montoya, streaked away to a solid lead when the green flag waved.

Hamlin quickly moved into second ahead of Stewart and the 2009 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup was on.

The 75-degree temperature and solid blue sky lent itself as a serene backdrop for 43 screaming stock cars around this one-mile New England speed palace. Montoya was flying and it appeared he would check out on the field but Stewart seemed to be able to keep up.

At 25 laps, it was Montoya, Stewart, Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Gordon, Stremme, Truex, Edwards and Johnson in the top 10.

By Lap 35, Stewart was on Montoya’s bumper and Kurt Busch was gaining on both in third position. Stewart took the lead on Lap 37 and Busch hooked himself to Montoya’s bumper.

At 50 laps, it was Stewart, Montoya, Busch, Gordon, Hamlin, Edwards, Johnson (all Chase contenders), then Stremme, Kahne ( another Chase contender) Truex, Reutimann and Martin, the points leader coming into the Loudon race.

Four-time champion Gordon moved into third on Lap 65.

Kasey Kahne brought out the first caution of the afternoon with a blown engine on Lap 66. It was tough luck for the Richard Petty Motorsports team, which has a car in the Chase for the first time.

Montoya beat everyone out of the pits and was in front again when the race restarted on Lap 75. Stewart and Hamlin mixed it up for several laps before Stewart took over. Another caution, this one for debris, slowed the field again at Lap 86. Montoya maintained the lead as none of the front-running cars pitted.

Hamlin got into the left rear of Stewart’s Chevy and sent him sliding high on the Lap 92 restart. The contact shuffled Stewart back to fifth. It was Montoya, Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Johnson, Stewart, Martin, Earnhardt, Edwards, Newman and Stremme at 100 laps.

Busch passed Montoya for the lead at Lap 124. Another caution fell on Lap 141 and created a mad scramble the pits.

Once again, Montoya came out of the pits first but Hamlin jumped into the lead. At the halfway point, Hamlin and Montoya raced side by side for several laps before Montoya took over again.

RICHMOND, VA. – The Chase is on.

Twenty-six races into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, there are now 12 drivers with a chance to win the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

The suspense of who would make that field culminated Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.

Local native Denny Hamlin from Chesapeake finally won a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at his home track after coming “oh, so close” so many times before. He also did it in convincing style, battling door-to-door with Jeff Gordon along the way. It was Hamlin’s second win of the season in his FedEx Toyota. He won earlier this year at Pocono.

Hamlin is one of the 12 Chase participants but his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch didn’t make it. Hamlin had locked in a spot before the race but Kyle needed to finish well ahead of Brian Vickers to make it. Kyle finished fifth but Vickers was seventh and wound up grabbing the 12th spot by eight points over Busch.

Kurt Busch finished second and made the Chase. Jeff Gordon was third and in The Chase.

Everybody’s favorite, Mark Martin, was fourth and secured a Chase spot and there wasn’t a happier man in Virginia on Saturday night when this race ended.

Kyle finished fifth and Clint Bowyer was sixth. Vickers was seventh and former Indianapolis 500 winner Sam Hornish finished eighth. Kevin Harvick was ninth and Ryan Newman 10th, which earned him a slot in the Chase, along with his car owner Tony Stewart, who had a rough night and wound up 17th.

Jimmie Johnson finished 11th and he’s in the Chase, along with 12th-place finisher Kasey Kahne and 13th-place finisher Greg Biffle. Carl Edwards and Juan Pablo Montoya also made the Chase. It will be Montoya’s first Chase as well as the first for team owner Chip Ganassi.

Former series champion Matt Kenseth finished 25th and failed to qualify for the Chase for the first time.

The first race in the Chase begins Sunday, Sept. 20 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Saturday night’s race at Richmond had so many scripts, you couldn’t keep up. If so-and-so finished 20th or better, he made the Chase. If another driver finished 32nd, he made it.

This one was one for the record books, as only four drivers were guaranteed spots in the Chase to the NASCAR Sprint Cup and another eleven were in position to make it with either good luck for themselves or bad luck for others.

The ageless Martin, hoping to be one of the 12 contenders, started from the pole position after a late shower wet the track and delayed the start.

Martin kept the lead with local favorite Hamlin in his shadow. Hamlin passed Martin on Lap five.

Scott Speed brought out the first caution when he lost it off Turn 4 and hit the outside wall.

Hamlin maintained the lead after a restart and at 40 laps led Martin, Gordon, Martin Truex Jr., Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Vickers, Harvick and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Another caution slowed the field at Lap 46 when David Stremme, Reed Sorensen and Stewart tried to maneuver Turn 4 while three abreast. Sorensen and Stewart spun.

Hamlin went out front again when the race restarted on Lap 50. Another caution was necessary when Regan Smith’s Chevy lost power on Lap 57.

On this restart at Lap 67, Hamlin held the lead with Gordon next, followed by Martin, Truex, Kurt Busch, Earnhardt, Harvick, Johnson, Kyle Busch, AJ Allmendinger, Montoya, Kahne, Vickers, Marcos Ambrose and Jamie McMurray. The Roush Fenway Racing drivers, at this point in the race, were pushing it to make the Chase with Edwards 20th, Biffle 24th and Kenseth 25th.

Gordon went back in front of Hamlin shortly before the 100-lap mark. A caution fell again on Lap 107.

Gordon held the lead until Hamlin slipped past on Lap 147. Another caution flew on Lap 173 for debris.

At the half-way point of 200 laps, here’s how things stood: Hamlin continued to swap the lead with Gordon and Martin ran a strong third.

Another caution fell shortly after halfway when Regan Smith’s bad luck continued and something broke on his car.

Copyright © 2009 RubbingsRacing.com. All rights reserved.

By: DJ DeSpain

Last Sunday night in Atlanta, a version of War was played like no one has ever seen, and as a result Denny Hamlin was the only driver to clinch a fourth spot in the Chase. Hamlin joined Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson as the top 4 drivers that are guaranteed Chase spots.

Now it will be a brand new game this Saturday night in Richmond! NASCAR will have its own version of Crazy Eights, where eleven drivers will battle it out to fill the eight remaining spots in the top twelve positions.

Why so crazy? Only 105 points separate the 5^th to 13^th positions, and spots 14 and 15 still have a mathematical chance of getting into the top 12. This is the tightest the Race to the Chase has ever been just before Richmond since the Chase format began in 2004, and even then 238 points was the spread from 5^th to 13^th.

Matt Kenseth is on the bubble in the 12^th spot, and he is the only driver today that has been in every Chase race since 2004. In fact, a lot of people point to Kenseth as being the reason the Chase format began because of his consistent 2003 run that rewarded him with the Championship trophy, despite only having 1 win that season. On Saturday night, he will have to finish 3^rd and lead the most laps to guarantee a Chase spot regardless of how the other drivers finish. Unfortunately, he won’t have an easy go of it because Richmond is not one of his best tracks, with an average finish since 2005 of 16.7, and in the spring race he managed to finish 13^th.

Kyle Bush, on the other hand, loves Richmond. Out of the 9 races that Kyle has run there, he has 7 top five finishes, including his 1 win at this year’s spring race. His overall average finish is 6.1, the second best finish of any other active driver except Tony Stewart, who has an overall average of 5.7 at Richmond.  If he can do a sweep, not only will he easily clinch his spot for the Chase, but also be bumped to the top of the Chase order with 5 wins.

Regarding the other nine drivers, they have to do the following to clinch their spot:

• Carl Edwards – 24th or better, 25^th and lead a lap, 27^th and lead most laps
• Kasey Kahne – 21st or better, 23^rd and lead a lap, 24^th and lead most laps
• Kurt Busch – 20th or better, 22^nd and lead a lap, 24^th and lead most laps
• Juan Pablo Montoya – 18th or better, 20^th and lead a lap, 21^st and lead most laps
• Ryan Newman – 16th or better, 17^th and lead a lap, 19^th and lead most laps
• Mark Martin -12th or better, 14^th and lead a lap, 15^th and lead most laps
• Greg Biffle – 11th or better, 13^th and lead a lap, 15^th and lead most laps
• Brian Vickers – gain 21 points on Kenseth and stay ahead of Busch
• David Reutimann – gain 133 points on Kenseth

Let’s hope for some good weather at Richmond Saturday night, or the only Crazy Eights these guys will be playing will involve a deck of cards instead of their cars.

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By: DJ DeSpain

Bruton Smith and the folks over at Atlanta Motor Speedway are surely happy coming into their offices today. With two races remaining in the Race to the Chase, only three drivers are safely locked into the Chase – Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, and Jeff Gordon. That means there will be a whole lot of racing going on in the next two races to secure the other nine spots. More racing means more excitement, which will hopefully translate into more seats sold at Atlanta, and more viewers watching on TV.

This is exactly what Atlanta Motor Speedway needs right now given the trouble it has lately in filling seats. Overall, NASCAR needs the boost too. When one of the most popular drivers of the sport, Dale Earnhardt Jr., says that the races are getting boring, you know there is trouble on the track for which even Robbie Gordon can’t be blamed.

Since 2004, there has been an average of 3 drivers locked into the Chase by the time the second Bristol race is in the books. In previous years, the Fontana race was the 25th race of the season, and by the time that race was over, an average of 7 drivers was locked into the Chase. This year Atlanta will be the 25th race due to the swap with Fontana to be a Chase race. After the next race in Atlanta, any driver who has 196 points over 13th place will have a lock.

But that might not be an easy lock to obtain. Right now, the point spread between 7th position and 13th is 84 points, the smallest spread since the Chase format was introduced in 2004. The following shows the average finish for the last four years at Atlanta for the drivers in positions 7 through 13:

• Ryan Newman – 21.9
• Greg Biffle – 15.8
• Juan Pablo Montoya – 24.4
• Mark Martin – 19.2
• Kasey Kahne – 21.7
• Matt Kenseth – 9.3
• Kyle Busch – 17.3

Kenseth appears to have the best chance to boost his standing over the others and distance himself away from his current 12th spot. On the other side of the coin, both Newman and Kahne really have to step it up a notch at Atlanta than tradition has shown there if they want to maintain their spots.

Meanwhile, Brian Vickers and Clint Bowyer, on the outside looking in at 14th and 15th, have decent average finishes at Atlanta with 16.7 and 13.7 respectively. If they can do as well in the upcoming race, they could easily tighten up the race to the Chase more, even potentially move up dramatically if the others bomb out.

By the time the tire dust settles at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the drivers might wish that the break in the schedule came after that race instead of before it.

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By: Christopher Smith

We got to ask Ryan Newman what his favorite tracks are to race on. The whole catch is, we wanted one which you are currently racing on and one that is a former track you used to race on or is now an inactive track on the circuit.

“My favorite we race on now is Darlington. I think it’s one of the best racetracks because it’s the most challenging. It was more challenging before they repaved it. It’s still challenging now.”

Then he continued with his favorites all-time….

“…Winchester Speedway in Winchester, Indiana. Running the Midget and Sprint car there was an absolute blast. The one track I would have liked to have raced on, I don’t know I’ve ever seen a picture of it in full, the full racetrack itself, it was Jungle Park – it’s called Playland Park in South Bend, Indiana. It was like the original dirt track right up next to the Saint Joseph’s River. That’s where all the big Indy guys used to come up and play, was right next to the river. They actually had racecars that ended up in the river. So it’s gotten some big history. The grandstands are concrete, they’re still there, but nothing else is.”

We will continue to try to drill down all the drivers and find out what their favorite tracks are. You can tell us yours on our facebook page at facebook.rubbingsracing.com.