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Kevin Harvick held off Jeff Gordon by .006 ticks in March '01 for his first Cup win.By the Numbers: Atlanta
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Welcome to Hotlanta, home to some of NASCAR's best racing.
The popular connotation of Atlanta's namesake belies the city's scorching climate, but rarely do temperatures reach 100 degrees. Since 1950, only six years have seen recorded temperatures in the triple-digits, with the most recent occurrence in 2000.
But there's been plenty of heat, both in terms of speed and hotly contested races, at the 1.5-mile oval that sits 25 miles south of the Georgia capital in Hampton.
Since May 1993 and the implementation of electronic scoring, Atlanta Motor Speedway has been home to three of the 11 closest finishes in Nextel Cup Series history, with two of those ranking among the top five closest of all-time and all of them happening within the last decade of racing.
• 3-11-01: Kevin Harvick beat Jeff Gordon by .006 seconds, third-closest
• 3-12-00: Dale Earnhardt beat Bobby Labonte by .010 seconds, fifth-closest
• 3-20-05: Carl Edwards beat Jimmie Johnson by .028 seconds, tied for 11th-closest
Geoffrey Bodine's qualifying lap of 197.478 mph after a reconfiguration in 1997 made AMS the third-fastest track. Kasey Kahne's pole-winning effort of 192.553 in this event last year was the second-fastest qualifying speed in 2006.
Maybe track officials should consider a name change: Fastlanta Motor Speedway. Or perhaps they'll stick to their current slogan: Real Racing. Real Fast.
Interesting Fact
1Career victory for Bob Burdick. Burdick won his only Atlanta start in 1961 during a career that spanned just 15 races. In 1959, Burdick raced at the old Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, finishing 40th after crashing four laps into the event.
Fun Fact
1.4Rate of servings per day, in billions, of Coca-Cola products. The Coca-Cola Co., which encompasses more than 400 brands consisting of more than 2,600 beverage products, is the largest beverage company in the world with consumers in more than 200 countries. Its headquarters are located in Atlanta, where the drink was first invented in 1885.
All the Facts
0Lead-lap finishes by Kenny Wallace in 20 AMS races.
2Current drivers to post his first career victory at Atlanta: Kevin Harvick (2001) in just his third Cup start; Carl Edwards (2005) in his second career AMS start.
3Consecutive top-fives by Dale Earnhardt Jr. at AMS. He has nine top-10s in the past 11 races there.
6Times the Atlanta races have been swept in the same season: March Panch (1965), Bobby Allison (1972), David Pearson (1973), Bill Elliott (1985, 1992), Carl Edwards (2005).
6Atlanta poles for Ryan Newman, which came consecutively from 2003-05. His average start in 10 races in 3.3.
6.192Average running position for Greg Biffle in the past four races at Atlanta, best of any driver. He has three top-10 finishes during that span and a career 12.0 average finish in eight Atlanta starts.
7Place of finish in the first Atlanta race last year for Paul Menard, his only top-10 in 11 career starts.
8Wins from a top-10 starting position in the past 10 races at Atlanta. Tony Stewart started 11th in his victory this past October.
9Wins at Atlanta by Dale Earnhardt, more than any other driver.
10Top-10s by Tony Stewart in the past 11 Atlanta races. He finished 17th in the first 2005 race.
10.4Average finish for Carl Edwards in five AMS races, best of any active driver with more than one start.
14Times an Atlanta race has been won from the pole, last accomplished by Kasey Kahne in the spring of 2006.
20Years between Dale Earnhardt's first Atlanta victory in 1980 and his last in 2000.
57Career starts at Atlanta by Bill Elliott, more than any other driver entered in this week's event. In honor of the Dawsonville, Ga., native, the East Turn Grandstand was renamed Elliott Grandstand this past October. Elliott has six wins at his designated home track and has led 1,024 laps, more than any active driver.
95Cup races held at Atlanta International Raceway/Atlanta Motor Speedway. Only five other tracks have held more: Daytona (120), Martinsville (116), Darlington (103), Richmond (101), Charlotte (96).
116.0Driver rating for Greg Biffle in the past four races at Atlanta, highest of any driver. Biffle led a race-high 128 in this event last year but ran out of gas and finished 16th.
308 Laps led by Cale Yarborough in the spring race of 1969, most by any Atlanta winner
1982Year the movie "Six Pack" was released. Actual footage from the 1982 Coca-Cola 500, won by Darrell Waltrip, was used in the film.
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Most wins, current drivers
| Driver | Wins | Starts |
|---|---|---|
| Bobby Labonte | 6 | 28 |
| Bill Elliott | 5 | 57 |
| Jeff Gordon | 4 | 29 |
| Carl Edwards | 2 | 5 |
| Tony Stewart | 2 | 16 |
| Mark Martin | 2 | 42 |
| Kasey Kahne | 1 | 6 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 1 | 11 |
| Kurt Busch | 1 | 12 |
| Kevin Harvick | 1 | 12 |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 1 | 15 |
| Dale Jarrett | 1 | 38 |
| Ken Schrader | 1 | 45 |
| Ricky Rudd | 1 | 56 |
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