Atlanta's history molding on knack for close finishes

If Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 ends in anything but a side-by-side photo finish, it will be the exception rather than the norm.

In the 97 races since Fireball Roberts won the inaugural event in July of 1960 at what was then called Atlanta International Raceway, no fewer than 25 have been won by a second or less. And three of the 10 closest finishes since electronic scoring became the norm in 1993 have taken place at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

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Whether in its original 1.522-mile oval configuration -- or rebuilt as a 1.54-mile quad-oval in 1997 -- Atlanta has provided some of the best action in the closing laps of any track on the Sprint Cup circuit.

And it all started with the 1970 Atlanta 500.

Originally scheduled for March 22, rains wiped out Saturday's qualifying and continued the next day, forcing NASCAR officials to postpone the race until the following weekend. So on Easter Sunday, Cale Yarborough led a field of 40 to the green flag. And right from the start, it appeared that Yarborough -- who had won the previous three spring Atlanta races -- would easily make it four in a row.

With the laps winding down, Yarborough's No. 21 Wood Brothers Mercury had lapped the entire field, including second-place Bobby Allison. But an unusual turn of events would wipe out that deficit, and more.

With 10 laps to go, Yarborough ducked on pit road for service under green -- putting Allison back on the lead lap. Just as his team finished their work, the caution came out. As the field entered Turn 4, the NASCAR official working the entrance to pit road pointed his flag at Yarborough to signify that he was still in the lead. But Yarborough was confused.

"I thought he meant for me to come in the pits, and I came back in again," Yarborough said.

Allison followed suit, and both teams bolted on new tires for the final sprint. Now with fresh rubber and sitting in a position to challenge for the lead, Allison's No. 22 Dodge came alive. And when the green flew on Lap 322, he made quick work of Yarborough, then held off a last-lap charge to win by an estimated 50 feet.

Allison would go on to beat A.J. Foyt in 1972 by .16 seconds and Harry Gant in 1982 by .5 seconds.

Fast facts

What	Kobalt Tools 500
When	Green, 2:16 p.m. ET Sunday
TV	FOX, 1:30 p.m. ET
Radio	PRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 2 p.m. ET

Track Page | Tickets | Travel

Neil Bonnett was the master of the close finish in the 1980s. He edged Dale Earnhardt by one-half of a car length in the 1979 Dixie 500, Darrell Waltrip by one car length two years later in the Atlanta Journal 500, and then beat Buddy Baker by .41 seconds in 1983.

Not surprisingly, Earnhardt -- who won nine times at Atlanta -- was involved in more than his fair share of close finishes, usually on the receiving end. In addition to his runner-up run in 1979, the Intimidator finished second to Benny Parsons in 1984, Morgan Shepherd in 1986 and Waltrip in 1989.

But Earnhardt's thrilling victory in the 2000 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 set off a series of close finishes that have yet to be rivaled.

Earnhardt passed Bobby Labonte for the lead on Lap 272 and had things well in hand until teammate Mike Skinner's engine blew with less than 10 laps remaining. That allowed Labonte to close right up on Earnhardt's bumper for the restart.

Staying in the preferred high groove, Earnhardt forced Labonte to go low to pass him -- and coming out of Turn 4 on the last circuit, Labonte nearly did. The two cars were side-by-side at the finish, with Earnhardt winning by .010 seconds.

''When we were getting close to the line, I looked over and his car wasn't really side-by-side with me as far as looking into the right door,'' Earnhardt said. ''So I felt pretty good about what our chances were that we beat him out by a nose.'' (Continued)